Need Help Potty Training a Six Month Old

Question:
 I have is a Six Month old Puppy [we believe he is six month] and it has been almost two months now.
My Puppy is a mix between a Chihuahua and a Dachshund and he does potty outside all the time, but we can't seem to get him to stop going in the house.
We have praised him when he pottied outside, being patient, taking his food away and put it in a schedule.. And my parents are using the method that had worked on other dogs we had and it took three days only.. When he pottied in the house, dad would put his nose in it [No. His muzzle is not touching the ground.], and spank him with the newspaper [Very very lightly. He doesn't even get hit, except for the person's arm who's holding him]. AND NO WE ARE NOT HITTING HIM. He is scared of the sound of the paper. When Dad used it, he was mostly hitting his own arm and the puppy was scared of the sound only.
Then Afterwards, He would come running into my arms to hide. He is very attached to me. He doesn't potty in both my rooms or where he eats, but we don't know what to do. We can't get him to stop. We do praise him all the time when he potties outside and he loves it, but we can't seem to get him to let us know to go outside or to get him to stop. We rarely use anything else except taking him out every hour or two, praising him and giving him his meals at certain time.
On the websites, it seems that it only took a few weeks and it has been almost two months. Does anyone have an idea of what I can do? Please. I don't want to lose my puppy at all.
Rythela

Answer:
Don't EVER EVER EVER hit your dog, or smash his nose into the carpet.
Arrrgh! That is so wrong, and is only going to make things worse, and more difficult. You are not teaching the dog anything by hitting him.
I adopted a 4 year old dog that I couldn't potty train. It took almost 2 years. It takes time. Read up on training. There are books, search online, etc.
There are several people on this forum that I can think of that will be very helpful.
But please, do NOT hit your dog.

Answer:
We're not hitting it, Dad is using a paper that doesn't hurt. He yelps to the sound in reality, he yelps to the sound. Actually. WE had a Chow and a Yorkie respond to that and they never pottied in the house. We went to that since nothing else worked. We don't hurt it nor do we mash his muzzle into the carpet. We don't do that. All we do is put his muzzle near it, telling him No. Bad! No. And he use the paper which doesn't even hurt. We know not to use our hands at all or he will be afraid of it.
I am not stupid. I am asking for other ways to get him potty trained. We alot of Research on potty training and nothing had worked and I mean Nothing.
It has been recent where they say not to spank your paper with a rolled up newspaper.. But for Centuries, it has worked. My parents knows what they are doing and they had puppies potty trained within a day.
And if you had read what I wrote, I did say "We praise him everytime he potties outside" And I mean every time.
We are not hurting the puppy. He is afraid of the sound that makes a sound. We never hurt animals what so ever since we used to have dogs of our own. We are not stupid. I just want other ways to get my Mix to know that he isn't supposed to potty in the house, even after going outside. That is all

Answer:
Ok, being hit with ANYTHING DOES hurt. Dogs aren't responding to that.
That is cruel, and border lines cruelty to me. You don't know that smashing his face in the carpet, and hitting him doesn't hurt. Only he oes, and I can imagine it does.
Hitting NEVER solves anything, and is NOT ok. There are other ways.
By doing the things you are doing, you are backtracking, and making things worse.
Go to see a trainer/behaviorist.

Answer:
You are not helping. I told you, we are not hitting him nor are we mashing his FACE INTO THE FREAKIN CARPET!!!!! WE never hurt dogs, nor is he getting hurt. He is scared to alot of sounds, even to the Sirens to the Hospital!
We are not cruel. I cradle, love my puppy to death. He even sleeps with me in his bed and my own bed. He goes looking for me all day. Now. If I was treating him cruel, then he would not be attached to me. AS I Said " WE ARE NOT HITTING HIM OR HURTING HIM! I JUST WANT SOME OTHER SUGGESTIONS OF TRAINING HIM!
We have followed all the information on the net. We still praise him when he does good deed. Every single time and he stays within my sight, my mother's, and my father's. He is never alone what so ever.
I have not hurt my puppy at all. I cradle him and protection him from harm since he is small. Now stop saying that I am cruel. I just want some other tips on getting him potty train or why he would potty train when we praise him for being good and pottying outside.

