What was I thinking

When we decided to get a Shiba Inu puppy, we did our research. We bought a book about Shibas. We talked to owners of Shibas. We went to a puppy potty training class. One thing we heard over and over was that Shibas like to be clean and practically housebreak themselves.

Yeah, right.

From day one we have had a challenge with little miss Hollyberry. We take her outside and stand by "the tree" and get NOTHING. Then we would walk her around the yard and were thrilled if she went anywhere outside (rare). It's been over 2 weeks and I feel its worse than ever.

Holly is not one to be vocal about needing to go outside, but we have tried to be pro-active and take her out often. Still, we'll spend 15 min outside, come in, follow her around and the minute our back is turned is when she squats. While we are picking up that mess, she leaves a deposit down the hall.

I've read the books on crate training, and I'm probably doing this wrong. If I read correctly, she should be spending the bulk of the day inside her crate, and I'm not doing this. What I am doing is keeping all the doors shut on the main floor and the stairs are gated so she is forced to be near me while I work at the kitchen table. I am trying to watch for her cues that she needs to go out, but I'm not seeing them.

This afternoon, Holly was bouncing from the stairs to the door to the living room and back. I thought maybe she needed to go out, so I got the leash and "rang the bell" and she plopped down and just looked at me like, "are you kidding me? I was just out a half hour ago." So then I thought maybe she was looking for my son. I stopped working and spent a few minutes playing with her. The moment I sat down, I smelt it. Yep, she left me a gift in the hallway.

So what am I doing wrong? I take her out as soon as we get up in the morning and she does nothing. I feed her and then I stand over her, waiting for her to squat so I can grab her and take her outside. Nothing. But if I turn my back....

When we first brought her home, her food and water bowl were in the dining room, but when we watched her drink and take one step back to piddle, we moved the bowls next to the back door. For a week it seemed she would only go potty out in the mudroom. We thought, okay, maybe we're getting closer (although, pee loves to run down the grout on tile floor and expands quickly.) Staying in one room didn't last.

We've tried the training pads to no avail, either. Once in a great while she actually uses the pad, and we applaud her for that (it's a heck of a lot better than the floor), but more often than not, she skips the pad and pees a foot away from it. I've even watched Holly drink and pee at the same time. Yuck!

BUT THE ABSOLUTE WORSE THING.... is that she eats her poop. Yep. Since she waits until our back is turned to do the deed, its tough for us to get to her fast enough to get her away so we can clean.

Other than house breaking our new pup, Hollyberry is a wonderful girl. She LOVES kids. I take her down to the elementary school almost every day and the kids surround her and she sits quietly letting them pet her. I've introduced her to several dogs in the neighborhood and to my sister's dog, almost all with good results.

Saturday, Hollyberry found her voice. Other than 1 little bark on day 3, she's been very quiet. On Saturday, I brought her outside and she saw a girl playing on her swingset 2 houses up from hers. Holly went crazy. She barked for over 10 min. I didn't get it. Then it dawned on me later. The girl playing was not paying attention to Holly. Could Holly been calling her over? "Come play with me? Come adore me? Come pay attention to the princess?"

We are thrilled to have such a good puppy in our midst. Now, if only she will learn to go potty OUTSIDE so my house can stop smelling like poo, I would appreciate it.