Monday, June 15, 2009

Just when I thought it was safe...

I was rather proud of the progress that my puppies were making with their house training.

It had been several weeks since I had been greeted by a urine stain or turd on my floor in the morning. But I was congratulating myself a bit too soon.

It turns out that my puppies like their home comforts. Out of nowhere it rained one night. And the kitchen floor and passage were a mess! The little buggers were not prepared to go outside and get wet, I fumed.

Well it turns out I was wrong. At the next class everybody was complaining about how their puppies had misbehaved those couple of rainy days. "What did you expect?" asked Wendy.

Puppies learn house training by recognising the feel of the surface that they should be using as their toilet area. So when they feel dry grass, they know its OK. But wet grass has a completely different feel. " You have to start right from the beginning," said Wendy. "Stand in the rain with your umbrella and encourage your puppies to venture out and praise them if they perform."

Luckily that was the end of the rainy season and none of us had to catch pneumonia while training our dogs in the rain. I wonder if we will have the same problem when spring arrives?

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