Answer:
I have is a Six Month old Puppy [we believe he is six month] and it has been almost two months now.
My Puppy is a mix between a Chihuahua and a Dachshund and he does potty outside all the time, but we can't seem to get him to stop going in the house.
We have praised him when he pottied outside, being patient, taking his food away and put it in a schedule.. And my parents are using the method that had worked on other dogs we had and it took three days only.. When he pottied in the house, dad would put his nose in it, and spank him with the newspaper.
Then Afterwards, He would come running into my arms to hide.
You said yourself, your dad HITS him with a NEWSPAPER, and RUBS HIS FACE IN THE CARPET. You said it yourself.
What I'm telling you is, it is NOT helping. That makes it worse, and it's wrong. I've said 3 times now, that's only going to backtrack you, and make things worse

Answer:
No. I did not say ."DAD HITS HIM WITH THE NEWSPAPER" I said he spanks him. There's a different between hitting and spanking and he Does not "SMASH HIS FACE INTO THE CARPET." His muzzle doesn't even touch the carpet. >.> Stop calling us cruel. I'm just looking for Advice for other ways or an understanding for his kind not to go outside.
We are not cruel. We had dogs, cats with us before and we never ever hurt him. Especially my Dad!
And I said that we Praise him alot! We rarely use the paper! We aren't making it worse. We haven't done it when we got him, it's rarely we use it. We just put him outside and praise him. >.> We're not backtracking him since we never had him before Six months. We were told that he was potty trained.
Right now, I'm hoping other Trainers can give me tips of what else to get this stubborn little boy to go outside or how he can let us know.

Answer:
SPanking = hitting. There's no difference.
Hitting a dog is not going to HELP with training. Crate the dog when you are not at home. Take him out every hour or less. Put pee pads in the house. There, try that.

Answer:
There is. Hitting is alot harder than spanking. Spanking is when doing something wrong. You can hit a dog for anything, but spanking it lightly for something it did wrong, isn't hitting. He is like a toddler when he done bad. He is not getting hit. >.>
Didn't you read my post? He has been in our sight all day! My Dad watches him all day, then I watch him all day with my mother. He goes out every hour or two since he doesn't go right away.
And It seems Crate Training doesn't work because he doesn't potty where he eats or where he sleeps. He goes straight to my room and curls up where he belongs. Crate Training is the same as putting him in a room where he is comfortable and doesn't potty at all and he doesn't even touch the training pad. He completely ignores it

Answer:
Ok, for the LAST time. A dog does NOT know that when he is HIT, he is doing something WRONG. Dogs are NOT people, and you cannot treat them as such.
Spanking, is hitting. It is not going to help with potty training. It's going to o the exact opposite. Any time there is contact between an animal, or a person, whether it be a hand, or object, it is considered hitting.
Dogs do NOT understand when they do something wrong. They don't speak languages.

Answer:
One. I am not stupid. Dogs are getting hurt and he knows that. He seens everything and knows he is not getting hit. Dogs do know what they did is wrong. It's the concept. >.>
And if you don't mind, I like to have other people's opinion on what type of training I give my Tucker to go outside. Not to be called cruel what so ever. Even Sam our two and half years old knows what he did is wrong. And he knows. So does my Puppy. He is treating as a precious little thing and he knows he is protected by me.

Answer:
Ok, it's obvious you're a child, and I'm not going to help you because you have no idea how to care for a puppy. Apparently you think what your parents are doing is right.
I feel bad for your dog. I have given you many suggestions. Continue to hit him, fine..it's not going to make your dog stop pottying in the house.
Good luck

Answer:
To begin with, you will need to be VERY patient.
Unless you catch him in the act, then you CANNOT punish him.
If you do catch him in the act, be abrupt. Say a stern but quiet 'no', pick him up and take him outside. When he finishes, praise like crazy. Crate train him. Don't give him an oppertunity to go to the bathroom in the house. If he goes to the bathroom, it's YOUR fault.
Putting his nose near or in his mess only teaches him not to trust you. It in no way teaches him that pottying in the house is not acceptable.
Do a search in the forum, and you will come up with a lot of helpful threads.
Best of luck.
~Tucker

Answer:
I am not Stupid. And Dogs aren't dumb. We have a two year old Lab who is apuppy himself, but he knows what he did is wrong. my Puppy knows it did too because he'll feel bad and curl up in my arms. He is treated as precious little thing and he knows he is protected by me. Dogs can sense things by emotions, plus. It's the concept of him not understanding that he is not supposed to go into the house after going outside..

