So when we brought home Levi, we were pretty surprised to find that he already preferred to use potty pads instead of the floor. Sure, he had a couple of accidents here and there, but he still would always go to the pad if the pad was available.
Anyways, whenever he went on his potty pad, we would always praise him by telling him that he was a good boy, using the baby voice, and petting him. He ate up the praise like it was no tomorrow and didn't even need any sort of food reward to reinforce the behavior. In fact, not only does he eat up the praise, he desires it! In Levi's kennel downstairs, his potty pad is out of view from where my bed is.. so I cannot see him when he does the deed. While I know that most dogs need praise right after the behavior to reinforce it, this does not seem to ring true with Levi.
You see, lately, whenever Levi goes pee or poop on his pad without me seeing, he does everything he can to let me know what he did after he finishes. He'll jump up on the bars, pace around and stare at me, or even straight run into the bars to get my attention. Once I come over and he sees me see the pad he gets all excited because he KNOWS he is going to get praised! I swear he is the exact opposite of the guilty dogs people always see on youtube! It's hilarious!
Anybody else have similar experiences?
