Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 10/13/2006

Question
hello, thank you for taking my question. my sister has a 5 month old half jack russell and half chiaia or how ever you spell it. at first the potty training was going great and then it seems like she started getting it backwards. she takes her out to potty and stays with her a while and tells her over and over to go potty and she sits there with her ears back like shes in trouble and then as soon as she goes back in she emediatly poops or pees in the floor. she has tried the crate she has even gave her spankings for just sheer frustration I know the spankings are outdated but I think she just ran out of options. also they took in another puppy about 2 months ago but they get along very well and play together. so she feels like she is going to have to give her up and doesnt want to. she is a very sweet dog in every other way except this. Also the puppy is doing better at house breaking than she is and shes younger. I wrote to you because this almost sounds more like a behavior issue than just a house breaking thing. we appreciate any advice you could offer.

Answer
Dear Laura,
Thanks for the note. I meet pups like you described almost every week. They refuse to eliminate when people are nearby  because the pup thinks they will be punished. The pups will go as soon as they get back inside and out of sight.

You see, whenever people catch their pups and scold or spank the pups, the pup learns that it is unsafe to go near the people. The pups have no idea that the people are upset because of their choices of locations. The pup thinks the people are upset because they are eliminating.

Ask your sister to visit my website and download the free housetraining guide. Ask her to read it twice, follow the instructions and she will succeed!

Happy Training!
http://howsbentley.com
AT