Okay, before I launch into telling you what seems to be working with Bailey, I need to get the disclaimer out of the way: 1) Bailey's only 12 weeks old and we've only had her 4 weeks, and 2) After 3 1/2 weeks of the normal frustration of potty training a pup, we've only been accident-free for 3 days. This is sorta long. For those of you who bother to read it all, I hope there’s something it it that helps.
Hardly a long track record, and I know puppies almost always regress at some point for some period of time, but through last Thursday night I don't think we had even 4 waking hours in a row without an incident. Now we've been through a few hours shy of 3 full days without a problem. Up until we started this plan, Bailey was almost defiant about pooping outdoors. We would find her little surprises behind chairs or under tables all the time, though we were taking her out FREQUENTLY.
So here's what we've done. It's mostly stuff you've heard, and probably stuff you’ve done, but we have put it all together in a pattern that doesn’t vary.
1. I fenced in a 6' x 6' area just outside our back door. That's her spot. Just 24" wide hardware cloth and some wooden stakes. I've never even seen an expen (is that how it's spelled?), but from conversations in YT, I'm sure they'd serve the same purpose. Mine only cost $20 for materials and a few minutes to drive in the stakes.
2. We keep a baggie of treats close to the door. They are very tiny treats. We use some soft treats that can be easily cut up to less than 1/4" cube. Just make it something your baby really likes – but very little of it.
3. As soon as she is taken out of her crate in the morning, she is taken to her spot, grabbing a few treats on the way.
4. When we put her down, we tell her once to "go potty." Previously, I had prompted her repeatedly until she finally did. It has seemed to work better since I’ve forced myself to only tell her once. When she does, she is immediately praised and given a treat. (After the first day, she has begun looking us right in the eye while she’s pottying – and as quickly as we can start saying “good girl, good potty” she is at our feet claiming her treat. When we first started, I would pick her up right then and head back in. I quickly changed to giving her 10 minutes (and I try to keep it very close to the same amount of time each trip out). I did that because she will sometimes pee 2 or 3 times before we come back in. Often, she will poop on this trip out, but not always. Other than praise for doing what she’s there for and the occasional “no” when she starts digging, I resist the urge to talk to her at all, the time in her spot is all business. When I pick her up to go back inside, I love on her and talk to her and generally enjoy being with her.
5. When we get back in the house, she gets her breakfast. 15-20 minutes later we go back outside, following the procedure above exactly. Whether she pooped the first time out or not, she generally does on this trip. Again, when she does what she was brought out to do, she gets praised and petted like she just won “Best of Show.” If she doesn’t potty and we really think she needs to, we don’t give her more time. We bring her back in. Depending on what’s going on in the house, she either goes back in the crate or she’s allowed to roam close by us – under very close observation. If she shows any sign at all of looking for a spot, she goes out immediately. Otherwise she will go out about two hours later.
6. The rest of the day, she’s taken out about ever two hours, always with everything exactly the same. As she gets older, obviously the time between trips will stretch.
That’s it. It’s long, and there’s really nothing new about it at all – but we’ve had three totally accident-free days and at her age I think that’s pretty good. (In fact, just as I'm finishing this, my wife came in to tell me that Bailey was just out and "did it all" - this is actually 3 days and about a half hour.) |