Re: [PyrNet-L] Re: toilet training

["Tracy Bassett" <espinay@dynamite.com.au>]

>Help! I  have a pyr (Bear) whom we rescued at age 18 months in Jan. He
>started out not being housebroken.  Well we worked on that an on and off he
>seemed to be kinda of getting it.  About 20% of the time with the poop and
>almost 100% of the time with pee. Wee, it snowed and rained for days and
>days and he just started going outside with me and sniffing everything and
>coming in after sometimes 1/2 hour to poop in our garage, porch, living
room  ....... This about sums it up except for the human who is at her wits
>end. We also had no information about him and his habits before we got him
>(He probably was given up because he wasn't house broken) hahaha. Any help
>would be appreciated.  Thanks Deanna and Bear in Colorado


Deanna, here is one method I have seen used with success.  Takes a bit of
effort - patience, persistence and consistency are essential - but then in
cases like this, that is what you need (as well as a sense of humour! :-D )

What you can do is tie the dog to you (to your belt etc) when he is inside
in those places you do not want him to go. Use a lead long enough that he
can lie down and you can move around him comfortably, like from one bench in
the kitchen to the other, without asking him to get up (and you can go to
the toilet yourself and leave him - still tied to you - outside the door!
:-D).  Don't make it too long though that he can get out of sight or tangle
around anything. Keep him tied to you not matter what you are doing.  If you
need to go from one room to the other, he has to follow you and go with you.
You will know what he is doing at all times.  Give him the opportunity to go
outside (with you) periodically.  If he poos or pees outside, praise him and
give him a treat (have them ready in your pocket).  Make a fuss about what a
wonderful dog he is.  If you are inside and he starts to go (you will know
as he is tied to you by that 'umbilical chord' and is close to you), growl
at him (a quick 'Argh'!), and distract him from what he is doing by quickly
leading him outside to go out there.  When he does his stuff outside,
praise, reward with a treat and make a big fuss of him.

Now this may take a few weeks.  You will have to be very vigilant.  the
important thing for the first few weeks is that you need to make sure that
he has NO free access to those areas you do not want him to 'go' in, so that
he has NO chance to make a 'mistake' in the early stages of re-training (if
he is not with you, he is either in his crate or outside).  And even when
you start taking him off the lead inside (don't try and do this too quickly,
give it a few weeks to make the new behaviour a habit) you will need to keep
an eye on him and go out with him to praise and reward.  The pattern of
behaviour seems, from what you say about Bear, to be well set in now so
there will be no quick fixes.  Good luck

Tracy Bassett
espinay@dynamite.com.au
Canberra, Australia