Originally Posted by Angelmerritt
• Caught in the act: Discipline . . . If you are within an arms length of the dog as they are in mid-squat, you should grab them by the collar and head to the door saying "Bad dog" in your deepest voice (with no eye contact). Do the potty routine outside (even if they are completely finished) then put the pup up in a bathroom while you clean the mess.
Great post, many great points, except I will respectfully disagree with the above. If you get angry when you catch them, you run the risk of inadvertently training the dog to not go in front of you. Puppy might just think "man, if she sees me go potty she goes NUTS! I better just sneak off and go behind the couch..."
I advocate quietly interrupting and taking the puppy outside where you want him to go, and then praise when he goes out.
You'd be surprised what you "inadvertently train." I had a hard time house training my male Papillon when I adopted him, he pooped in the house a lot. Over time, it got better. Then, we visited my dad and stepmom, and their giant Lab pooped in the house. My Papillon saw the poop, and immediately started acting like he was in trouble. Yes, I had taught him that when I see poop in the house, I go nuts. He clearly didn't understand that it was him pooping in the house.
Good luck!