Never used punishment here. Just praise and reward when they do it right. If I caught them in the act, I would make a distracting noise, pick them up and take them to the proper place (pad or outside) say "do potty" and do the "potty dance celebration" when they succeed. (don't ask, lol)

Thanks for all of the helpful replies. I truly appreciate them! :)

Ladymom is that from "the idiot's guide to positive dog training"? I love that book. It's really helped us out a lot.

The other problem with punishing (even with a loud no and clap) is that the puppy may just think that you are angry with them for going potty, and will then try to hide when they do it, resulting in going potty under the bed or behind furniture. They don't really get it why we are mad at them most of the time, and it leads to more stress and more issues.

So we are sticking with heavily rewarding him for going in the "right" area, and "setting him up for success" by watching closely and keeping in crate.

You are correct about this, and some experts think that some dogs who eat their poop are doing so because they are trying to "hide the evidence." :eek:

So I guess to save money in these hard economic time, I can't bag up Daisy's poop and feed it to her to cut down on the kibble bill???:eek:

Just kidding!!!! No hateful messages please. Just trying to lighten up the thread. :rolleyes:

~Kathy:animal-pa

My yorkie is almost 2 yrs old and still has accidents. I have trained her to go outside and thought it would be easier to get a doggie door. Well, that worked UNTIL night time. She thinks that since nobody is watching her that she can get away with pooping in the house. I have tried bringing her to the location and getting on to her and putting her out the doggie door. I don't know what else to do. I feel her peeing is going great outside (at least as far as I know) :)
The doggie door is so convenant and I recommend everyone getting one. Just find a way for her to go out at night too! :) If anyone has any suggestions on that let me know

If she's pooping at night when everyone is asleep, I would put her in a crate.

well I have found if she is in a crate at night she whines. Also, I love her to sleep wtih me. :)

I agree that you should NOT be saying NO. You only want NO to be used for something serious!If you say NO, they will think that pottying is bad. Instead I think it is better to just make a sound to distract them, like "hey" then pick them up and take them where you want them to potty and praise praise praise. save the NO for when you need it, like if they are chewing a light cord or running to the street

At first I tried to ignore (not punish) accidents in the house while praising the heck out of Teddi when he would go outside. But after a few weeks, he still didn't get the idea that it was not good to go inside the house. So I started saying "Bad boy!" in a loud mad/disappointed voice and making a mad face whenever I discovered his pee/poo (which was not very hard to do! :P), and then would ignore him for a few minutes after I finished cleaning it all up (now this was the hard part!). For some reason, it worked and now he hardly ever goes inside the house.

Continuation of my post above...
After reading a previous post, I wanted to point out that I doubt Teddi would eat his poo to "hide the evidence" because I would be able to tell from his breath... Teddi's a mad licker and never fails to lick my face at least 10x a day! I guess unless he licks his poo all away (I hope not!) Also, I've seen him react to his poo... he runs away like it's a plague!

The paper story got me too!! The few times our male has been bad and I have scolded him harshly with my voice and he was tramatized. LOL Everytime he saw me walk over by the PLACE he would hide under the chair even if he had been good.

I finally figured out that once Daisy and Skippy have went on their Pee pad each one time, they want a new, clean pad! DUH! Now, no more accidents. I maybe change them 3 times a day. Sometimes we go outside, but that is just a bonus for them. If I'm going to be gone more hours I just put down more pads to get them by.

I don't punish when there has been an accident. If you don't catch the dog within 7 seconds of the accident they won't have a clue what you are fussing about. If I catch him I say "outside" in a firm voice and I bring him outside. I tried the crate but it didn't work for him. Instead I supervised him constantly, which takes patience. I take him out after every nap, after playtime and after eating. Then I watch the clock and take note of his last pee or poop. I just kept taking him out and pretty soon he got the message that this is were he needs to go. I also walk him daily, if it is not too cold.
I keep a pee pad in the kitchen and if I've missed a pee time he always pees on the pad and I praise him for that. We could go a week though without a pee on the pad so most of his pees are outside.
He had a problem with loose stools while on Wellness Dry and had a hard time holding it. When he had an accident I never scolded him, I just said, "I know baby ... you are trying." He wants to please so much. Then I put him on Orijen Dry and his poops are back to being firm He can hold it and its his little puppy farts that tell us it's time to go out.
He also will pace at the back door if he really needs to go. We bought Odie at 8 months and he was not housebroken. He is 10 months now and I would say he is pretty much there.
Patience, love, praise (lots of praise) and even more patience gets the job done! Also I think a thousand kisses a day helps too!!!