I’ve been on a waiting list to get a rescue Golden as a pal for my Golden, Maggie, for a couple of months. We’ve already tried out one dog that was just too mellow and submissive to be any kind of playmate for her, so I’ve opened my heart to the idea that I am going to need to get a much younger dog to creat the right mix of submission, bonding and playfulness.
So there’s a dog available. A girl. 5 months. And this is the report from her foster parents:
Oh man, I really don’t want a whizzer! But she sounds just great in every way… but I really, really don’t want to find myself stuck with a whizzer…I lived with one for 16 years, I don’t want to do that again. It’s hard to believe that a Golden Retriever would * stay * a whizzer, though. What do the dog expert Dopers think?
I haven’t met her yet. I’m hesitant in case I fall in love.
Okay, here’s what I know about house training dogs.
There’s a difference between going out for a pee, and going out for a walk. When it’s pee time, go out to one special spot where the dog is comfortable (some dogs wont pee where others have marked territory), and stay until the dog pees! Whenever she pees in the house, quickly pick her up (most dogs won’t continue peeing when carried) and take her out to her spot. Praise like crazy when she pees outside, ignore (except for picking her up and taking her out) when she pees inside.
With the right amount of patience and praise, the dog will soon get that it’s much better to go out, than in.
And please? Dont “try dogs out”. That’s just plain cruel in my mind.
It’s not something I have made a habit of. And in that case I didn’t feel too bad…he has been living in a kennel for 13 months, then in a cage at the vets. When I took him home, it finally gave him some peace and some freedom. After just a week, he went from me straight into another home with an older couple and middle age daughter, where he’s being spoiled rotten.
Whatever stress he had during the moves was quickly forgotten and now he’s marvelously happy.
