Treats and potty training

[Chinchi]

As Hugo is very food motivated and I have read that treats should be used to help potty train, I have been giving him a treat and praise every time he goes outside. He is doing so much better now, but another little problem has now arisen out of this.

I'm certain that he is splitting up his wees in order to get more treats. He is so focused on the treat that he will squeeze out a dribble of wee and start running back to me whilst still piddling so he can get the treat as fast as possible. He will repeat this several times too. He never has a big wee outside, he seems to saves those for his accidents inside when I'm not there and there is no treat distraction. I guess he has come back in, gone to his crate and thought, oh yeah, I do need a big wee. He doesn't do this all the time mind you, it's only happened two or three times as I'm taking him out every hour.

Any thoughts?

 

[Calliesmom]

I've observed other dogs do that and pretty much expect a treat every time they come back into the house no matter what they did or didn't do outside.
I have not used treats- only good boy while the pup is going outside.
but if I call him and he comes right away- that gets a cookie
then the big digs think they should get cookies too- even though I didn't call them

 

[corbinam]

Lexi used to do the same thing. Even now (she's 3) I think she sometimes asks to go outside, EKES out a pee, and comes back in just for a cookie.

But, I'm okay with that. She potty trained pretty quickly (maybe peed more than she really NEEDED to), but knew that in order to get her treat she had to do it outside. As she got older, I started to get a better feel for how often she had to go. So if I thought she was just begging for attention (or a treat), she would be told "unh-unh, go lay down".

 

[Chinchi]

Haha, they are such clever dogs! I will cut the treats out and see how we get on. He does very well with praise anyway.

Funny though, I asked the exact same question on another dog forum and was told that dogs aren't that manipulative and that boy pups will do lots of wees instead of a big one. The latter part may be true for some, but I definitely think Hugo knows what he's doing. I'm secretly rather proud that he figured it out too, but don't tell him that!

 

[corbinam]

Haha, they are such clever dogs! I will cut the treats out and see how we get on. He does very well with praise anyway.

Funny though, I asked the exact same question on another dog forum and was told that dogs aren't that manipulative and that boy pups will do lots of wees instead of a big one. The latter part may be true for some, but I definitely think Hugo knows what he's doing. I'm secretly rather proud that he figured it out too, but don't tell him that!

They must not own shelties

Here's my original post *GASP* almost 3 years ago: http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=4020&highlight=lexi+pretending

 

[JacqueZ]

As far as him running back to you to get the treat while still peeing, maybe keep him on a leash while he's going, that way he's not distracted trying to get back to you, and you can give the treat immediately once he's fully finished?

 

[BarbV]

When I was training Bacca, I was pretty non-chalant about it. I would not hover over him.

I usually sat down and looked the other way. Once he figured out that pee meant treats and praise, I started to phase back on the treats and focussed more on praise.

Eventually he disassociated treats from pee, the rest was easy. Treats are really only for the beginning part of the training.

 

[Mignarda]

I tried the treat thing with my last dog, and I'm afraid I caused him to get overweight by doing it. Every time he came in from outside he'd expect to get something, and I was such a sucker for his pathetic looks that I just had to indulge him. Big mistake! I resolved to change this with Dickens, and I think so far it's worked out very nicely.

 

[Chinchi]

Thanks for all your replies. Since cutting the treats out Hugo is doing a lot better. He's more focused on going potty and is now doing big wees instead of lots of little ones.

I think we have found what works for us

 

[roxyllsk]

I did the potty/treat thing for my boy too. At first he got a treat and a happy dance from me every time he went outside. Then when I knew he understood, I kept doing the happy dance but started giving treats every other time then only every few times.

If I take him to my parents' or friends' house, I will again reinforce going outside gets a happy dance and treats, then cut back. Seems to help him remeber his potty training when he's away from home.