Which is the correct way?

[Micheline099]

I heard 2 different ways of doing this. Quite opposite ways at that.

Apparently, according to one belief, one should never clean a dog's pee or poo (done where it should not have been done) in front of the dog.

The other belief says that one should NEVER pick up the pee or poo in front of the dog.

I would like to know which is the best way and why? Anyone outhere nows?

[Gordonmom]

The reasoning behind not cleaning up in front of the dog is that the dog quickly learns that to get your attention in the house, all's he has to do is make a mess, and when you find it you will pay attention to something of his. This would be an opportunity to get you to engage in play with the dog, since you seem to be playing with his poop anyway :D !

If they see you outside cleaning up, they learn that by going outside, there is the chance of getting you to come outside with them and again, as long as you are paying attention to their poop, you just may be able to give them attention in other ways, i.e. play!

So outside poop attention good, inside poop attention bad! :D

[Micheline099]

Sorry, I meant

A) you SHOULD pick up the poo in front of the dog so that he/she sees he/she has done bad

B) you SHOULD NOT pick up the poo in front of the dog for a reason I cannot understand yet.

[Micheline099]

Thank you gordonmon. This does make sence.

Any other way of thinking or is this pretty much the rule?

[Micheline099]

If that is the case, I just might have found one of the areas I was going wrong with my dog. At least that will be one correction done.

Thank you :P

[Hobbit]

Okay, try not to throw squeaky toys at me too hard.....

I have another theory:


When a pup is small up until it's about 3 to 4 wks old, mother dog "picks" up the poop; the pup sees this; she is dominant because she is "taking" away the poop.

I have a female that will "pickup" her pups poop until the day they die, if I'd let her (yeah, they're 2 years old and she is still picking it up) and she is still dominant (not the only reason, but a good theory).

[Hobbit]

eeeooooowwww, slobber........... where is that puking emoticon!?

[Hobbit]

Hey being devils advocate....just giving you something else to kick around! :wink: :wink:

I have to go outside and play now.......I'm being ordered!! :lol: :lol:

[Gordonmom]

I learned that mother dogs eat their puppies poop because dogs in the wild they want to get rid of any evidence that there are puppies in the area in case there is a predetor around. Also, eating poop is a way of recyling any nutrients that may be left in the poop, as dogs have short digestive tracts. That is supposedly why dogs eat their own poop.

There are two ways views of dog training, waiting until your dog does bad and punishing him and setting him up to to good and praising him. The two views of poop cleaning represent this.

Any attention whether negative or positive is accepted by a dog.That is why people that beat their dogs,( :x )still have dogs that come to them. And since dogs don't yell at each other as a form of punishment yelling is just confusing as they don't know why you are doing it. True dog punishment is being banished from the pack, like being tied up outside ( :cry: ) and ignored.

Dogs do not assign value to things. They have no way of knowing that you spent $500,000 for that carpet. All's they know is that they felt bad when they had to poop, they pooped and now they feel good. And they know that you seem to be drawn to their poop. Now some people say, "My dogs knows he's been bad when he poops in the house--he cringes!" No, he knows you get psycho when you see poop, but he has no idea WHY you go ballistic. He also knows if his response to the situation is to cringe, you seem to calm down. So you still have a dog that poops in the house, but now you also have a dog that cringes. and if you called him to you before you went ballistic, now you also have a dog that won't come when called. Where, if you had ignored the poop in the house, but loved :roll: the poop outside, that is where he would go to try and please you and get your attention.

[Micheline099]

Just to recapitulate:

1. Don't pick up the poo inside. Don't even make a fuss about it.

2. Pick up the poo outside and be pleased and try to make this a game?


did I get this right? I have an attention problem and cannot read nor concentrate for long periods of time (no more than 5 to 10 min) so I have to make this short and sweet so that I can comprehend it well.

Do I have the gest of it? :o

[Gordonmom]

RMOTFLMAO!!! You can pick up the poop in the house, just not in front of the dog!!

I know this is what you truely ment to say, but thank-you for starting off my day with a laugh by what you did say!!!

