Continuing from where we last stop… (you can read the previous post here)
Is two weeks enough for a dog to get comfortable with a plastic tray that it will pee on it of its own accord? I decided to test it out overnight Friday some weeks back since the part time domestic help will be here Saturday. If there’s accidents, she’ll be there to help at least.
Saturday came and went. Dog did not eliminate Saturday morning at home. She usually does because that is the one day a week I get to sleep in! (Much needed!!)
That should have been the CLUE, blinking red hot at me that the dog would rather wait to go out!
Did we heed it? Never even considered that!
Saturday night, I wondered if I should remove the tray and continue the test next week. Unwisely I left it. What’s the worse the dog would do? Pee on the floor? That’s easy to clean up.
She peed on her new bed -_________________________- << see my long face.
Yes, yes I know there are worse things a dog can do, but still… :S Don’t you just hate unnecessary chores that you could have avoided by being smarter :(
So there my friend is a lesson learnt. Don’t just think of the worse thing the dog could do, but the ultimate WORST she could do. Because, my human friends, I am not the dog and I cannot predict its thoughts!
So then I learnt to leave the tray there with fresh newspaper and peepad, but also another set of newspaper and peepad on the floor. I starting giving her her mealtime kibble in the toilet to get her comfortable with both the tray and the shower cubicle.
It continued to storm, and so there was an episode in the kitchen because we did not shut the baby gate tightly enough.
Kibble in the toilet continued. And she did get more comfortable. So comfortable that she decided she needed to chew her pressed bone on it, since she is missing the bed she peed on.
It stormed, did she do it on the tray? Nope, she did it on the newspaper on the floor next to the tray. I shifted the newspaper on the tray to the floor to replace the soiled ones, and put fresh newspaper and pee pad on the tray.
It stormed this morning while we were out. Lots of loud thunder.
We came home to find the tray half out of the toilet, newspapers scratched and falling out over the corridor, including some stinky poo.
She did it on the tray :)… Now how do I stop her from scratching the newspaper after she does it??????? :D Bright ideas welcome!