So my adorable fluffball, otherwise known as Bella, accompanied us on our three hour rainy day trip from Mesa to Thatcher today. We had an important birthday party because one of our little boys turned four. We now have a three-year-old, a four-year-old, and two five-year-olds. Yup, that's a total of four children. Add in the three pups (we haven't introduced you to Chloe, our border collie yet), the oversized cat, the Russian tortoises, the fish and the crab, and we have a full, interesting and entertaining clan.
Bella is a fantastic companion in the car (once you convince her that she is not allowed to ride co-pilot, that is). Jonas, the birthday boy, was thrilled to have Bella attend his celebration. Bella enjoyed the cold weather and got a bone as a treat for her car ride, which she proudly carried into the house, to have bogarted by her pup siblings. And Bella got to socialize at the park, which is an important part of her training.
After a very enjoyable day out, we walked back in the front door and.... Bella promptly peed on the floor in the entry. Chloe came to us potty trained, and Pivot was fully trained in about three weeks. A simple combination of crate training and bells on the back door for the dogs to alert us to their needs led to success with Pivot. Pivot uses the bells to let us know he needs to go. Bella, however, had a different purpose in mind for the bells, and uses them to let us know when she is thirsty. So she can go outside and drink. And later come inside to pee.
So here I ask you to share some potty training tips that have worked for you and your own pups.
