Raising Stella – The Potty Problem

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC
I used to say “potty training is easy.” What I really should say now is “potty training is not complicated.” That’s the first lesson I’ve learned from Stella (I’m sure there will be many). Potty training is not easy. It takes a great deal of work and attention. However, the idea of it is pretty darn simple.

Stella only has two states of existence right now: 1) safely confined and 2) interacting with a person (supervised). The confinement part is pretty easy. Stella actually seems to enjoy her quiet time in the crate. Some dogs fight this tooth and nail (some literally breaking teeth and nails). But Stella is cool with it. Of course, we can’t keep her in there all the time. So, the rest of the time she’s interacting with people under close supervision. And that takes a lot of work. In the first three hours of this morning Stella and I have been out for two potty breaks (more on those below), some play time, a potty break for me (yup she came with me), coffee and breakfast in the kitchen together (she ate too), and then some writing up in the office. She’s lying on her bed next to me, her leash attached to my desk, while she chews on a bone. I have not had a single waking moment without her by my side. I’m not complaining. But it is work.

That’s half of potty training – setting Stella up to win, making sure she doesn’t have the chance to poop or pee in the house. And after one week I can happily report that it’s working. Yes, there was one incident mid week when we had a lot of rain and she didn’t want to get her “princess fur” wet. Instead she got my kitchen floor wet. But we won’t focus on the negative. Her success to failure ratio is still phenomenal.

The other half of potty training is showing her that outside is the place to do it. And I mean the place. It’s simple but not always easy. In theory all you have to do is reinforce the puppy for going in the right spot. I recommend cheering, praising and then giving three treats one after the other as soon as the deed is done (immediately, don’t wait until you bring the puppy inside). Simple right?

But easy? Well, I found out pretty early on that Stella is not too keen on food when she’s outside. Some days she just outright refuses it. So I quickly had to remember the science of behavior. The training is not about the “treat.” It’s about whether or not the behavior changes. Clearly if Stella refuses food, then giving her a treat for going potty is not reinforcement. I needed something that would increase her “peeing outside” behavior and it wasn’t going to be food. Play. That’s a good one. Stella likes romping around and playing. Petting. That works for Stella too. So right after she goes I praise her enthusiastically, run around in circles getting her to play and I scritch (that’s a technical term) her chest. I look like a fool. But while the neighbors laugh I have a clean house.

On one of those rainy nights I knew all Stella wanted was to get back inside to dry her “princess fur.” Begrudgingly, she popped a squat and did her thing. In that brief moment I thought of the biggest jackpot prize I could come up with to reinforce her good behavior. It sure as heck wasn’t going to be a piece of kibble. It had to be bigger, something she could really use. So, as soon as her deed was done I laid it on her. “Good girl Stella, let’s go inside!” I was her hero. Smart girl. Smarter daddy.

Safety First: The One Cue Every Dog Should Know

_MG_1041 — Stella! Photo courtesy Robyn Arouty Photography

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

The other dog’s eyes were hard. I could see a flash of white around her dark pupils. Her teeth flashed white too. Under it all was a low rolling growl. Stella, drunk with adolescent bravado was heading for trouble. There was no time.

Stella Come!

We’d practiced it since the day she first came home, always the same words, an invitation more than a command. I’d call her name, sometimes like Brando in Streetcar Named Desire but not always. Then I’d call the word, “Come,” with a smile and a hint of melody to it.

When you’re first teaching coming when called it’s best to keep it easy. Set your dog up to win. That’s what I did with Stella all those months ago. I’d say “Stella, come!” when I was right next to her. Then I’d run away, luring her to chase me. When she arrived I’d click and treat followed by some cheering and petting. Then I’d do it again. And again. And again.

I taught it lots of different ways. She learned to touch the palm of my hand for a click and a treat. So sometimes I’d call her and then hold my hand out so she’d run towards it. Other times I’d hide and call her. Stella loves hide and seek. Still other times my friends and I would call her back and forth between us. Every time it starts the same: Stella come! And every time it ends the same: click and treat with lots of hoopla and lovin’

The other dog sure looked menacing that day. But I don’t think she would have hurt Stella. She’s super sweet and belongs to another trainer. But it’s up to me to keep Stella safe, especially at this age when she’s frequently a bit too big for her britches. So I called her away from the other dog. Stella, come!

And she came. She trotted right over to me, just the way she’d learned. Click, treat. Good girl Stella!

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Houston TX. He specializes in aggressive dog training.

Position Statement on Training

I remember trying to trim Juno’s nails. She was struggling, and unsure about what was happening. I was following the rules I’d learned in my introductory dog training class. When she resisted I rolled her on her side and growled. Juno, bless her sweet soul, looked at me like I was an idiot. She wiggled her way away from me. When I caught her, I gave her a scruff shake and growled once more. We struggled again; she got away again. After a couple more rounds of that I was both exhausted and defeated. Juno sneezed and shook it off. She came up to me, and gently placed her paw on my leg. Slowly and gingerly I trimmed the four nails.

That was so many years ago, and Juno is now just a flurry of sweet memories and training parables. Good training, she taught me, is about give and take, push and yield, you and me. It’s less about where you are going or what you’re trying to achieve than about who you are with. It’s about the relationship. Juno and I found our way, together. The path was not always clear, but she was by my side and I by hers.

My sidekick now is Stella and we are both better because of those who came before us. We live by a few training rules, and share them with our clients. The most important of these is the simplest. Everything we share should lead us to a closer relationship with each other. I sometimes call it, the Juno rule. Yelling and sulking on my part draws us apart (I never hit). For her part, yelling (barking) and jumping are also nonstarters. We avoid those things. Sitting and gazing at each other draw us closer. We both do that shamelessly. Pulling on leash is not relationship building. I’m as careful not to do it as she is. Learning to communicate with my words and her actions is bonding. We do that a lot. As is the case with my human friends, the sharing of play and food factor mightily into our relationship. We cuddle, and kiss, and nap together. All these things draw us closer.

Stella and I are always building things. We’re building a faster recall now. We put together a little comedy routine that makes it look like she “speaks” several languages. We’re building some agility skills (she’s much better than I am). We’ve also built a work partnership, and she’s begun helping me with mildly reactive and under-socialized dogs (not bad for a 20 month old). We’re using some of the same techniques we use in that work to help Stella build confidence when people visit our home. She’s not too sure of visitors, especially if they’re wearing a hat.

I think these building projects help draw us closer too. They fall under the Juno rule, but they also have two general rules of their own. 1) No matter what we’re working on, I have Stella’s back. It’s my job to make sure she’s safe and that she feels safe. Most of the time that means I’m cheering her on and keeping the mood light, without pushing her too far on any given project. 2) I’m responsible for clearly and gently showing Stella what I want, and then joyfully letting her knows when she got it right. Timing is everything, so I don’t dawdle. My deal with Stella is this: when you do something I want I will let you know immediately. So it all boils down to this – we set up some fun times which aren’t at all scary or too difficult. Then we figure out things we can do to make each other happy. How’s that for a cool relationship?

Oh, on the subject of nail trimming, Stella and I have a deal too. We do it just the way Juno used to like it. Go figure. Her spirit is always with us.