B
Baxter Tiberius
Guest
As I have mentioned a few times on here, it has been a process of blood, sweat, and tears trying to train Baxter (8 weeks old) to poop on his patch of grass.
I mean we are talking 10, 20, 30, 40 attempts. Mostly fails. Sometimes he'll poop 4 inches away. Sometimes nowhere near. Other times he seeks it out and goes right on it.
Its amazing how much personal emotion I invest in his success or failure. I don't have any kids, yet I am learning what it means now to be "proud" of your little one. And even that somewhat shameful experience of being disappointed in him. It has been a lot of new emotions for me just in the past week, that I have never experienced before. I'm doing my best to work through them constructively.
I began giving him treats every time he went to the bathroom on the patch of grass in the condo, thanks to your recommendations. Every time he missed it, I would give him a stern but gentle no. It killed me to see his sadness. He really can feel my mood without me even doing a thing.
But I kept giving treats. And each morning I would wake up with crap everywhere. All over the floor. Smeared in. Walked through. Poop foot prints all over.
A total disaster area that I would have to spend 30 minutes cleaning up.
Every morning. Getting no work done. Not even eating breakfast.
While feeling super let down, bewildered, and frustrated.
Tonight I left him in his playpen area as usual. With his crate open. And his patch of grass.
I went and made dinner, and was watching TV. He was perfectly silent for a couple hours.
Then suddenly I heard one really loud "Bark!"
I got up and walked to the back room, expecting a disaster.
He had literally just pooped in the middle of the grass. It was fresh.
And he was calling out to me, to let me know he had done the right thing!
Here I was a full grown man having a dance party with Baxter over this.
I was beaming with pride LOL .... and how cool that he wanted to let me know he had done it????
That's the part that I loved the most.
Obviously he just wanted his treat. But still...
You guys were right. Bulldogs are heavily influenced by food rewards. I never realized how much until now.
Now I finally have a "cause and effect" with Baxter.
This means I can now control the situation and effectively train him.
Now I know what he responds to.
Prior, it was a total mess of inconsistency and confusion in his behavior.
Just wanted to share this.
I mean we are talking 10, 20, 30, 40 attempts. Mostly fails. Sometimes he'll poop 4 inches away. Sometimes nowhere near. Other times he seeks it out and goes right on it.
Its amazing how much personal emotion I invest in his success or failure. I don't have any kids, yet I am learning what it means now to be "proud" of your little one. And even that somewhat shameful experience of being disappointed in him. It has been a lot of new emotions for me just in the past week, that I have never experienced before. I'm doing my best to work through them constructively.
I began giving him treats every time he went to the bathroom on the patch of grass in the condo, thanks to your recommendations. Every time he missed it, I would give him a stern but gentle no. It killed me to see his sadness. He really can feel my mood without me even doing a thing.
But I kept giving treats. And each morning I would wake up with crap everywhere. All over the floor. Smeared in. Walked through. Poop foot prints all over.
A total disaster area that I would have to spend 30 minutes cleaning up.
Every morning. Getting no work done. Not even eating breakfast.
While feeling super let down, bewildered, and frustrated.
Tonight I left him in his playpen area as usual. With his crate open. And his patch of grass.
I went and made dinner, and was watching TV. He was perfectly silent for a couple hours.
Then suddenly I heard one really loud "Bark!"
I got up and walked to the back room, expecting a disaster.
He had literally just pooped in the middle of the grass. It was fresh.
And he was calling out to me, to let me know he had done the right thing!
Here I was a full grown man having a dance party with Baxter over this.
I was beaming with pride LOL .... and how cool that he wanted to let me know he had done it????
That's the part that I loved the most.
Obviously he just wanted his treat. But still...
You guys were right. Bulldogs are heavily influenced by food rewards. I never realized how much until now.
Now I finally have a "cause and effect" with Baxter.
This means I can now control the situation and effectively train him.
Now I know what he responds to.
Prior, it was a total mess of inconsistency and confusion in his behavior.
Just wanted to share this.
Yeah Baxter, good job Dad. Congratulations. They sure can be stubborn, but they truly want to please you, and they are totally food/treat motivated. Lol
that Baxter is one of those puppies who once he "get's it" its a new habit! 
YAY BAXTER!!! Way to go Kevin so happy to hear there has been progress!!!
