Teaching a Puppy New Tricks

We've been trying to teach Mina how to do a lot of things. So far, I have to say, she is the smartest puppy I know!! We've only had her for one month but we've taught her to :

- sit (sit on hind legs, front legs straight)
- stand (stand on all four legs)
- down (lie down - like a sphinx)
- dance (stand on two hind legs)
- spin (like chasing her tail)
- car wash (do a figure eight around your legs)
- paw (give you her paw in a pawshake)
- fetch (chases her toys but still working on dropping it)
- come (have her come to your feet when you call)
- walking on a leash (you'd think this is by default but when we first got her, she always resisted the leash. now she walk along side you, sometimes she will get you all tangled in the leash though.)

AND... the most important one of all...

HOUSETRAINING!!

We went from :
- using a pee pad in the bathroom - this failed because she didn't remember where it was and it encouraged relieving herself indoors
- using a pee pad on the balcony - so that she would know to go outside but the balcony was very large so she didn't always know why she was out. at times, it took nearly 10 minutes before she finally relieved herself
- using a pee pad in a closed off section of the balcony - this helped because it made her focus on the small section that contained a pee pad. so she began to understand that that area was for doing her business and started relieving herself much faster - in a matter of seconds even!
- using a bell on the door to the balcony to indicate she had to go outside - articles claim that this has worked before. I was skeptical but i've seen her do it TWICE now so i'm becoming a believer!

The goal then is for her to let us know when she needs to go outside by ringing the bell with her paw or nose. AND to hold it inside when no one is home. The second one we're still not sure how to go about. Ideally Mina needs to prove that she has mastered the first goal before we leave her alone at home outside of her crate. It is super exciting though when she does ring the bell and when we let her out, she instantly relieves herself. SMART GIRL!!

(It's a little amusing how these things can bring so much excitement - hmma, his housemate and i are always praising her when she does her business outside...)


This is a photo after we groomed her last weekend. She looks like an entirely different puppy. takes some getting used to - hmma and housemate say she's ugly. guys. yeesh.