Rubbing A Dog’s Nose in His Own Stool

Posted on Nov 25 in Training A Small Dogby Jeff K.Print

I can’t believe it. There are still people out there that believe rubbing a dog’s nose in its own stool will teach the dog not to eliminate in the house. Can you believe it? Here’s proof:

Kayla, a member of the AsmallDog.com community has been having trouble house training her Chihuahua. Here is an excerpt of an email she sent to me.

“also what should we do if they do potty in the house? I was told to put their nose in it and take them out.”

Kayla went on to say she didn’t take this advice. Smart girl.

An Old Wive’s Tale

Rubbing a dog’s nose in its own stool is based upon an old wive’s tale. But how did that wive’s tale get started? Since it’s impossible to go to the source, here’s what I believe. The act of rubbing a dog’s nose in its own stool makes three assumptions:

1. That a dog finds its own stool disgusting, and therefore,
2. Rubbing a dog’s nose in its own stool is an extraordinary and lasting punishment, and therefore,
3. The dog will make the connection between pooping in the house and being extraordinarily punished.

Bad Assumptions

Let’s shoot down these assumptions:

1. You may find dog stool repulsive. Your dog does not. It is just another source of odor, neither positive nor negative. Dogs do not think as we think.
2. Yes, rubbing a dog’s nose in stool is punishing, but not because the dog finds stool punishing. A dog would rather not have a person force its nose into anything.
3. The time gap between the dog pooping in the house and getting its nose rubbed in stool will be too long for it to make a mental connection between one and the other. If the dog could speak, it would say “Why are you rubbing my nose in my own stool? It makes no sense to me!”

In fact, any punishment for eliminating inside the house will make zero sense to the dog. Trying to teach your dog what not to do–by rubbing his nose in stool–is a waste of your time and degrades your relationship with your dog. When it comes to house training, you can take many positive steps to teach your dog what to do.

Take Action:

• Give up, right now, punishing your dog for peeing or pooping in the house. That includes spanking, yelling, or rubbing his nose in anything.
• Start a program of consistent house training based upon 3 time-honored, proven principles:

1. Contain your dog, when unsupervised, to limit where he/she can eliminate.
2. Take your dog outside frequently, especially right after your dog eats, drinks, finishes a nap, or plays vigorously.
3. Reward, reward, reward, when your dog does business outside.

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