Help! My Puppy is Training Me to Carry Her!

[Carol Vernon]

Hello.  My 3-month old mini Aussiedoodle pup, Dash, is training me to carry her!  When she doesn't want to go out for a potty break, she just sits or lies down and refuses to move.  OK, she only weighs 13 lbs however she is getting heavier by the day!  Here's the usual scenario.  I attach her leash to her harness and coax her to move towards me.  I pat my leg, I crouch down, I tug her leash gently and I use a happy voice tone. She refuses to move.  I lure her with a treat to her nose.  She might take a step or two but that's it.  I would have to use 50 power treats to get her from her ex pen to the potty yard.  So I just carry her when she refuses to move.  I know this is not good!  

When Dash does not want to move to go outside for a potty trip, I've tried to wait and try again in five or ten minutes but she will either refuse again or she'll just go on the rug or on the paper in her ex pen. When that happens, we don't scold her; we just pick her up and whisk her outside.  She is mostly potty trained & we want to keep moving in the right direction.  When she goes in the potty area, we praise her and reinforce her with treats and/or a play session in the play yard or a short walk.  I suppose I could drag her by her harness but I refuse to do that. My intuition is that she does not want to go outside on a leash.  If we take her out without a leash, she runs all around the garage and/or the fenced potty yard, wanting us to chase her (which we don't do) and trying to eat stuff in the garage.  

As some background, her training is going very well.  She sits very reliably and she is about 80% reliable with touch, down, come, and let's go (move with me).  (She doesn't respond to "come" or "let's go" when I've attached her leash for a potty trip.)  Dash is making good progress with leave it, bring, drop and loose leash walking. She is less bitey with us and she is jumping much less. Her temperament is wonderful: she is not fearful, shy, reactive or aggressive.  She is very friendly with everyone. I don't know what I've done to make her hate going outside on a leash!  So I'm stuck.  I got nuthin'!  Do you have any suggestions?   Thank you.   

 

[Laura and Angus]

Ah! I am very familiar with this behavior! We have a very headstrong and sometimes lazy doodle who can act defiant with us. Basically what is happening is that if you have used the word "come" and the puppy does not respond, this word does not have the power you intend. SO what our trainer taught us to do is work on that by attaching the puppy to a long lead and saying "come!" or "here!" or whatever - we had to change the word because we accidentally reinforced the inappropriate waiting behavior for "come." So you say the word one time and wait - if the puppy does not come, you gently pull, pull, pull until they come to you and then as soon as they get to you you treat! (or click and treat if you're clicker training, which we do). Do not keep saying the word over and over. It is best to practice this activity in a training and not at the time you actually have to potty. It'd be better just to take your puppy outside to potty by picking her up silently and placing her out there and then praising the outside potty behavior. This way you're not reinforcing her ignoring your command. Then you'll want to practice the "come" command at a time when you can do this leisurely with lots of high-reward treats. You have to think of this as training "come!" and not getting her to come with you to potty because the reality is...you need her to come when called.

You can make these training activities fun and exciting! Where your pup has the lead on and you're playing and running and then you excitedly say "come!" and entice her excitedly like you are. Just stick with it! Consistency is key, so eventually she'll understand and you can practice without the lead.

[Carol Vernon]

Laura, thank you for your thoughtful reply.  Yes, I'm clicker training my puppy.  I specifically don't use the cue "come" after I attach her leash to her harness because I don't think she will come to me and I don't want to train her to ignore me.  When I practice with her in a training session on the leash, she is very reliable with "come."  I only say it once.  .(My husband says it repeatedly but that's a different training issue, ha ha.)  Outside of training sessions I only say it when Dash & I are playing and she is running to me.  Your encouragement to keep at it and be consistent is helpful - thank you!  I was feeling so discouraged but I think you are right:  I just need to be patient and stick with it. I appreciate your sharing your perspective on this.   

