In the words of Sam, "he has such a great personality!" He can be cheeky and stubborn at times, but I'm learning consistency is a pretty big key. And the thing I've been most adamant and consistent about is taking him "outside" to "go potty!" Up until a week ago, I thought he would never be housebroken. (It doesn't help that we talked to a guy with a 7 yr old Yorkie-poo that, even with training, STILL goes potty in the house. Yeah, that's a bit discouraging.) We've had him for two months now and just when I thought he was learning that "potty" + "outside" = "treat," I find him squatting briefly, and then running from me--before I can even react. You'd think he did it on purpose....
However, the past couple days have given me hope once more. I was in the middle of making bread (there's never a "convenient" time for having to go potty), when I suddenly realized that I couldn't hear him tumbling around on the floor behind me. With dough still stuck to my hands, I looked under the table, down the hall, behind the curtains, and finally found him sitting upright, ears perked, in front of the door. As I approached, he looked at me. "Do you have to go outside?" He answered with a swish-swish of his tail. Taking him outside, we got to the grass where I told him, "go potty" and HE WENT! Baby steps!
And I'm learning that giving commands is MUCH needed.
I've watched a lot of videos on this and have had a few people tell me that even if you didn't give the command, and the dog goes potty outside, "yes you should praise him for it, that way he'll keep doing it." Sounds good and everything, but in this scenario, he's associating the action of going potty with a reward. Good? No, it's a problem, because at any random time--usually in the house--he'll remember "when I went potty, I got a treat!" and he'll squat in hopes to get a treat. But I want him to associate the command with the reward. So I've only praised him when I make the command--which I try not to let him go potty without me giving the command. "Set your dog up for success!" they say. I definitely agree with the positive training method. Positive results come from positive training.
As I said in a previous post, my schedule of life has changed. No more sleeping in till 5; no more exercising in the morning, or vacuuming, dusting, doing laundry, or ironing on certain days. I have a new, temporary-and-subject-to-change, weekly schedule. One day, I was making a salad and couldn't seem to find the cucumber I had just cut into a few days before. I found it the next day stored in the tupperware cabinet. And I can't ever seem to keep up with my dish towels--one minute, I have them over my shoulder, the next minute, they're gone! Throughout the week, I find them here and there where I must've temporarily placed them as I raced to stop Harley from biting on the furniture, etc, etc. He keeps me on my toes, as every day is a new adventure where our agenda's don't always agree.
