March 15, 2002
Friday

In the last episode, you had gotten to the point of teaching Rover to let you know when he has to go outside. You've taught him that going to The Door and wiggling his butt, or ringing the bell that's at his nose level, opens The Door. Magic.

But what we have to remember is that Rover is the stranger in a strange land here. He doesn't speak our language, and the language he does know is diametrically opposed to what we want to teach him. What is engraved in his genes by generations of canines before him, and that has been reinforced by his mother since birth, is that it's OK to pee anyplace you don't eat or sleep. The wonderful Denning Instinct that makes crate training possible.

But Rover's a pretty intelligent guy. Otherwise he and his brethren would never have been able to overcome the huge obstacles standing in the way of coexistence with us, as poorly as we tolerate things not going our way, and as clumsy we are as teachers. We get the built-in advantage that all this boy wants to so is to please us. But if he's not getting it fairly quickly, it's not because he's stupid, it's because we're not teaching him clearly enough what it is that we want from him.

So, Rover's ringing the bell or wiggling his butt by the back door. Now what?

Now we go outside to a ten by ten area in the backyard, or front yard, that we designate as the Potty. Leave one of his fresher stools there, just to remind him what the Potty is all about. And now you're out there with him, and he's sniffing around, watching butterflies, chasing raindrops. Everything but going to the bathroom. That's OK. Don't get discouraged. He'll learn.

But only if we clearly reward him for doing it right, and if we only use negative reinforcement if we're sure we're discouraging the right thing.

Next week: What if he does it right?

Note: Georgie Girl - Puppy Photo by Gigi Pilcher

 

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