Dogs are creatures of habit

It’s April and we are still having problems with Jujube’s potty training. Rate is about one peeing accident a week. No pooping accidents. I’ve returned to my theory that it’s Jujube, and not Loki. Accidents usually occur on the front door mat. At least it is easy to clean and easy to discard of if necessary.

Our usual work day schedule:
6:45 am Breakfast for the dogs; Potty break immediately after breakfast (This is before I leave for work.)
9:30 am Potty break (This is before Yun leaves for work.)
6:30 pm Daily Walk, includes both exercise and potty break
7:30 pm Dinner for the dogs
8:00 pm Potty Break; And then two or three more potty breaks depending on how often Jujube whines at the door.
11:00 pm Last Potty Break

Things are good when we stick to this schedule. Dogs are creatures of habit. But our lives are not so rigid. Changes in work schedules or dining out break this daily pattern and dogs don’t understand.

Yesterday, Yun had to leave for work early, so the dogs only had one potty break in the morning right after breakfast. And since Yun had to leave so early, we hired a dog walker to come in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, she called and told me that there was an accident on the front door mat when she arrived at noon. Our guess is that Jujube went because she was used to going twice in the morning, and yesterday she only got to go once. So the dog walker rolled up the door mat and put it outside. I have yet to clean it; I’ve been so busy.

We also happened to have dinner plans yesterday evening. Knowing that Jujube seems to go like four times between 7:30 and 11pm, I was anticipating an accident. As a side note, I don’t know why she goes so often in the evenings. She can hold it fine during the day when we are gone at work, but she constantly whines at the door to be let outside in the evenings. Maybe she just likes to see how many times she can make me open and close the back door.

When we arrived home, lo and behold, no accident! Maybe this is because there was no door mat available for her to go on. I don’t know.

Potty training is frustrating. I don’t know if we are training her or if she is training us. Actually, I think she’s training us; I just don’t want to admit it. I want to say that potty training Loki was easier, but maybe that’s because everything looks rosier in retrospect.

9 comments:

JDG said...

Sounds like you're having a bit of a problem. Our Shiba, Sake, is all of 8 months old and he can hold it for 12 hours without a second thought (no accidents whatsoever). He gets a long walk in the morning and a long walk at night, and only occasionally asks for a potty break in between. My thoughts on the subject are as follows:

1) You really need to identify which dog is peeing, so you can start correcting the behavior.

2) A long walk in the morning really matters, and should make a big difference.

3) A return to Crate Training may be called for, either to identify the culprit or to re-train them.

4) Make sure that you are using a really good enzyme cleaner to clean up. As I'm sure you know,if an area smells the least bit like dog pee or ammonia, dogs will be encouraged to pee there. I like Incredible for that myself.

5) No matter what they may be used to, a healthy Shiba should not need to go to the bathroom more than 3 or 4 times a day. Anything more is a case of them training you to let them go out or a sign of bladder problems.

DD said...

Yes, dogs are creatures of habit and more so with shibas. I'm sorry you're having bad time training your dog but don't get frustrated. They're both adorable pups.

Anonymous said...

Also...my pup used to do "I wanna go outside" look all the time when I first got her, but it was always false signals. She could hold it in for amazingly long time and never had accidents in the house.

Even when she had a tummy problem (outside) and I took her to the vet, she held it in all day until I got there after work. I was so mad at the vet for not taking her out for potty breaks even though I specifically asked him to do so. He said he didn't believe she had diarrhea and forced her to sit in his cage at his office all day.

When I finally got there and was paying for his lousy "service" she could no longer hold it in and went all over his floor at the cashier's desk. (He deserved it too). I felt so sorry for the pup that she didn't want to soil her bed and held it in even when she was sick.

She was from Jogoso lineage and she was my best dog.

tula monstah said...

JDG has some great suggestions.

Long walks before and after work. i get a total of 2 -2 1/2 hours/day walkies and stay home alone for 10+ hrs while mom is at work.

Sometimes mornings can be hard, can u get a dogwalker to stop by during the day?

Crate-training helps alot!

and don't leave food out all day- (doesn't sound like you do) pick up the bowl whether it's eaten or not.


Comeon' Jujube, you can do it!

kiss kisses,
tula

Vi said...

JDG -- Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure it's Jujube. Yes, I am considering crate training. We use Nature's Miracle. And I don't think that she needs to go that often. She almost always fine when we are away at work and that is about a 9 hr stretch of time.

Anon -- What a strange and terrible vet? I hope you have a new one now.

DD & Tula -- Thanks for the encouragement!

Anonymous said...

Yes, the vet was terrible but not strange. He did this for a reason. This happened because of the government (U.S.government) has been after me and they not only tortured me for 6 years but also tortured my dog. That's what CIA and our government does to an innocent American citizen.

Vi- I'm not going to post in your blog for a while because I have legal issues against the government and CIA due to my former employer, Boeing. They're probably reading anything I post including this blog and combing with fine teeth comb if they can twist my words around and charge me with something (like animal neglect for loving and taking good care of her) in retaliation against me.

CIA violates everyday American people's privacy for no reason other than their own greeds and vindictive agenda, and I don't want to give them (or FBI) any false reasons to come after me in order to quash my legal case or obstruct justice. CIA's are master liars.

I liked your blog because it was all funny stories and happy times but I'm not going to visit the blog for a while. Wishing Loki and Jujubi many happy treats.

-Anon in Sourthern California

Unknown said...

Hi Vi

I can't recall - but did you guys have a doggy door? I would really consider getting one - it may alleviate the issues you are having and help with the times when you and Yun aren't so "habitual"...

Anonymous said...

Uhh...I have to post one more for the record. I don't know this Masako person. I've never met her, I've never spoken to her, and I don't know her at all other than I read what she posts recently. Just so that her post does not mislead any government investigators.

If she heard or (think she) knows anything related to above issue, it's only 2nd hand information that she heard from thegrapevines.

For criminal investigation purpose (for which I am the victim), second hand information have NO legal VALUES. For some reason, the cops here seem to prefer to get the 2nd hand (bogus) information from gossipy people so that they can write anything they want based on speculaitons.

This surprises me. They should know better that gossips or second hand heresay has no values in the legal system. - Anonymous in Southern California

Anonymous said...

She was from Jogoso lineage and she was my best dog. - anonymous

I also have to add that she was the worst dog. Since I only had one shiba inu, Jogoso shiba defaults to the best and worst dog (lol). I did have very bad experience with the Jogoso human et al who were less than honest.

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