Answer:
Dogs do not understand what they do is wrong. He is simply being a dog, and for that, you cannot be angry with him. Instead, guide him and teach him.
~Tucker

Answer:
Ok, it's obvious you're a child, and I'm not going to help you because you have no idea how to care for a puppy. Apparently you think what your parents are doing is right.
I feel bad for your dog. I have given you many suggestions. Continue to hit him, fine..it's not going to make your dog stop pottying in the house.
Good luck
I am not a child. I am a 21 year old College student, working in a Hospital. I do too know how to take care of a puppy. I take him out every single time, making sure he's safe, happy, loved, washed. I am not stupid.

Answer:
Ok, it's obvious you're a child, and I'm not going to help you because you have no idea how to care for a puppy. Apparently you think what your parents are doing is right.
I am a child. Does that mean you wouldn't help me...?
Who cares if she is 12 or 80? She is still a PERSON and she still needs help. Sheesh.
~Tucker

Answer:
Hitting it not going to help!
He's scared, he's not running to you because he knows he did something wrong. He's running because he's scared.
Read "Tuckers" Signature. It says it right there

Answer:
Tucker..you're not saying weird things, and aren't hitting your dogs. I don't believe I've disagreed with you ever. I think you are very smart. Sheesh yourself.

Answer:
To begin with, you will need to be VERY patient.
Unless you catch him in the act, then you CANNOT punish him.
If you do catch him in the act, be abrupt. Say a stern but quiet 'no', pick him up and take him outside. When he finishes, praise like crazy. Crate train him. Don't give him an oppertunity to go to the bathroom in the house. If he goes to the bathroom, it's YOUR fault.
Putting his nose near or in his mess only teaches him not to trust you. It in no way teaches him that pottying in the house is not acceptable.
Do a search in the forum, and you will come up with a lot of helpful threads.
Best of luck.
~Tucker
Thank you. Actually, we do that. We catches him, telling him no and that's he's a bad dog every time. We do take him outside, we praise him alot. and information we had says to crate him at night and when we're out, or alone. Problem is. He is not alone, I keep my eye on him every second. Someone who had him before us, said the crating worked, but every time he left the crate, he pottied in their house. He won't potty in the crate since he slept in it.
I have manage to get him to go out most of the time without having to carry him out.

Answer:
Ok, it's obvious you're a child, and I'm not going to help you because you have no idea how to care for a puppy. Apparently you think what your parents are doing is right.
I am a child. Does that mean you wouldn't help me...?
Who cares if she is 12 or 80? She is still a PERSON and she still needs help. Sheesh.
~Tucker
Thank you for you words. I'm still hoping to get him out his fades of pottying in the house. I just wish we can get him to let us know when he has to go out.

Answer:
Tucker..you're not saying weird things, and aren't hitting your dogs. I don't believe I've disagreed with you ever. I think you are very smart. Sheesh yourself.
Interesting. I could have sworn I'd gotten several eye rolls from you... ;) .
I do not not like 'you', I just don't agree with the way this situation has been handled. Infact, I have nothing against you. I actually love your pittie :o :) .
~Tucker

