Training Titus

Potty training is not for the faint of heart.  It's hard work and a lot of sleepless nights!  That's why when a small victory happens, it simply must be celebrated!

So here is our topic of celebration:  Titus made it for nearly 4 hours last night.  Woo hoo!  We have been in potty training "boot camp", where he sleeps in his kennel for 35 minutes, comes out on leash (or in a training pen) to potty, and then when successful he is heavily praised and is out of his crate for about 40 minutes.  While this is a mere two to three day schedule, it is very effective in locking in some critical concepts:  1.  He is to potty immediately when he gets out of the crate; 2.  He is not to potty in the crate (which he hasn't) 3.  It is useless to cry/bark/whine while in the crate 4.  He will survive sitting in the crate while I am a mere three feet away washing dishes (he'd vastly prefer to be on my feet while I wash dishes!).

So last night we did the last round of this schedule and I put him in his crate at 10:30p.m.  I decided to see how long he would sleep if I didn't wake him to go potty, so I waited for him to whimper (the benefit of being an uber-light sleeper).  Sure enough, at 2:30a.m., he asked to go out!  We went immediately outside and he went potty, and then we went back in the crate for another 3 hours.  Oh, how human I feel after such big chunks of sleep!

As the sun sets tonight, I wonder if we will have another victory to celebrate in the morning.  I sure hope so.  Either way, Titus is a delight and is very, very smart.  He has quickly learned to sit before exiting the crate and before eating his food, and the potty training is going well.  Love that dog!