With a dog that is on the go a lot, it's helpful to have a few little extra tricks up your sleeve. I knew Cooper would be a busy dog. I could bring some items with us to make life easier, but we also needed a little extra communication skill. Especially in the 'gotta go potty' area.
When he was potty training, I wanted Cooper to learn the words that matched what he was doing. I would bring him out on his leash and walk with him for as long as it took. I would watch him closely and as soon as he took the posture to pee, I would say, "Go pee". When he started to pee I would say, "Good Boy!" You have to watch and command just as you are sure he's about to deliver. Keep in mind, a word with nothing to pair it to has no meaning. At this point it's important to remember, you aren't giving commands for him to follow. The commands are only for him to hear the word he is learning at the same time he demonstrates the definition of that word. You are simply building his vocabulary. Imagine how many training opportunities you have in one day if every time you take him out you match that word to his action. The same thing applied for, "Go poop". The posture he takes for pooping is different, so I could give him the appropriate command for whatever it is he was about to do. I taught both at the same time since it's easy to see what his delivery will be. It's not confusing to do both at the same time, though learning to poop on command took a little longer since he only pooped two or three times a day, while he peed almost every hour while he was potty training.
After a week or two of learning the 'go pee' command you can expect that he knows the word. I don't remember how long it took for Cooper to get it. The next thing I did, was to give him the command before he took the posture. By this point, in training your own dog, you should be able to tell by his behavior if he really has to pee or not. If you don't think he has to go, don't command. If he surprises you and postures, command and praise. After a few weeks it should be a command that you expect him to follow sometimes. Note: It's important not to keep commanding over and over again. One command per minute should do. Only praise if he delivers. Don't command until you're in the area where he usually pees. You don't want him to loose concentration or forget you commanded him by the time you get there. All you want to do is lengthen the time a little bit between when the command is given and the action. This way it is actually a command. Focus on success. Keep our expectations attainable. Don't overwhelm the dog or yourself. You have all the time in the world, don't rush it.
At four years old (actually he's been able to do this for a couple years), now I can command Cooper like this... We get off the bike. I always give Cooper a pee break. If the area is safe, with him off leash I say,"Cooper, Look..." he looks at me, I point to where he can go (across a parking lot into the woods for example) and say, "Go pee." He takes off running to the place I indicated, lifts his leg while still looking at me the whole time. When his leg comes down, I say, "ok, come on'. He runs straight back to me and I put his leash on and we're off to do the next thing, what ever it may be. No time wasted. He can do it faster alone than if I have to walk him over to go. It's a great luxury to have that trust in his ability and independence.
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| Cooper coming back to me from a pee break |
One of the nice things about being able to get your dog to pee on command is, if you're in a hurry you don't have to wait for the dog to sniff for 5 minutes before he's ready to go. Another thing is, a lot of dogs need a certain thing to pee on. Many dogs won't even pee on a parking lot. We had an issue one time with Cooper. He REALLY had to go but there was no tree, bush or acceptable place to pee. For some reason I don't even remember telephone poles or sign posts. But I do remember half a dozen blades of grass growing through a crack in the side walk. I saw that and said, "Cooper, go pee." He stopped and looked at me as if to say, 'Where?' I pointed to the grass, and without hesitation, he lifted his leg on the grass and delivered a REALLY LONG STREAM OF PEE. If he had been human he would have said, "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" I told him what a good boy he was. I think he knew that was really different and following directions was very helpful. He seemed happy with himself. Or maybe he just felt better. I don't know. But what I do know is that, peeing on command really helped Cooper that day and a few more times since.
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