Answer:
Your dog is still very young, and expecting him to be fully housetrained after only two months is not realistic. Many dogs take at least six months of constant supervision and training before they're reliable, and even more take longer than that.
Housebreaking is all about being consistant and supervising your puppy at all times. I know you said you watch him, but if he's having an accident and you find it later, then you haven't watched him enough. Try this, put the puppy on a leash in house, then wrap the other end around your wrist. Now your puppy is attached to you and he must go whever you go. No chance of him sneaking off and having accident where you can't see him.
Scolding him after the fact really has no impact on him. He's hiding in your arms because he's afraid, but he's not connecting that 'spanking' with what he did wrong. Dogs only connect any praise/scolding to what their doing right that second, not what they did a minute ago or five minutes ago.
Prevention is enough to housebreak your puppy, you don't even need to scold him to make your point. You said he won't soil his crate, GOOD, you can use that! Anytime you can't watch him, put him in his crate and you won't have any chance of a mistake.
If you catch him in the act of soiling the floor then just clap your hands, pick him up and whisk him outside to finish. Then roll up a newspaper and whack yourself over the head with it for failing to watch your puppy close enough. ;)
In short, you need to prevent him from having an accident, then continue to praise him when he goes outside. There really is no shortcut to housebreaking. You gotta put in the time to see the results.

Answer:
There really is no shortcut to housebreaking. You gotta put in the time to see the results.
Can I get a hallelujah? ;)
:hail: :hail: :hail:
~Tucker

Answer:
Patience and consistency are the key. My dog is still having accidents at times. Rome was not built in a day. I do not agree with the spanking. It does not teach the dog, just frightens them. Older people do that still, my mom still does. she is not cruel, just doesn't know better. Have tried to educate her, but she still does it.

Answer:
While you may not be causing pain, the swatting does produce fear. And I think a fearful dog is harder to house train than a relaxed one. We've been training our 4-month puppy for two months now, and while he's getting better, there are still accidents inside. I've noticed that when he's restless, whiney, or comes over to me and stares into my eyes, he usually has to go outside. Everyone says it takes a long time (months and months) for a dog to learn an effective way to signal you. Most of the time now we have to anticipate his needs and not wait for him to let us know--which takes tons of time and patience, but that's life with a puppy!