I think you got it fine!! Good Luck towards a poop free house!!! :D

[Micheline099]

Good thing I was able to make you laugh today Gordonmom. Yes, that is what I meant. Please read what I mean not what I write. I don't concentrate that much but can still think ok. :D :D

[Hobbit]

[quote name='Gordonmom']I learned that mother dogs eat their puppies poop because dogs in the wild they want to get rid of any evidence that there are puppies in the area in case there is a predetor around. Also, eating poop is a way of recyling any nutrients that may be left in the poop, as dogs have short digestive tracts. That is supposedly why dogs eat their own poop.

There are two ways views of dog training, waiting until your dog does bad and punishing him and setting him up to to good and praising him. The two views of poop cleaning represent this.

Any attention whether negative or positive is accepted by a dog.That is why people that beat their dogs,( :x )still have dogs that come to them. And since dogs don't yell at each other as a form of punishment yelling is just confusing as they don't know why you are doing it. True dog punishment is being banished from the pack, like being tied up outside ( :cry: ) and ignored.

Dogs do not assign value to things. They have no way of knowing that you spent $500,000 for that carpet. All's they know is that they felt bad when they had to poop, they pooped and now they feel good. And they know that you seem to be drawn to their poop. Now some people say, "My dogs knows he's been bad when he poops in the house--he cringes!" No, he knows you get psycho when you see poop, but he has no idea WHY you go ballistic. He also knows if his response to the situation is to cringe, you seem to calm down. So you still have a dog that poops in the house, but now you also have a dog that cringes. and if you called him to you before you went ballistic, now you also have a dog that won't come when called. Where, if you had ignored the poop in the house, but loved :roll: the poop outside, that is where he would go to try and please you and get your attention.[/quote]



Exactly, in the wild the poop is cleaned up to keep preditors from finding the pups, the den, the living area. It's really a self sufficient order, if you think about it. They also will move the den and the entire pack when fleas get out of hand and the den area gets too "messy".

For the life of me, I don't understand why a person will stand there and yell at their dog. They yell at their children and other people in the same fashion. And it does confuse the dog as well as people.

If there is an accident in our house (it's rare), it's like -- oh well, no big deal. About 97% of the time if was the humans fault for the poop to be there in first place. All of our dogs/puppies are taught the difference between "outside" and "inside". I do pick up the poop in their presence and the entire time I'm talking to him saying, "poopy outside" and then I take the poop outside, all the while he is following behind me --- I place the poop in the designated poop area, still saying "poop outside" with an emphasis on outside (and he's thinking....well, yeah if you hadn't been so late coming home I would have pooped OUTSIDE! :wink: )

This works for us, it works for our breed of dog (known for their intelligence, reasoning and free thinking). This may not work for any other breed, any other specific dog, or any other....anything.

Every dog is different in it's thinking and what works for one, will not work for another.

This is a very good and useful tip. Thanks for taking the time (everyone) to post.

Now, remember..... :wink: everyone has their own opinion, so think before you :roll: and slam me!! :wink: :P

[deepseasnake]

I guess I'm in the minority then,

my dogs know when they are being corrected and they know what for.

I'll just leave it at that because I dont want to start a big thing, but I swear by negative and positive reinforcement it has always worked best for me

[Gordonmom]

I don't believe anyone is wrong here. If you have a dog that you correct, and the behavior stops, then what you do is working.

I know my dogs are trained to go outside to barf or poop, because they ring the chimes for me to let me know. I also know that they can hold it all day, and if they go in the house it is an accident.

Their are many, many different ways to train dogs, and anyone that says theirs is the "best" or "only" way is fibbing.

You have to know your dog, and you have to have your own style.

But if I have an ongoing problem, such as I come home to poop in the house day after day, my opinion is that the dog just wants attention, And I would use any option I had to solve the problem, starting with the positive re-inforcement one.

However when Dreamer, my seven year old was a puppy, she loved to chew my books. I guess dogs think the glue tastes good. I tried everything. Finally, about the 18th book, and all this dog therapy, I went crazy. I pick up the book and threw it across the room, I told her I was going to kill her if she ate another book, I didn't hit her, but I was close. To this day she has not touched one of my books. Go figure!! I hope I never get that angry again in my life, it was so scarey!

[deepseasnake]

thats pretty funny I can picture it now....

and that is kinda what I mean granted I have never seen your dog so I may be off but I think the dog stopped chewing the books because he knew it made you "crazy" I think he stopped because he knows that chewing books hurts you so he doesnt do it anymore. I think dogs are pretty smart like that