A new puppy came home three weeks ago, and introduced into my life innocence, joy and a torrent of dog urine reminiscent of the elevator scene from the Shining.
She’s slowly cottoning onto the fact that piddling in the house is not exactly the done thing, with one exception: bedding. She’ll wee on that like a bushfire. Then lie in it. Sleep in it, even.
All the basic housebreaking techniques - caging, restraint and so on - rely on the well-known fact that dogs learn very early not to void themselves where they eat or sleep. Unfortunately, this lesson didn’t get taught - according to the breeder, the mother has the same habit. If I get her up every couple of hours to go to the toilet that can keep the bedding dry, but it doesn’t seem to be clicking that wetting the bed is a bad thing to do. For the record, her favourite spot to piddle outside is directly in front of her food and water dish.
Does anyone know a technique to housebreak a dog in this sort of situation?