Customer Reviews

You Can Teach Your Dog to Eliminate on Command

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Smith and Stybbard have written a gem in this book. It's certainly helped me to take control of my dog's idiosyncratic toilet habits. My pug Grendel now dances to my tune, be it on walks, in the garden or merely impressing friends and family. A word of caution - take care when choosing your "command words" and "smart phrases" to avoid words your dog is likely to hear on the television. It took 4 episodes of Ali McBeal before I realised that my "full evacuation" command was in the theme song.

I was a bit skeptical when I read the previous reviews for "Eliminate on Command." I wasn't sure if these folks were "for real" or just joking about the book. Before I could read the book the evening of the day I received it, my hubby grabbed it and read it through in one sitting. I thought, "Fine, I'll read it tomorrow." He immediately began the training process, which is used on the dog's everyday, normal walks, and my hubby explained to me what we must do with an agreed upon "command" or "trigger word" for our precious Yorky's elimination. I followed through with the same command. Since she already understood the word "potty," we selected "potty-go," which fit into the category of a two or three syllable command. "...[T]he entire training time needed to accomplish your goal is less than five minutes during the entire week," (p. 9).

After only four days (while I read the book!), Abigail obeyed my hubby's command by immediately squatting and doing her business! I was stunned at the rapidity of the learning process/conditioning. PPC ("Piddle and Poop on Command," or "Positive Potty Control"), works well for a dog of 6 weeks or above. However, there are a few things which must be remembered. The command and praise must be used while the dog is eliminating, and this should be done for about 7 days--the command or trigger word being used approximately 50 to 75 times. But after the dog obeys the trigger word, the command should be used a few times each week only. Dr. Smith emphasizes that one should not over-use the command once the dog is trained.

Dr. Marjorie Smith says that "...PPC alone cannot housebreak your puppy, but it can help you enormously in your house-breaking efforts and greatly speed the development of reliable housebreaking patterns" (p. 23). Her book includes delightful illustrations of dogs in different training positions, and the dedication with a beautiful illustration on page 12 in memory of her three dogs is very touching. This lady truly knows her business, and I'd love to learn more about other training needs from her vast experience with animal behavior.

This works not just for training the dog to eliminate on owner's time table, but works for other training. You should stock it. No one should have to wait for a book that so easily solves a problem.

While it can be hugely convenient to put your dog's elimination on cue, beware of a potential down side. I trained my dog to do this, and now she thinks she has to wait for the command before she's allowed to go. She'll hold it to the point of exploding before she'll go without the command.

I used this to train my Lab and it works. If you don't feel like walking the dog in the rain, just send them out back and give them the order. No reason to get soaked.

I got myself a 300-pound Great Dane and taught him to do this using Smith and Stibbard's method. It's great for getting rid of those unwanted peddlers and solicitors who come to your door these days selling everything from Avon cosmetics to the latest s_x gizmo. Well, actually, some of the s_x toys are pretty interesting, but since my pet gerbil got jealous I had to return them.

So far it's worked great except for the salesman who's suing me in small claims court for ruining his $100 Florsheims.

I was bitterly disappointed with this book as I thought it would help my terrier learn to kill on command instead of controlling his number two's. The editor should have given this publication a clearer title to avoid confusion.