Answer:
It's a real mistake to frighten, scold, intimidate your puppy in any way, shape or form. You'll ruin his trust in humans and your relationship with him. Swatting the newspaper at a table top in order to frighten him teaches him NOTHING except that humans are unpredictable and scary. Telling him "NO!" loudly or sternly teaches him NOTHING about potty training or anything else except that humans are unpredictable and scary.
Dogs do not think like humans in that they do not have morals, do not think in terms of "right or wrong." The do not have our value system. They do not think going potty inside is "wrong." Going potty on the floor is the same thing to them as going potty out in the woods. They're dogs, they do what dogs do until we train them. Training is about teaching, showing, patience, consistancy, trust. Your puppy MUST trust you in order to pay attention and try to figure out what you're trying to show him. He does not speak your language. He does not know human ways of acting in a house. You have to show him. Showing him takes time. His control of his little baby bladder and bowels takes maturity before he can even hold it for any length of time. The average time for reliable house breaking is about 6 months of age. My Doberman was almost a year old before he was reliable. I've had dogs who were 3 months old. It varies.
When you scold your puppy even when you do catch him in the act, the way a dog's mind works is that he does not know that you mean that going in the house was the no no. He can perceive it to mean that going at all is a no no and he will then try to hold it. He will tend not to go in front of you when you take him outside. He will hold it inside until he can't anymore and will tend to go behind furniture to hide it. You have to remember that dogs do not rationalize the way we do, do not have a sense of OUR right and wrong, do not think going potty on the ground is a wrong thing to do, do not distinguish between inside and outside for a long time. Once they go inside, it makes it more difficult because they will smell where they went before and think that this IS the spot they're suppose to go because that's what dogs do.
Another problem with scolding a pup for an accident is that he can perceive it to mean, "OK, I am not suppose to go here, but there are many other places I could go which might be OK." There's the back bedroom, the closet, behind the wing back chair. Your puppy, while he's learning is guessing. He does not know what you mean yet. He is guessing and not knowing what he's suppose to do. Since outside is only ONE place, it is much easier for him to stop guessing because that is ONE place where he gets praised and a treat when he goes there....just one place, one possibility. He doesn't have to find out which place anymore when he goes consistantly outside
How he gets from the guessing stage to the knowing stage is done by many, many repititions of being reinforced for behavior. The more he is reinforced with something he loves, like your praise and a treat, the more that behavior will be repeated. That is learing behavior. It is law. If he is reinforced every time he goes inside because going inside is easy, carpet is absorbant, (they like that) it's warm inside....every time he goes inside he is reinforced. It works to go inside. That behavior will tend to be repeated in the future. Now.....every time YOU do YOUR job and supervise him adequately to prevent him from going inside, everytime you get him outside and he goes and is praised lavishly and given a treat, that peeing/pooping outside will be reinforced. It works better for him to go outside. Going outside is much better than going inside because he gets what he LOVES. After many many repititions, he stops guessing because nothing good happens inside, but something very, very good happens when he goes outside. When he is physically able and when he makes that association, he will begin to hold it in order to get a chance to get that praise and treat.....to be taken outside.
Scolding when he's going inside is not necessary at all to train him. It has severely detrimental side effects. If you catch him in the act, just take him out quickly and show him where you want him to go and clean up with Natures Miracle. (Pet stores)
If he has an accident and you really want to use a newspaper, roll it up and hit yourself over the head for not taking him out often enough, for not supervising him well enough.
If you are using a crate, and you need to go out of th room for 1 minute, pop him into the crate. If you cannot watch him for 2 minutes if you're making a phone call or using the bathroom, pop him in his crate. Do not trust that he will not go in the house. You MUST prevent anymore accidents. Take him out often, more often than you think you might need to take him.
Make a log of when he eats, drinks, plays, naps, takes walks, pees, poops. Get so you see a pattern to when he goes in relationship to those things so you have an idea of when it is more likely that he'll have to go.
Normally when you teach a dog something, you praise, treat while he's doing the behavior, not before, not after. However, with potty training, if you praise while he's going, he may get excited and stop mid stream, so you wait until he JUST finishes and you throw him a party, a special treat (hot dog piece, cheese, meat) and loads of happy praise. While he's going, (not before, not after) in a low key, calm voice give him a cue word to begin to attach to this behavior, like, "go pee pee." He can learn eventually after a long time to go on command IF he needs to at all.
With anything you teach your puppy, from sit, down, stay, come, you do not want to make it scary or not fun. Training needs to be fun and rewarding and is VERY fun for both dog and owner when done right....with positive reinforcement and very, very little, if any corrections or aversives. There are wonderful techniques which you can learn. Your puppy can learn better and be happier. Your bond with him can be phenomenal. But if you start off with even mild aversives, intimidation, fear, coercion, you can ruin a dog forever. Remember, this is a baby and the only way for a dog to learn is by reinforcement which is a reward that HE LOVES, not that you think he might love. It has to cause behavior to be repeated in order to be called a reinforcement. Behavior which you don't want, you need to prevent reinforcement for it and it will go away. If puppy is getting into a no no, distract him, give him an alternative and praise and/or treat. Build on behavior you do like by reinforcing it. He will take on those desireable behaviors because they pay off. He will give up the undesireable behaviors if you prevent him from getting a payoff. Your job is to figure out what payoff is he getting from this. You have to watch, think and ask yourself. Sometimes it's attention from a person. Sometimes it's self rewarding like getting into something fun like garbage. Or jumping up on the couter top. If it works for him...if he gets food for doing that behavior, it WILL BE REPEATED. Not because he's bad or immoral but because that is how a dog's mind works. They're hunters, scavengers.....opportunists. They do what works. How else would they have survived for 15,000 years and evolved to be so compatible with humans? They learned how to get along and benefit from being with humans. They're tame and have a bond with humans. BUT, they do not come automatically knowing how to get along in a household....know all the rules and ways. We have to show them. And it takes time.
I recommend you read the book, Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. It will change everything about how you look at your dog and will show you how to train him in the most effective way, based on the science of learning. I cannot recommend that book enough.
I hope you take an interest in learning how to teach your puppy in a fair, happy and effective way and that you and your pup have a wonderful bond like I do with my four dogs.
Happy training!

