Housebreaking Your Puppy
No training is more necessary for dog owners than this first important lesson: Do it outside! Teaching your puppy to eliminate in an appropriate area, should start when they are between six and eight weeks old. Pups as young as four weeks have been started with 'potty training', but most do not possess the necessary muscular control at that age. As with any dog training plan, trainer patience is just as important as the dog's temperament. 'Sit', 'stay' and other behaviors can often be learned in only a few days. Housebreaking typically takes a few weeks. Maybe as little as two weeks, often a month or longer. As with teaching other learned behaviors, it is helpful to watch for signs of the desired actions and direct and motivate them with a voice command followed by praise. This technique works even more to the trainer's advantage for this behavior, since all dogs will naturally eliminate. The plan is to get her to do it when and where you want!
Be alert for squatting or circling, then pick up the puppy, say 'outside' and carry her outdoors. The puppy may circle some more, but often will squat immediately. As the puppy begins to eliminate, say 'Go potty' (or some other unique phrase) in a clear and firm (but not angry) tone. Wait patiently until she has finished and praise her lavishly. Naturally, you won't always be able to catch your puppy about to begin, but don't become angry or impatient when the puppy eliminates in the wrong area. It will take time for your dog to learn to tell you she needs to 'go outside'. It also will take time for the bladder and bowel control muscles to develop sufficiently for housebreaking. Young dogs typically need to eliminate every 2 to 3 hours. If you haven't noticed any pre-elimination behavior within that time, take puppy outside anyway. Give the command 'Go potty' and wait. At first, your dog may have no idea what you want. Also, even when you are outdoors, it helps to be watchful for the desired behavior then issue the command. This helps your puppy associate the behavior with the command. If your puppy hasn't done anything after a few minutes and a few 'Go potty' commands, take her back indoors for an hour. Naturally, if you notice pre-elimination behavior in less time, take her outside again immediately. Dogs have a wonderful ability to quickly learn what their 'alpha' ( pack leader) wants. This is nearly always accomplished by associating a verbal command with a behavior, followed by praise. Punishment is most often counter-productive, and never more so than in waste elimination training. Never rub your puppy's nose in her waste - It is abusive and will confuse the dog. Paper and/or crate training is preferred method of housebreaking by some dog owners. A puppy can be trained to go on a newspaper, or on a chemically treated pad designed for this purpose. Some small breed dogs that spend all day in the house may not need to go outdoors at all. This technique has a couple of drawbacks however. Unlike cats, dogs will rarely eliminate in a scented litter box. Newspapers (even discarded soon after the dog goes) will eventually produce an unpleasant odor in the house. Also, well before the odor becomes offensive to human noses, dogs can smell their own distinctive aroma. They don't find it appealing - and that's the problem. Dogs that are paper trained often will prefer to eliminate indoors. And sometimes they'll miss the paper just a little, requiring a messy clean up. Once this odor is in the carpet, the dog will often seek that spot out as her appropriate 'potty'. This will make training your dog to eliminate outdoors that much more difficult. It is better to endure a few accidents in the short run than to create a hard-to-overcome habit. The keys to any dog training, patience, praise and consistency. House training is the first test for you and your dog. |
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy