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

You mentioned she wears a harness. Do you get the same behavior if she is not wearing a harness and the leash is just on her collar? I ask because my 7 year old lays down and won't budge when he sees the harness. Just a thought.

[Carol Vernon]

Hi Ronna, thanks for your reply.  Dash reacts the same way whether I am attaching the leash to her collar or her harness.  I know these dogs are smart but I never figured our puppy would be smarter than me, ha ha ha!  I'm going to be patient and keep working at it.  I appreciate your taking the time to reply.  Thanks!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yep. Sounds familiar.  You are being potty trained.  She sees no reason to go outside when she doesn't need to potty.  I carry my puppies to their potty spot, particularly at night, put them down with the potty command, then pick them right up and back inside.  Hopefully, by the time they are too heavy to carry out at night, they are potty trained.

My brother did not walk until he was 18 months old because of this same behavior.  He also did not talk.  He would sit and move his hands and make a little pick-me-up noise and one of us would pick him up and take him wherever he needed to go.

There was nothing wrong with him, just spoiled by his three older sisters.  Yes, and he still has some of the same behaviors but at 63 years old and 350 pounds, we have stopped carrying him around.

[Carol Vernon]

Lynda, thanks for the laugh!  Glad to hear you have stopped carrying your brother around, ha ha!  Your comment made me realize that we are probably taking our pup out more often than we need to.  I'm going to try taking her out less often and see how it goes. I appreciate your comment - thanks! 

[Rhoni Ann]

Have you tried taking him out, then putting his leash on. Let him running around with it in, so he see that it isn't anything to be afraid of.

[Carol Vernon]

Rhoni Ann, our puppy often runs around with her leash on during training sessions & play sessions; she doesn't seem to mind it at all.  Taking her out without a leash on involves a 5 - 10 minute game of "chase me!" in our large garage before we ever reach the potty yard.  I don't want her to train me to chase her either!  So for now I am cultivating patience and continuing to coax her to walk outside to potty with her leash on.  Serenity now....   I appreciate your commenting - thank you.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Smart doodle! Not only is she training you to pick her up, but she is also setting the stage to be Queen Of The House. Don't let her do it! I'm all for positive reinforcement training. But quite honestly, there are times when a quick little pop on the leash accompanied by a very firm voice (using whatever word you want to use) is in order. Then, the second she starts walking out, immediately praise and treat. 

When you look at it logically, this isn't even really a training issue, it's a respect issue. If you had a child that didn't want to get out of bed and get up for the day, my guess is that you wouldn't be picking the child up, right? Or, trying to coax him/her out of bed with a sweet voice and a bowl of cereal. :-) I think sometimes we let our dogs get away with things that we would never let our children do....

[Carol Vernon]

Lori, thanks for the reality check!  You are so right.  I have stopped carrying her (except for the first AM potty trip) and I've been more firm with her (voice tone and quick pop of the leash), and she is responding.  There are times when she definitely doesn't want to go to the potty yard but it's not up to her.  My husband and I have seen that she is testing the limits & what she can get away with; hopefully she is learning that our cues are not negotiable!  She is very smart & very responsive in general. I appreciate your response.

Winnie & Bob are adorable!  Love their picture....  Thanks again, Carol

[Carol Vernon]

Thank you to everyone who offered support, commiseration and advice re: my puppy training me to carry her. The situation has improved dramatically.  Here's what we changed:

1.  We are taking her out a little less frequently.  No accidents in the house so far!

2.  I used treats a few times to lure her to move forward on the way outside.  I don't need to lure her now.

3.  I cue her to sit before opening both doors on the way out.  She responds very well.  

4.  We do not keep her outside too long; if she doesn't go within a few mins, we bring her back in and try again later.  

I was losing my mind over this, envisioning carrying her out when she reaches her full adult weight of around 30 lbs!  Your help was greatly appreciated!  Thank you.  Carol

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It sound like you have been very successful. Congratulations!