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Permalink Reply by Beth on July 20, 2015 at 10:38am

What a cutie!   Does he like being outside a lot and that is why he refused treats?

If so, you can use that outside time as its own reward.  Restrict his movements to a small area til he potties, then praise lavishly and say "Let's play!" or "Let's walk!" and take him for a short stroll, a sniffing exploration, or some outside play time as his reward.   ONLY do these activities immediately after he potties.  See if that works.

You can also try experimenting with food rewards.  Find something he really likes and never give it to him except outside as a reward for pottying. 

What a cutie!   Does he like being outside a lot and that is why he refused treats?

If so, you can use that outside time as its own reward.  Restrict his movements to a small area til he potties, then praise lavishly and say "Let's play!" or "Let's walk!" and take him for a short stroll, a sniffing exploration, or some outside play time as his reward.   ONLY do these activities immediately after he potties.  See if that works.

You can also try experimenting with food rewards.  Find something he really likes and never give it to him except outside as a reward for pottying. 

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Sidronio on July 20, 2015 at 5:03pm

Thanks for the tips. I am trying to let him stay outside when he wants to explore/play, rather than bringing him inside right away. Sometimes he just sploots on the ground as soon as he's done, or runs straight back to the door.

I spoke to our breeder this morning about it and she said that she uses little bits of bacon as treats. He seems to like these more, but still not all of the time. Hopefully a combination of bacon and play time will reinforce enough.

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on July 20, 2015 at 4:05pm

I have never potty trained with treats. I just used praise and always said " go potty" the minute the pup started to go. It teaches them to potty on command and marks the behavior you want. You didn't mention how old your corgi is but it does take awhile before they have good control over their bladder etc.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Sidronio on July 20, 2015 at 5:05pm

We are using the command as well, just want a little incentive. He's only 7.5 weeks, so I know that it will be a while before he's fully trained. Doesn't mean we shouldn't work on it now, though, right? He's done well today actually - asked a couple of times to go outside and no accidents in the house.

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on July 21, 2015 at 9:51am

Ditto. Never occurred to me. Consistently taking the little beastie outside after eating and about every two or three hours, egging the critter on with a standard keyword like "go potty" or "hurryup outside," followed by lavish congratulation at every success seems to do the trick.

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Permalink Reply by Judith Andre on July 21, 2015 at 2:49am

Sounds like he's doing really well for such a young pup!  I never have used treats for potty training...just lots of praise and play.  that always worked for me.  I have only had male Corgis and they were all easy to train.

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