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That’s why we have cats. Although once we get the country property we’ll have dogs too.
When I was a kid, we had dalmations for a while (and cats). My brother and I had the jobs of walking them (meaning taking them to the woods and run around with them for an hour), and taking care of them otherwise. So the solution is obvious: adopt a 7 year old kid!
Liane, crate training is the best way to housebreak the dog since, like you said, they don’t like to sleep in their own excrement. But now that they’re spoiled whiny adults, sticking them in a crate is a sure way to a night without sleep for me. Hey how did you train them to scratch at the door? I need to do that somehow. Right now they just stare at me whining and I have to <i>guess</i> what the hell they’re on about. Half the time it’s because they want what we’re eating. Brats.
Dave, your parents were lucky. I’ve heard about plenty of kids who beg for pets, but it’s the parents who end up cleaning after them.
What I really love is when you take them outside and it’s raining. Then they just stand there and look up at you indignantly as if they’re too good to poop in the rain, or as if you could control the weather and would you just please turn off the rain for a few minutes.
Actually I had to deal with that just yesterday! It was the first time raining since we instituted this new “policy”. I had to go to work and it was raining. I opened the door and they stared at me like, “Are you nuts??” I walked out into the patio to encourage them to come out. Again with the staring. So they didn’t go. I don’t know how to <i>make</i> them go. Do you?
Sorry, no...I deal with kitty litter *blech*
Kitty litter, yeah that’s a different sort of eww to deal with. We had cats for awhile. They definitely allow for more flexibility with not being home.
Here’s what we did:
When they come to you like that, and you suspect they need out, make sure you say “you need to go out?” or something similar a lot, repeat it, so they associate that with going outside. My dogs jump and wag when they need to go out, and someone says that.
Then when you get them to the door, make them bark, if you can. Tell them to speak...this might not work if that wasn’t one of the things you taught them, but they can be taught to bark at the door regardless. It’s easier to hear from another room lol. If you want them to scratch at the door, keep saying “you need to go out?” and move their paw up and down, and make them scratch the door (basically making them a puppet for a sec 
) then after you do that, praise them A LOT and let them out. Just keep doing that until they do it on their own...it’s hard work but it is the best way to get em to learn.
Keep in mind that they will associate behavior with something that happens. “If I scratch this door, mommy lets me out. If I don’t, I pee myself and get spanked.” Also, dogs have a vocabulary that surprises even me. So talk to them when you’re doing this stuff, cause they’ll associate words with behavior too. :D
At least they’ll poop when they’re on leash. Charlie won’t poop unless he’s alone in the backyard under the cover of night. I’d hate to see what would happen if we moved to Alaska in the summer or something. Heh. Poor dog would explode.
KG, sometimes they won’t. They last night they wouldn’t poop at all, until we came back and I let them into the back yard. <i>Then</i> they did their business. But I can understand, I don’t like to use public restroom either if I can help it!
Liane, thanks for the explanation! I might give it a try, if I can find the patience.
Get used to it. We’ve never had a fenced in yard in our 8 1/2 years of dog ownership, so I completely understand the poop obsession. Be thankful you don’t have put on boots and a winter coat and mittens,to take them out in the snow and below freezing temps as soon as you get out of bed, or before you go to bed, or even in the middle of the night. Sorry am I coming across as unsympathetic?
Just a tad unsympathetic, but believe me, I AM grateful I don’t have to deal with snow. These little guys won’t even go out in the rain, how would I make these shivering beasts walk voluntarily into <i>snow?</i>
LOL I thought my lil dog was the only one who’d rather explode than go in the rain. lol
We’ve never lived in an apartment that allows dogs, so we have cats and just deal with the litter. Did you know they make litter boxes for dogs, too? That’s just weird.
But what you need is one of <a href="http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=732&N=2001+113065" target="_blank">these</a>! LOL! Or two, I guess, but they’re on clearance for $4.99!
I crate-trained Daisy so I don’t have a clue. But I DO know that it’s like you said with the parenting thing. Too funny. I suspect though, that you’ll get to a point where you’ll know their ‘schedule’.
Daisy LOVES the snow. She runs around and around in circles, burying her face in the stuff. It’s funny.
Daisy must be a big dog with lots of thick fur to keep her warm, because my little chihuahuas <i>hate</i> the cold. Forget about snow, they’d create a pooping area somewhere inside my house most likely.
Barb, too funny. I put one on them and they’d just start looking at me with big pleading eyes, “Why are you torturing me?”
Really? I didn’t know you had chi’s. I always thought they were inherently fashionable. 
Heh, yup, they’re little and think the world of themselves. They <i>are</i> inherently fashionable, according to them. That’s why they think any outfit they’re forced to wear clashes. They HATE wearing sweaters, even if it keeps them warm.
You can meet the little buggers <a href="http://www.iliveunderarock.com/index.php/site/meet_the_furballs/" target="_blank">here</a>.
Just took a quick look--OMG--they are <i>too</i> cute! Have to run for now, though, but I will “meet” them better later. 
They are very cute, and they know it!
“Oh look who made a poopy? Good boy! That’s a very good poopy!”
I laughed SO hard. lol.
And what you’re doing now is what we do. My parents refuse to build a dog door, so we just let em out. When we go out to eat or something, they’ve learned to hold it until we get back, and it’s really usually not an issue.
If you want to train them to go out, just make sure you do what you’re doing now, try to get em to go at night. We trained our dogs to bark and scratch at the door when they wanted out.
They knew the door let them out to go do their business, and that they got punished for going inside. So we had them speak before we let them out, every time, and now they do it on their own.
It’s a pain in the ass, but if you don’t have a dog door, it’s that or leave em outside. lol
Oh and if you can get one of those crates, they seem to be able to hold it longer. I guess they don’t want to stand in their own excrement...that even goes for puppies. If they do go in the crate, also, you can just hose the thing down. No picking anything up
Well...cep the crate to carry it outs...yknow what I mean. lol
Liane | 11.28.2006 | 12:43 PM