Once in awhile, I will get asked by someone considering purchasing a Pooch Potty if it really "works". My response is always the same . . . Pooch Potty is a tool to aid you with housetraining, however, the success or failure of how well it works ultimately lies in the hands of the dog owner.

I had two very different customer inquiries recently, that made me worry if these particular people were prepared for the responsibility of pet ownership.

One was a woman who asked why she should have to train her dog if she buys a Pooch Potty. Her housetraining philosophy was to yell at her dog and hit it with a rolled up newspaper (ouch! that poor little dog!) whenever he had an accident in her house. She felt that if she was going to spend the money to buy a Pooch Potty, that her "stupid" dog should know to use it. I tried to explain to her that her dog needs to be housetrained, that it is her responsibility and that her dog probably is quite smart and his behavior is a natural result of not being trained in a positive and loving way. I told her that using fear and hitting is probably making her dog more fearful of her and stressed out about going potty in general. I left that conversation feeling very badly for her dog and worrying that this might be a problem, if left untreated, could eventually lead to the owner giving up the dog.

Another was an elderly woman, who wanted to know if she put the Pooch Potty outside of her patio door, if her eight week old puppy would use it. I explained to her that she would need to participate in housetraining her puppy. I mentioned all the great information on our website about crate training a puppy. She said she didn't want to use a crate, that she felt that was cruel (if used the right way, a crate can become a very comforting little place for a new puppy to feel safe & secure). I suggested that she get the assistance of a professional dog trainer who maybe could give her some alternatives to using the crate and she was opposed to that as well. I asked her where her puppy was going potty right now and she said all over her carpeted apartment! Ahhh! Sadly, I felt that the right thing to do was to talk this woman out of buying a Pooch Potty for now, until she can figure out if she is going to commit herself to the training process.

I know that in both of these cases, if the owners were willing to get on board and participate in the housetraining process, that they might have some great success implementing a Pooch Potty into their lifestyles.

One of my closest friends was potty training her two year old child last year and I remember hearing how long it took and what great patience it took, a lot of positivity and also paying close attention to her child to try to pick up on the signs when it was time for a visit to the potty. After hearing what she went through, I'll take training a puppy anytime! The last time I housetrained a puppy, I saw results within four days. Mind you, I followed the crate training instructions I learned from professional dog trainers, absolutely down to the last detail. I'm such a nerd, that I even kept time charts and potty results to see the improvement as each day and week passed. It really was such an easy experience . . . that is except for the sleepless nights in the beginning!

The earned reward - having happy, well-adjusted and well-behaved dogs who don't go potty in the house. Yayy for having smart good doggies!