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Potty Training Headaches

Trying to Potty Train Yadi definitely made me want to pull my hair out!!  When he came home, from his breeder at AJ's County Corgis he was litter box trained, and that was great.  It made having him at work with me so much easier.
Our other dog at the time an Australian Cattle Dog named Loki, made that really hard to use at home.

Kong Wobbler
 Kong Wobbler so he he was used to hitting everything with his paws to get the food out.  I had to end up getting him elevated bowls because he kept flipping his food and water bowls.  Well as Yadi got bigger and I needed to move his littler box outside of his crate Loki would flip it thinking it was some sort of puzzle that would give him food.
When Loki was a puppy I fed him out of a

We had just bought our house 5 months before we got Yadi so I didn't know if Parvo was in the yard or not and I did not want to risk it so I didn't start working on taking him outside until he was 12 weeks old and had had all of his shots. Just in case you're wondering, Parvovirus can live in the ground for up to 10 years.    Loki made it harder at home because he shredded potty pads and make it really hard to teach Yadi where to go inside. As soon as he had all his shots though we started heading outside.

One of the important parts about going potty outside that I try to make sure all my puppy parents know is that it takes time for your pup to get bored.  If they are too busy exploring, it's going to take them longer to go potty.  Why does that matter you ask? Because your pup is not going to go to the bathroom unless there is nothing new outside to explore.

Yadi was diagnosed with Cryptorchidism at just 8 weeks old. This is where one of his testicles did not
Yadi at 8 weeks old
descend as it should have when he was born,  This is a genetic defect and requires surgery to correct. When left uncorrected it increases by 10 times, the dog's chances of getting cancer.  Dogs with Cryptorchidism should always be neutered, as this is a genetic defect, to make sure that it is not passed on any pups they could sire.  Pups with this condition also have increased chances of developing behavior problems with intact males and urine marking.

Well the Marking was definitely something we had an issue with.  He had always been a ladies man and anytime a female dog came though the doors he had to mark.  You can imagine how hard that became with him being at work with me in a grooming salon.  I finally resorted to making him wear a belly band when we were at my office because I could not get anything done for having to stop and clean up pee every 5 minutes.

Part of my problem is that I have forgotten from Potty Training my son Ian,  that I have to plan my whole day around taking potty breaks.  Then when we go outside I'm so pushed for time, I forget that we need to set a timer for how long we need to stay outside so that he can get bored and do his business.  I truly believe the hardest part of potty training is us being human and not giving our dogs the time they need.

I went back to my basic schedule for potty habit training, with Yadi and now we are doing so much better.

Sometimes our dogs don't even know how to tell us they need to go out and there are things we can do for that to help them.  I'll cover the Art of Potty Bells in another post.  The big things to remember in potty training are this:
  • We are forming the HABIT of going outside to do our business
  • Watch our dog for any signs that mean they need to go
  • Give them the time to get bored outside
  • Don't free feed them, if you don't know when the food is going in, you don't know when it needs to come out
  • Don't be in a hurry!
Now my general schedule for potty training requires you to either use a crate, or using a leash as to keep your dog with you.  
After feeding your dog, put them in their crate or keep them with you leashed up for at least 30 minutes. 
Mom I just wanna sit in
in the pretty flowers.
Go outside with your pup for at least 5 minutes and keep them on the leash.  Do not go walking all around your yard/block.  Go to 1 spot and stay there.  You need to let your pup get bored so they will actually go to the bathroom.  

If they do potty, GREAT!!  Praise/treat them and then let them run around and play or explore.  If they don't then we go back in the crate or back inside on the leash for another 10 -15 minutes, and repeat the process.  We are also working on setting up the habit that we go potty before we play.  

We also need to take our pups out about every 20 -30 minutes to go pee as well.

Potty Training  or other questions can be directed to me at dog.trainer.girl@gmail.com
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