Did you introduce a command for going potty yet? If didn't then that would be a good thing to do. Whenever she actually goes potty say the command such as "go potty" several times and praise her ("good girl, good potty"). Eventually, she'll get the hang of it and will go potty when you tell her to do so
Addionally, you can give her a treat as soon as she's done. This will make her more eager to go too. At the beginning, it's best to make it a very, very special treat such as cervelas pieces or a little bit of le Parfait.
To help her make a connection between praise and treats, have her near you and say "good Girl" and give her a treat immediately. Repeat about ten times. This will help her understand that after praise she'll get a treat (sometimes it's not practicable to give a treat in the very second of the behaviour that your want to reward as in potty training). Usually, this has to be done only once or twice because you'll always praise and reward her during training anyway.
I love my morning cuddle with the dog!
Starts the day off in the right direction! Impossible to wake up feeling grumpy!
BUT I do wonder about jealousy issues if we ever bring a baby home
Have you tried Clicker training?? I am currently doing it , with our dog for another Problem and it works really fine.
Basically the Clicker training is helping to enhance GOOD Behaviour, it's not a means to train everything, such as for example call the dog back to you with clicking......
With you particular problem,it would go ( roughly) as follows......first you would need to anchor the Clicker sound in your dogs brain , which is soo simple,,,..prepare small goodies for the dog ( the dog mustn't need to chew them-> timeloss) then get the dog to sit in front of you ....click-> give the goodie, click-> give the goodie and do this about 20 times so that the dog realises the ''click'' means something good.... Afterwards you can then start when you walk your dog, use the Clicker and immediately give said goodie when she wees or immediately after it, same goes for number twos.
At first you'll need the goodies, but as soon as it starts to work you can then start to praise the dog with words after the click...or with something else the dog likes very much...maybe a quick game with a ball or something like that.
With our dog I used this to help her lose aggression and get her to behave better with our neighbours dog( my neighbour and I took classes with a dog trainer especially for this, and it works!! )
on my own i am now working with her to get her to fetch and bring back a ball or a stick...as a former feral dog she isn't used to playing and such and she progresses really well! It needs time and also your engagement over e longer period of time, but i can highly recommend this way of training.
Cheerio
EE
We have had her for a week now and I thought that I should post an update. I think she is pretty much settled in. She sleeps on the rug under my side of the bed and we are getting through the night from 11pm to 6am now re wee and poo she has pretty much mastered that she needs to wee every time we go out and pooing once or twice. She is a good and intelligent girl. We saw the trainer on Sunday and she alerted us to the fact that she is very shy when walking and so she stops all the time. Rather than coax her we have to ignore her so if you see someone walking round baar or zug dragging a little black dog for the next few days that is me! All in all though everything is going well. Very happy.
Good news, glad all is going well and that the trainer has helped you pick up on some of the body language aspects.
So she is a shy walker, I had that issue too funnily enough, though it didn't present the issues you were initially posting about.
Moving my then pup from an Austrian farmhouse type place to the city evidently had an impact. He hated walking and would plant his feet and be very wary of things, barking at obscure items such as a motorbike under a cover and sort of posturing like a bull to it, gruffing and shuffling back and forth, scratching off his back feet. Was quite funny and hard not to laugh actually.
If anything he is too confident now damn it, goes bounding up to the biggest unfriendliest dog in the park with no worries. Though it's good now he can squeeze amongst a packed tram and just chill or sit in a pub no worries.
Sounds like things are moving along well.
Good news, clever pup. Amazing what a difference a few days can make.
How long did yours take to overcome her walking shyness? We have been told to ensure we just keep walking with her, without stopping or reassuring her so she knows there is no issue to be worried about. Was going well and a big dog set us back last night! Am currently sitting outside the front door writing this training her to be left on her own. So much to train! Se must be knackered. I certainly am!
By the way, if anyone has a dog and would feel comfortable letting my dog get to know theirs as part of the socialisation, that would be great.
I forget exactly, maybe a few weeks. Sometimes I just had to put the holdall i had at the beginning down and he would jump in that so I would carry him, simply as I did not have the time to be patient and drag him. But overtime, without guidance as such, just kept dragging him along, encouraging with treats and obviously he picked up on the not being fazed by cars, bikes, people, trams from me and eventually got comfortable.
I was back and forth to Geneva a lot, taking him to the office, riding trains and trams, and socialising with other dog owners so he got used to his new environment and walking fairly quickly due to my schedule and life style I guess.
I get the whole not stopping or reassuring thing, not trying to highlight an issue that doesn't need to be one etc, but I added encouragement with treats as there was a fear there or nervousness and because he strong little bugger, it would literally mean dragging him by the neck which I was not prepared to do, and encouraging seemed to work and be more comfortable for me than forcing.