[Aaron]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14416209%26method=full%26siteid=50143%26headline=greeks--to-gas-15-000-dogs-before-olympics--name_page.html

Ummm... wow.

[sporky]

I know psychology is generally in reference to humans, but I would like to perform a humane experiment on my dog.

We got a Pomeranian puppy some time ago, and he still hasn't learned potty training. I've thought of a rather odd method of trying to train him, but I'd like feedback on it before I try it.
I'm thinking, since I lock him up in my room(not in like a crate, he has free reign in my room)while I'm at school or when we go out, I could put a puppy mat on the floor. When I return home, I go check on how many spots are on the mat. For every spot in the mat I give him a small treat.
Would he comprehend why he is receiving treats?
And I'm really not sure how to get him to NOT shred the mat and eat it like he does when he gets bored, or how to get him just to use the mat and not abuse it in the first place.
Help plz?
Thanks a lot.

[Ferretlover]

Generally speaking, no he won't know why he is getting the treats. You need to be with him when he eliminates-in the rightspot, treat. If you have time and catch him about to go, quickly put him on the mat. When he finishes, treat.
If he's still very young, that may account for the chewing. However, it is generally accepted that pets do develop and can suffer depression, and will chew to have something to do. Starts with rugs, shoes, anything within their range that they can get ahold of, then, often leads to scratching, chewing and shredding doors, etc.
You might try spending some time with him and actively exercising him to tire him out before you have to leave him in the room.
Most companion animals: dogs, cats, ferrets, etc., are social animals, not loners.
You might also consider buying one of those all open metal cages (put mat and blanket, toy,etc., on the floor and put him in there, but move it from room to room so he has different things to look at..

Maybe some others here will have some more ideas!

[horsestoaster]

First of all,make sure your crate is big enough so he can use one end to go the bathroom and still have room to lay down.Especially if you are gone for a period of time of 6 hours or more.Try to put a mat or potty pad at that end so there is a clear dilineation of where to go and not to go potty.Alot of smaller breeds(Pommies,Jacks,Yorkies) seem harder to train than say,Labs,Shepherds.They are somehow more stubborn on this one point.But they can learn though if you are CONSISTENT.Above all else be this.After a dog,especially a young dog,goes to the bathroom it's a done deal and reward or punishment becomes disassociated from the behavior.Be patient.Be consistent.But rewarding your dog for past offenses or good behavior is really not going to give you any progress.I've had many dogs all but one became potty trained.that one was a yorkie that had been "trained" to go potty on a certain mat because her owner was gone all day.I got the dog when she was eight.She did get better,but because of her age and being incontinent because of her age I had to continue giving her a mat in the night time.(she lived to 16)

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('sporky', 'I') know psychology is generally in reference to humans, but I would like to perform a humane experiment on my dog.

[horsestoaster]

ps.it's a puppy.They chew,especially when left unsupervised.(had two Lab puppies demolish an entire coffee table once in like three hours!)Put bitter apple on any items that are unacceptable for the dog to chew.It makes a difference.Again,patience and consistency are key.If bad behaviors continue consider a training class.I keep my dogs many many years.Think of it as an investment in your inner peace.A dog is a companion,not an experiment.A good dog can be more solice and more pleasure than alot of humans could ever hope to be.

[sporky]

You need to be with him when he eliminates-in the rightspot, treat. If you have time and catch him about to go, quickly put him on the mat. When he finishes, treat.

He's only in my room while I'm at school. So he has plenty of oppurtunity to puddle without me being there to correct him. My mom works at a school as well, so nobody's home to watch him. I usually take him him outside as soon as I get home, but he won't go out there. I put his crate in my room while he's in there, i had it where it was in front of the door so he could see out into the living room but he learned to jump over the crate and escape. It's not even the shredding of the mats that bothers me; right now, my main goal is to get him potty trained.

[bobaloo]

Just went through this not too long ago, here's what I remember.

First, dogs can hold it about one hour for each month of age (obviously with an upper limit as they approach a year in age. In other words, if the pup's only 2 or 3 months old don't expect it to wait 6 hours for you to get back from school.

The way we did it was to take the dog outside at frequent intervals, with encouragement, waiting and watching with lots of congratulations when done properly. Our dog REALLY didn't like the rain last winter, but after a while she learned to get out, do her business and come back in, once we made it plain we were ready to wait all night if needed.

Dogs really don't like to make a mess in their home, if you take them outside often enough they'll pretty much train themselves. Just be sure to take hour out every couple of hours if you're dealing with a small puppy.

Oh, one more thing, the smell of urine is a signal that it's a good spot to go. If they do go inside you have to clean THOROUGHLY to remove the odor or they'll keep going there. We had to take our area rug out of the living room, puppy had a mistake there when we first got her and kept going back there to pee. Once we got the rug out the problem quit.

[TWilliam]

One of the best books on basic dog training is Good Dog, Bad Dog, by Mordecai Siegal and Matthew Margolis (make sure you check the authors, there are a few books out there with the same, or very similar, titles). Get the "New and Revised" edition. It is an excellent book that not only teaches methods, but explains the "dog psychology" behind them. It also addresses correcting common problem behaviors, as well as some of the human behaviors that lead to problems to begin with, issues with specific common breeds, and it has a very effective and humane method for properly "potty training" a dog.

One thing to be aware of is that if you train a dog to relieve itself indoors, this is a habit that will likely never be completely broken. If it becomes a problem down the road, you will have no one to blame but yourself, so think long and hard about whether it is something you really want.