Deb
Posted : 8/26/2006 2:29:40 PM
I would not continue yelling at her.
When you do that, you could teach her not to poo in front of you. Counterproductive.
Here is a strategy I have been having very good luck with:
1. Take the dog out often, every hour at first, just to get the feel for it. Not for a walk, just to pee and poo. Figure out her schedule by over-estimating how often she needs to go out at first.
2. When the dog pees/poos outside, deliver very high-value treat (ie chicken breast, liver treat, something else that's totally fantastic) and have a huge unbelievable praise party--lots of attention! The value of this cannot be underestimated! This is telling the dog what *to* do.
3. When the dog is not outside peeing and pooing, the dog is either under your direct visual control, tethered to you or in a crate. Minimize accidents. This is important because you want the dog to have lots of experience doing it right before you give her any chance to think about what to do.
4. If there is an accident, do nothing. Here's why: First, it's your fault, you weren't watching her. She just had to perform a normal biological act and doesn't know how to do it your way yet. Besides, dogs hate being ignored more than anything else, and when the dog has had some experience with pooping meaning huge party, she'll be expecting a huge party whenever she poops. When she *doesn't* get a huge party, she'll make a valuable connection:
Going to the bathroom outside = great things. Going inside does not equal these great things.
Punishing inserts too many variables into the mix and can confuse this simple message. Punishing is attention, first of all, and some dogs would rather get the attention than not, so you might be reinforcing this behavior. Punishing can also teach the dog not to poo when you're around, which will teach the dog to be sneaky and make pooing outside harder.