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!
Warning: This product has been known to cause wagging tails!