Answer:
It's a real mistake to frighten, scold, intimidate your puppy in any way, shape or form. You'll ruin his trust in humans and your relationship with him. Swatting the newspaper at a table top in order to frighten him teaches him NOTHING except that humans are unpredictable and scary. Telling him "NO!" loudly or sternly teaches him NOTHING about potty training or anything else except that humans are unpredictable and scary.

Dogs do not think like humans in that they do not have morals, do not think in terms of "right or wrong." The do not have our value system. They do not think going potty inside is "wrong." Going potty on the floor is the same thing to them as going potty out in the woods. They're dogs, they do what dogs do until we train them. Training is about teaching, showing, patience, consistancy, trust. Your puppy MUST trust you in order to pay attention and try to figure out what you're trying to show him. He does not speak your language. He does not know human ways of acting in a house. You have to show him. Showing him takes time. His control of his little baby bladder and bowels takes maturity before he can even hold it for any length of time. The average time for reliable house breaking is about 6 months of age. My Doberman was almost a year old before he was reliable. I've had dogs who were 3 months old. It varies.

When you scold your puppy even when you do catch him in the act, the way a dog's mind works is that he does not know that you mean that going in the house was the no no. He can perceive it to mean that going at all is a no no and he will then try to hold it. He will tend not to go in front of you when you take him outside. He will hold it inside until he can't anymore and will tend to go behind furniture to hide it. You have to remember that dogs do not rationalize the way we do, do not have a sense of OUR right and wrong, do not think going potty on the ground is a wrong thing to do, do not distinguish between inside and outside for a long time. Once they go inside, it makes it more difficult because they will smell where they went before and think that this IS the spot they're suppose to go because that's what dogs do.

Another problem with scolding a pup for an accident is that he can perceive it to mean, "OK, I am not suppose to go here, but there are many other places I could go which might be OK." There's the back bedroom, the closet, behind the wing back chair. Your puppy, while he's learning is guessing. He does not know what you mean yet. He is guessing and not knowing what he's suppose to do. Since outside is only ONE place, it is much easier for him to stop guessing because that is ONE place where he gets praised and a treat when he goes there....just one place, one possibility. He doesn't have to find out which place anymore when he goes consistantly outside

How he gets from the guessing stage to the knowing stage is done by many, many repititions of being reinforced for behavior. The more he is reinforced with something he loves, like your praise and a treat, the more that behavior will be repeated. That is learing behavior. It is law. If he is reinforced every time he goes inside because going inside is easy, carpet is absorbant, (they like that) it's warm inside....every time he goes inside he is reinforced. It works to go inside. That behavior will tend to be repeated in the future. Now.....every time YOU do YOUR job and supervise him adequately to prevent him from going inside, everytime you get him outside and he goes and is praised lavishly and given a treat, that peeing/pooping outside will be reinforced. It works better for him to go outside. Going outside is much better than going inside because he gets what he LOVES. After many many repititions, he stops guessing because nothing good happens inside, but something very, very good happens when he goes outside. When he is physically able and when he makes that association, he will begin to hold it in order to get a chance to get that praise and treat.....to be taken outside.

Scolding when he's going inside is not necessary at all to train him. It has severely detrimental side effects. If you catch him in the act, just take him out quickly and show him where you want him to go and clean up with Natures Miracle. (Pet stores)

If he has an accident and you really want to use a newspaper, roll it up and hit yourself over the head for not taking him out often enough, for not supervising him well enough.

If you are using a crate, and you need to go out of th room for 1 minute, pop him into the crate. If you cannot watch him for 2 minutes if you're making a phone call or using the bathroom, pop him in his crate. Do not trust that he will not go in the house. You MUST prevent anymore accidents. Take him out often, more often than you think you might need to take him.

Make a log of when he eats, drinks, plays, naps, takes walks, pees, poops. Get so you see a pattern to when he goes in relationship to those things so you have an idea of when it is more likely that he'll have to go.

Normally when you teach a dog something, you praise, treat while he's doing the behavior, not before, not after. However, with potty training, if you praise while he's going, he may get excited and stop mid stream, so you wait until he JUST finishes and you throw him a party, a special treat (hot dog piece, cheese, meat) and loads of happy praise. While he's going, (not before, not after) in a low key, calm voice give him a cue word to begin to attach to this behavior, like, "go pee pee." He can learn eventually after a long time to go on command IF he needs to at all.

