How to stop your dog from peeing and pooing inside

I'd like to share the simplest method for pottie trianing young puppies... This method can also be used to retrain older dogs not to soil the house.  They underlying key here is consistency and conciousness... you need to repeat the same sequence always, and you need to be aware of when your dog needs to go pottie so you can 'be there' in the moment, and reward.

Follow these two simple tips to eliminate peeing and pooing indoors.

1) Do not free feed your dog.  You gain insight into their digestive rhythm and can then tweak it accordingly.

2) Always take your dog out to pottie while leashed.  They get distracted by all sense objects (eg. blowing leavse) and forget why they're out there.  Praise/reward.   I'm not sure if the video points this out, but I like to encourage puppy clients to write down the times of the day when your dog makes (eg. a 1 or a 2)... after a week you'll figure it out.

These two ideas seem like common sense, so of ourse they'll work.  

Here's a video from a cool dog trainer in houston who elaborates on the idea:

Ahhh Nuts

I recently made a salad and toasted some pine nuts... then I thought... Maydel would love these.  So I did a quick google to see what nuts were poisonous and thought I should share with you a really neat article originally posted here by petinsurance.com

Toxic Poisoning and Upset Stomach a Common Symptom

Dog owners, beware of rewarding your four-legged companion with a variety of salty treats in the form of nuts.

Nuts are one more "DO NOT EAT" item to add to Fido's list of toxic or harmful substances. Certain types of nuts can cause toxic poisonings, an upset stomach or an obstruction in your dog's gastrointestinal tract which can lead to life-saving surgery and unexpected veterinary expenses.

According to VPI Pet Insurance, walnut poisoning is one of the most common claims for toxic ingestion. The average cost to treat walnut poisoning is $315.74. The average cost to treat an upset stomach, according to VPI’s claims data, is $214.69.

Keep your pet safe and make sure the nuts listed below are out of your dog's reach.

Almonds

Dogs love the taste of almonds, particularly the flavored variety (jalapeno, barbecued, smoked, vanilla, cinnamon, etc.).

While not toxic, almonds are not easily digested can give your dog an upset stomach and create gastric intestinal distress.

Black Walnuts

Black walnuts contains a toxin called juglone which can cause a vascular disease in horses known as laminitis, but doesn't appear to cause problems in dogs. Eating black walnuts can cause gastric intestinal upset or an obstruction.

In addition, moldy black walnuts can contain tremorgenic mycotoxins which can cause seizures or neurological symptoms.

English Walnuts

English walnuts can cause gastric intestinal upset (tummy ache) or even an obstruction in your dog's body. Like black and Japanese walnuts, moldy English walnuts can contain tremorgenic mycotoxins (toxic chemical products produced by fungi) which can cause seizures or neurological symptoms.

Hickory Nuts

Hickory nuts also contain the toxin juglone that can cause laminitis in horses. Eating hickory nuts can cause the same problems associated with black walnuts: gastric intestinal upset or an intestinal obstruction. Like walnuts, moldy hickory nuts can contain tremorgenic mycotoxins which can cause seizures or neurological symptoms.

Japanese Walnuts

Japanese walnuts contain no toxicity; however, they can cause gastric intestinal upset or even an obstruction.

Like English walnuts, moldy Japanese walnuts can contain tremorgenic mycotoxins which can cause seizures or neurological symptoms.

Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia nuts are very rich in fat which can give your dog a major upset stomach and may cause pancreatitis.

In addition, these nuts are reported to contain an unknown toxic principle that may result in neurological symptoms.

Pecans

Pecans also contain the toxin juglone that can cause laminitis in horses. Feeding dogs pecans can cause gastric intestinal upset or an obstruction.

Like walnuts, moldy pecans can contain tremorgenic mycotoxins which can cause seizures or neurological symptoms.

Pistachio Nuts

Pistachios are also rich in fat and can cause your dog to develop an upset stomach. In addition, repetitive eating of pistachios can cause pancreatitis in your dog.

If you are concerned about any dangerous or toxic substances your dog may have consumed, please contact your veterinarian or the Pet Poison Helpline.*

Right Praise, Wrong Praise

A young boy of about 12 years old took his older, well trained dog to the Cedervale ravine to enjoy some leash free time at the dog park.  The boy stood in the center of the dog park but was beginning to get perplexed about his dog’s unusual aggressive behaviour.  It was so out of his character.  You see, every time another dog came up to this friendly boy, his own dog would jockey for position between the boy and the approaching dog (signal 1) .  If the approaching dog didn’t move away, then the boy’s dog would subtly barr his teeth and growl (signal 2), then aggressively chase the other dog away (the final signal).

 

The boy didn’t see these signals, and he certainly didn’t like how agitated his naturally calm dog was becoming.  He couldn’t understand why his dog was so ‘upset’.... so each time the dog came back to him he hugged him and whispered soothing things to him (wrong praise).  

As I watched this pattern repeat itself three or four times, I could easily see the unconscious lessons the boy was teaching his dog.  The dog was also becoming confused... why is he suddenly being asked to protect his brother?  That’s a stressful job, but it keeps getting reinforced (soothing whispers and hugs).

Dog’s live in the moment.  They serve their masters.  When their masters praise them, dogs do more of what they just did in that moment.  Unconsciously, we praise our dogs when we say their names, when we touch them, when we channel our love to them.  This is such a subtle thing, but humans don’t have the same levels of present moment awareness as our dogs, so it’s not subtle to them at all.  

The style of praise that the boy employed was perfect... just imperfectly timed.  A nice correction at the time of signal one, followed by a ‘sit’ command, followed by the exact same praise teacher the dog that this behaviour is unneeded.  Now the dog knows not to protect his brother.  Now we have a calm, well behaved dog again.  

End of story.