When we first got Echo, we planned to potty train her outside. We picked out a spot for her to use and a command phrase ("Go potty"). An eight-week old puppy needs to go about every two hours. And October in Tennessee at four in the morning is not warm. She would just sit, shivering, for the 20 minutes I could stand being out there and then promptly pee in her crate once we came back inside. I am not the most patient person at four in the afternoon, let alone four in the morning after having the same thing happen at midnight and 2 am. After two nights of this, we decided to start the potty training in the garage. Just get her so she's not going in the house. We bought the pee pads and set up an area in the middle of the garage for her to use.
Once she was peeing on the mats nearly every time, we added a new challenge. We hung a bell from the door in the kitchen that goes out to the garage. Each time we took her out, we used her paw to ring the bell. It didn't take long for her to figure out that she should ring the bell when she needs to go potty. If she rings the bell and goes to the bathroom on a pee pad, she gets a treat when she comes back inside.
It has begun backfiring on us. Now, whenever she's hungry, she rings the bell, goes out and pees just a little, and comes back in for her treat. Wait two minutes. And repeat. Again. And again. And again.
Dave decided the other night not to let her get the best of us, though. So, after each little pee, he gave her a treat--he treated her with love. He petted her and told her what a good dog she is. We'll see how long it takes to break her of that bad habit.
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