 my dog vs. your dog?
Ok, so here's a word of encouragement!!!
Sully has only had 2 "accidents" in the past 4 months! And that was becasue we left town for a week, left him with a sitter, etc. He was happy and fine and WELL taken care of, but he had trouble adjusting once he got back home, we think.
But other than that, no problems! We were patient with him, crate trained him, never once let him think it was acceptable to pee or poop in the house....Sully is wonderful!
Despite all the stories, it's so worth it. Sully knows about 11 different tricks, loves playing with kids, strangers, anyone! He goes to work with me and sits in my desk and is quiet and patient, and friendly to all my coworkers! He visits area nursing homes and entertains the residents. I guess you could say he does more community service than I do, haha! Sully will sleep in our bed, and sleep in until I am ready to get up (and I work nights so this is a huge blessing).
In my opinion -
It is all about consistency and praise. If you make it 100 percent unacceptable for your dog to pee or poo in the house, they'll figure it out. When Sully went outside, we tried the treats thing, but we felt leery about giving him a treat for doign something he should do anyway, so we just did praise. And we fussed at him really bad when he had an accident.
I have never had a dog before. I am certain that my way of going about training Sully wasn't genius - just consistent, and he's a very smart dog. That's one of the best traits, among many, about Yorkies. They're so smart, and teachable!
Congrats on your soon-to-be new addition to your family! If you want to talk more about this, feel free to PM me anytime! |