|
Toilet
Training
House
Training
Return to
P.P. index page
Recommended Links
Housetraining
Your Young Puppy
(Gwen Bohnenkamp, Perfect Paws)
Toilet Training
Your Poodle
Training
Tips for New Owners
Training
the Adult Dog
Crate
Training Method
|
The Key To Successful
Housetraining
Is Prevention, Not Punishment
Veterinary Exam & Urine/Fecal Check
Your puppy's state of health will affect his ability to
be successfully housetrained (housebroken). Make sure your
puppy is seen by a vet within 48 hours of his coming home
from the breeder or animal shelter. If your puppy does not
receive a "clean bill of health", it is important that any
physical conditions that can impede successful housetraining
(such as cystitis, bladder infection, etc.) be properly
treated. A fecal check will determine whether worms or
internal parasites are present. (There are several types of
worms that are not visible except under a microscope. Also,
fleas can cause tapeworm.)
Feed Your Puppy A High-Quality Puppy Food
A consistent diet of a high-quality premium brand dry
(kibble) puppy food is recommended. Avoid feeding your puppy
table scraps or changing brands unnecessarily. If you should
need to change your puppy's food for any reason, do it
gradually over a period of 4 to 7 days (by overlapping both
the old and the new puppy food together, until the old food
is phased out completely). [Note: Feeding your puppy
lots of canned dog food can loosen his stool, making it
harder to housebreak him.]
Close Supervision Is Essential
Close supervision is essential any time your puppy is
not crated indoors (or confined to a small area covered with
newspapers) . It only takes a few seconds for your puppy to
have a housesoiling accident, so watch for signs that your
puppy may need to eliminate, such as sniffing the floor,
circling, or running out of sight suddenly.
Confinement When Puppy Can't Be Supervised
Crate training or area confinement are recommended for
puppies and most adolescent dogs when left unsupervised
alone in the house. If properly introduced and used
appropriately, crate training is an efficient and humane way
to prevent housetraining accidents as well keep your puppy
safe when you can not watch him (or when you leave the
house/apartment without him). The crate should not be used
for excessive periods of time and should not be used as a
punishment (although brief "time outs" in the crate are
fine). Sufficient daily companionship, interactive playtime
and exercise are very important to all puppies and dogs.
[Note: Crate training and other forms of confinement
must be balanced with sufficient exercise and companionship.
Excessive periods of isolation can be very detrimental to
your puppy, and can contribute to numerous behavioral
problems including hyperactivity, destructive behavior,
digging, self-mutilation, and excessive barking.]
Determine Puppy's Safety Zone, Grey Zone & Danger
Zone
Keep a diary of your puppy's urinating and defecating
times for several days or more. Determine the minimum
interval between elimination. Subtract 15-30 minutes from
this period of time and that will be your puppy's temporary
"Safety Zone". This is the duration of time he can generally
be trusted to hold his urine after he is taken for a walk or
has "gone" on his newspapers, provided he does not drink a
ton of water during this time. Make sure however, that he is
still closely supervised any time he is not confined to his
crate or confinement area.
Frequent Access To Newspapers, Backyard, Or Taken For A
Walk If Fully Immunized
Puppies need to urinate shortly after the eat, drink
water, play, chew, or sleep. For most puppies over 10 weeks
of age, that means somewhere between 5 and 10 times a day!
Adolescent dogs (from 6 to 11 mths. old) will need 4 to 6
walks a day. Adult dogs need 3 to 4 walks a day, and elderly
dogs need at least 3 to 4 walks daily (incontinent dogs will
need more).
Do Not Return From A Walk Until Your Puppy Eliminates
If your puppy has been confined overnight to a crate,
take him outside first thing in the morning (before he's had
a chance to soil indoors.) Be prepared to stay outdoors with
him until he eliminates. (This could take from a few minutes
to as much as several hours!) As soon as your puppy
eliminates outdoors, offer him lavish praise and a treat. If
you take your puppy back inside the house before he's fully
eliminated, he will surely have an housesoiling accident
indoors!
[Note: If you absolutely have to return home before your
puppy does his "business", crate him, then try taking him
outside again every 15-30 minutes until he "goes".]
Early Interactive Socialization With People Is
Important
Early and ongoing interactive socialization with lots of
friendly new people (including calm friendly children) is
very important. If your puppy is not immunized sufficiently
to taken for a walk, make sure to have lots of new people
visit your puppy in your home. You can also carry your puppy
outdoors to public places to properly acclimate him to the
sights, sounds and activities of the outdoors (especially
crowds of people and traffic noises) soon after he has
received at least two series of shots, provided he is not
placed on the sidewalk or streets, and he is not brought
near other dogs (or anywhere other dogs might have
been).
Praise & Reward Your Puppy For "Going" Outdoors
Lavish paise, a trigger word (ie: "potty", "get busy",
"business", "bombs away", etc.) and a treat reward
immediately following his eliminating in the right place
(newspapers, backyard, or outdoors) will help you to
communicate to your puppy that you are pleased with his
behavior. Delayed praise is not effective, so witnessing him
going in the right spot is important.
No Access To Inappropriate Areas To Eliminate
Many puppies and dogs prefer certain areas or surfaces
to eliminate on, such as rugs, carpeting, etc. Keep your
puppy away from risky areas or surfaces whenever possible.
If your puppy suddenly runs out of sight (ei: out of the
room), he may be looking for a secret spot to eliminate, so
close doors to rooms where he may sneak a quick pee or
poop.
Neutralize Urine Odors With Enzyme-Based Deodorizer
Should your puppy have a few housesoiling accidents
despite your best efforts to prevent them, neutralize any
soiled areas (carpet or floor surface) with an pet odor
neutralizer such as Nature's Miracle, Nilodor, Fresh 'n'
Clean, or Outright Pet Odor Eliminator. Avoid using
ammonia-based cleaners to clean up after your puppy's urine,
as ammonia breaks down to urea, which is a component of
urine.
No Water After 9PM
Generally speaking, it is advisable to take up your
puppy's water bowl after 9 PM, unless he seems very thirsty
or weather conditions are exceedingly hot. (But a couple of
ice cubes are OK)
Eliminate Worms and Parasites
Contact your veterinarian if you suspect that your puppy
has worms, coccidia, fleas, ticks, or other internal or
external parasites.
Diarrhea Will Prevent Housetraining Success
Your puppy or dog cannot be expected to be reliable if
he has diarrhea. Loose, liquidy or mucousy stools will
hinder any housetraining success.
After-The-Fact Discipline Does NOT Work!
Never ever discipline (verbally or otherwise) your puppy
or dog after-the-fact for housesoiling accidents that you
did not actually witness. (Even if you should see your puppy
eliminate on the floor or carpet, harsh physical punishment
is never recommended.)
Never Discipline A Dog For Submissive Urination!
Submissive and excitement urination are completely
involuntary, so never discipline your puppy for this. Eye
contact, verbal scoldings, hovering over, reaching out to
pet your puppy's head, animated movements, talking in an
exciting or loud voice, as well as strangers/ visitors
approaching your puppy, may all potentially trigger your
puppy to piddle. Disciplining your puppy for involuntary
piddling must be avoided or the problem will simply get
worse.
|