With anything you teach your puppy, from sit, down, stay, come, you do not want to make it scary or not fun. Training needs to be fun and rewarding and is VERY fun for both dog and owner when done right....with positive reinforcement and very, very little, if any corrections or aversives. There are wonderful techniques which you can learn. Your puppy can learn better and be happier. Your bond with him can be phenomenal. But if you start off with even mild aversives, intimidation, fear, coercion, you can ruin a dog forever. Remember, this is a baby and the only way for a dog to learn is by reinforcement which is a reward that HE LOVES, not that you think he might love. It has to cause behavior to be repeated in order to be called a reinforcement. Behavior which you don't want, you need to prevent reinforcement for it and it will go away. If puppy is getting into a no no, distract him, give him an alternative and praise and/or treat. Build on behavior you do like by reinforcing it. He will take on those desireable behaviors because they pay off. He will give up the undesireable behaviors if you prevent him from getting a payoff. Your job is to figure out what payoff is he getting from this. You have to watch, think and ask yourself. Sometimes it's attention from a person. Sometimes it's self rewarding like getting into something fun like garbage. Or jumping up on the couter top. If it works for him...if he gets food for doing that behavior, it WILL BE REPEATED. Not because he's bad or immoral but because that is how a dog's mind works. They're hunters, scavengers.....opportunists. They do what works. How else would they have survived for 15,000 years and evolved to be so compatible with humans? They learned how to get along and benefit from being with humans. They're tame and have a bond with humans. BUT, they do not come automatically knowing how to get along in a household....know all the rules and ways. We have to show them. And it takes time.

I recommend you read the book, Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. It will change everything about how you look at your dog and will show you how to train him in the most effective way, based on the science of learning. I cannot recommend that book enough.

I hope you take an interest in learning how to teach your puppy in a fair, happy and effective way and that you and your pup have a wonderful bond like I do with my four dogs.

Happy training!
Wow, amen to that! :hail: :hail: :hail: :hail:

Answer:
Thanks Momof2pups. It's a terribly long post but I just wanted to cover everything...not just the potty training but to try and bring some understanding of dogs from what I've researched for a long time.
One other little thing I forgot to mention or reiterate is that research indicates that dogs, when they seem to be "getting it," are not having an "ah-ha" moment....they're not logically going through it all in their minds like, "Oh! Now I get it. She doesn't want me to pee inside because it ruins the carpet." No....they are simply repeating a behavior which pays off better for them. (they're innocently selfish and do what works for them)
Based on the operant conditioning principle, the way ALL mammals learn, the way any organism with a brain learns.... it goes like this: You do this and that happens. You do this other thing and that other thing happens. Humans know why and can analyze, rationalize etc. Dogs are more simple than that. The puppy goes outside and something good happens. He is prevented from going inside with proper supervision and so that behavior has no payoff because it doesn't even have a chance to happen. So, going outside becomes the behavior of choice, not because he knows that humans don't like getting their house messed up, but because is simply works better for them to go outside. Then it becomes a learned habit and behavior.
People need to stop projecting human ways of thinking, morals, our value system on dogs. Dogs don't care about wrecking carpet. They have no concept at all that our stuff is valuable to us and wrecking it is an immoral thing to do. Aversives do not tell the dog what it is you do want. Sure, harshness, stern punishment can halt a behavior. But the damaging side effects are not worth the value of stopping the behavior because there are other ways to stop unwanted behavior.....in the positive reinforcement approach.
This Walt Disney way of perceiving dogs, like they're so smart, understand English, know what we want all the time.....although it makes a good story, it's really doing dogs a disservice because it causes dogs to be mistreated since they're not understanding us like Lassie does. People place too high of expectations on dogs. They're animals, not humans. They're smart, but they're not that smart. I'm mentioning this in a general way. You may not have been too harsh but just want to mention it in a general way.

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Excellent excellent posts Doberluv! Thanks for the wealth of info. :)
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