Being Dog Vigilant

Spends Much of His Day Napping
Housetraining a dog is not all that it's cracked up to be. It's a little like toilet training without diapers.

The first week Benny was with us we also had Doc and Dixie (my sister's big dogs) visiting and it was a breeze. Benny saw and smelled the other dogs go outside so he followed right along. Sure, he had a few accidents in the house but we thought we had it under control.

Wrong.

Since then, it's been all falling apart. According to the books, we're supposed to be vigilant, watching him for "signs," but he wanders off to other parts of the house -- and we have other things to do than follow him around. Also, sometimes the signs are no different than his usual activity. Sniff and circle, it's his favorite way to pass the time. And then, HELLO, we find the accident.

Argh!

I'm sure it's not easy to train outside when it's snowing or below freezing -- which it has been this last week. It's -12degrees today, so I can't fault him for not wanting to go outside. At all.

My theory is once we're on our usual schedule -- which will leave him in his crate for most of the day -- it will all make more sense to him. He'll be forced to hold it and happily go outside when we get home. Plus, he loves napping in his crate all day. Seriously. Don't feel bad.


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