During an episode of the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan made the comment that it is not a good thing when your dog leans on you. It is important to qualify the statement, when the comment was made it was in reference to a specific incident. I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be a blanket comment but it did make me think about why my dog Buster leans on me.Buster always had a habit of leaning on me and it always made me feel needed. I had to know why I shouldn’t let him, because in my mind, Buster leaned on me for the same reason a toddler leans on her mother. As a mother, I guess I was a little insulted. I mean what’s wrong with that, I liked it when Buster leaned.
I decided to keep track of when he engaged in this behaviour, a little empirical data collecting sounded like fun. So for the next month I tracked Buster’s leaning behaviour and I read what I could find on the subject. Upon careful analysis of the data I collected, in a nut shell, Buster leaned on me when our other dogs were in the same vicinity. I soon noticed he would lean on me whenever my children and I were talking or just goofing around. He would insert himself between my children and me, especially the younger ones.
Once I completed my research, not allowing the behaviour
made sense. It became apparent that Buster viewed me as his human, instead of the other way around. He was like a jealous lover, never allowing anyone near me. For example, my friends were walking by our house with their cute little lap dog. At first, Buster and he got along great until the lap dog had the gall walk near me. Buster attacked the little guy. He didn’t hurt him and when told, Buster stopped. If Buster wanted to hurt him he could have, but he was making a point and that was I belonged to him.
I’m sure we can all agree being in a relationship with a jealous person isn’t healthy. They don’t get better, they only get more possessive and yes more dominating. Luckily dogs, unlike a jealous human, can learn more acceptable behaviour. Learning to see my dogs as dogs instead of children really put things into perspective. And I truly believe all my dogs are happier because of it.
Nurturing the nature of your puppy
Nothing is more frustrating than walking to the washroom in the middle of the night, trying to maintain minimal consciousness and inadvertently stepping in your not-so-sweet-anymore puppy's defecation. The best you can do, at the moment, is clean it up with a bleach-based or specialty cleaner to eliminate the smell. You make a mental note to self; it's time to get serious about housebreaking your pup.
House training your puppy won't happen overnight; being mentally and materially prepared over the next few weeks will help you with the process. Stock up on, not only supplies, but patience and time. Tell friends, family and work peeps you are housebreaking your pet this weekend, so do not disturb! Make a rule, if anyone disturbs you they can clean up the mess. :) OK, maybe you don't need to be that rigid but its important to set aside the time and make the commitment. Both will benefit you 10-fold.
Cleaning Supplies
Investing in cleaning supplies such as a specialty cleaner, or beach-based cleaner, paper towels and puppy pads will help ease the work load. Old newspapers for the lining of the kennel or in spots they tend to have accidents are also a good idea. If you use a mop be sure to rinse thoroughly, otherwise your just moving the urine or feces around the area.
Optimal Age
Your new puppy should be at least 6 - 8 weeks old, 8 weeks and fully weaned is ideal. Trying to house break your puppy too early will only serve to frustrate you and your puppy. Your puppy's routine will include a number of bathroom breaks, these breaks are mostly about timing. At two months old he is capable of understanding that you want to relieve himself while outside, but he won't yet understand why he cannot go inside. Thus you are catching him before he gets a chance to have an accident inside.
It makes more sense to follow and observe nature than it does work against it. You wouldn't plant a flower in clay, during the middle of winter and in the shade. Therefore, house training your puppy will yield better results when you work within the parameters of nature. Your best shot will be to nurture your puppy's desire to please you, emphasize her desire throughout the day and remind her not to go where she sleeps.
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| Outside and she can't help herself |
When potty training a child we humans tend to make a big deal of poop in the potty. No need to buy potty training books to read to your little guy or let the whole world know the potty is dirty, a simple pat on the head, belly rub or good girl will yield the same results - a continued desire to please you.
Your puppy will want to relieve himself 5 - 30 minutes after they eat and usually about 15 minutes after they drink. So it is important to be cognizant of this time frame. When they wake up in the morning and before and after their naps are also good times for a short walk.
When Mom is still feeding her puppies she keeps them clean and their area clean. Puppy learns early on that waste does not belong in the sleeping or resting area. Some wobbly puppies even go to the other end of the kennel as soon as they can walk.
Nurture
Patience and perseverance will be the key to your success. Nurturing the nature of your puppy will help her to make the connection between her need to relieve herself and your need to have her do it outside.
After you have readied yourself, begin by following a strict routine; in the morning, after meals and naps, and then before she settles in for the night. Early on, it's about helping her make correlations rather than actually relieving herself, so take her out often, take her to the same spot and if you have older dogs take them too.
Dogs are very capable of recognizing associations. A psychologist, who you have no doubt heard of, by the name of Pavlov discovered just how capable dogs are in his famous study with Dobermans. The short of it is, dogs, like humans, salivate when they are about to be fed. Pavlov began ringing the bell then feeding, soon the dogs were salivating at the sound of the bell. The point being here, that your puppy will learn more from accidents than from successes.
Prior to her turning six months you're basically catching your bundle of fur before she relieves herself. But in doing so, she will begin to associate her need to relieve herself with being outside not to mention the praise or treats she receives. Between 4 - 6 months old let your puppy know you're not pleased with the mess on the floor but do not scold. Be sure to express your disapproval within five minutes or so of the accident, being careful to disapprove of the mess not your puppy.
Crate Training
Crate training should only be used once you're confident your puppy will not randomly relieve himself in the crate. A younger puppy will eventually have an accident in her kennel but an older puppy will whine. The only time she is allowed out is for bathroom breaks, play time, meal time and exercise. The times in between should be longer and longer. You want your puppy to whine or reach for the latch so that she can associate that behaviour with being allowed to go outside and do her business. Let her out to walk freely after a day or two to test the waters. If she is still indiscriminately peeing then it's back to the routine. (In my experience with training 6 puppies 5 they got it on the second round and 1 on the third.)
Accidents
Messes will happen, obviously more often when they are rambunctious and easily distracted. As they get older they may go on the floor for any number of reasons; out of spite, excited, or missed cues. When she is still very young never make her feel bad for doing something that's natural. When they are older however, you can show you are not impressed but do not punish them. Dogs want to make you happy so be sure to let them know how happy you are when they relieve themselves outside.
Trainable Pit - so cute
This cute video just goes to show you how trainable and intelligent this breed truly is, especially with the right training. This smart dog is calm and cannot wait to please his human. Such a cute video. Please feel free to leave comments. Follow my blog so as not to miss a thing!!
Training Tips
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