The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that. I’ve just spent two years keeping a close watch on Hugo-Louis to keep him on track with his potty training. Yes, you read right. He’s been good for a looooong time now, but I must say he was a tough nut to crack potty-wise.
He’s a Frenchie, and while I thought that wouldn’t matter (potty training is easy as pie after all and I am darn good at it, even tough cases) something made it difficult for him to learn to pee exclusively outside. Not one of my finer moments in training. The first year was rough and I stayed in my hyper-vigilant-pee-patrol role for way longer than I anticipated.
Well, Hugo turned two in April and I decided I could chill a bit now. He’s a big boy and gets the game. It’s exhausting to always be on alert. Sigh of relief.
Just as I began settling in to the happy peace of having three trained adult dogs something new happened. Seemingly overnight, Claude became a senior dog. It started subtly enough, he didn’t want to go out as frequently, it takes too much energy. Hmmm, well, as long as he can hold it….
Then it happened, a puddle, no, a lake of urine in the middle of the hallway. It looked as though a large farm animal had snuck in, peed, and snuck out again unnoticed. There could only be one explanation. Claude. He is a big guy with a big bladder.
It was the middle of the day and the big guy had already been out a few times. It didn’t make sense and he’d never done anything like that in all his years. I took it as a red flag and filed the info as I mopped, and mopped, and mopped, all the while praying that Hugo didn’t see what happened and get any ideas!
We had clear sailing for a few months and then Claude got ill and while he didn’t feel well he added three new lakes to Villa Phoenix. Ugh. What bothered me the most about this new development is that he wasn’t whining to let me know he needed to go. He’d just say “no thank you” when I asked him if he wanted to go out and then less than an hour later I’d be knee-deep in urine!
Call me slow on the uptake, but I finally conceded that the old man just can’t hold like he used to and I am back on hyper-vigilant-pee-patrol role once more. Frequent trips outside and praising him like a loon when he goes. So much for a lazy summer, but he’s worth it and our house hasn’t been flooded in weeks.
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Is It a Bribe & A Lure?
I teach 2 CGC Classes and a puppy class each year at our German Shepherd Dog Training Club. We see way too much "bribing" over a long period of training a dog. I saw an improvement in my last puppy class when I tried Dr. Dunbar's Sirius Puppy format. It was hard at first to convince people to get rid of the food, but they ultimately started to trust their puppies. Also, the reward to "go play" is sooooo reinforcing.
My aim is to show the people in my CGC class starting September 11 how to keep their lure from becoming a "bribe". I draw on Dog Star Dialy in preparation of my handout materials and urge my students to visit the site. Thank you for Dog Star Daily.
I'm looking forward to Dr. Dunbar's 3 day seminar July 10, 11, 12.
Arlene