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are some helpful housetraining tips
by Bob Merrill, webmaster
These training tips will make your job (and it is
a job) easier regarding housetraining your dog or puppy:
- Watch your dog/puppy 100% of the time, preferrably
with a leash tethered to your belt - this will make it easier
to notice when your dog/puppy is thinking about relieving himself.
When you see him circling, or sniffing the floor, you might want
to take him outside and tell him to go potty
- When you cannot be watch your dog 100%, or you are away
from home, the dog/puppy needs to be in its crate (see
crate training). Give him comfy
bedding and a toy. Dogs usually don't want to mess where they
sleep.If the dog is allowed to roam the house, it might make a
mistake - and please DON'T allow your dog/puppy to make a mistake.
- Teach them the words "outside", "potty",
and "poop" (or whatever your words for these are) as
soon as possible. Your dog wants, more than anything
else, your praise and approval. The sooner your dog understands
what it is that you want him to do, the sooner he will start doing
it. I have golden retrievers and they all know the words "potty"
and "poop". Because they know this, we can "remind"
them to do each before we leave for work in the morning. If they
are able, they will do each on command.
- If the dog makes a mistake, it's
probaby your fault for not paying attention. Whatever
you do, don't try to discipline your dog/puppy after the fact.
To bring a dog/puppy to a place in the house where they soiled
and to try to explain why that was wrong just doesn't work! Not
5 seconds after, 1 minute after, or two hours after. Dogs just
do not have those kind of reasoning powers. They think
in the moment. Just as you can't complement a dog for
walking nicely 2 minutes after he/she does it, you can't
discipline a dog/puppy for doing anything unless they are doing
it right now! Use a cleaner formulated for this purpose
to clean the area and kill the urine scent. If a dog has urinated
frequently in the house, you may need to get the rugs professionally
cleaned. It's very tempting to a dog to potty where she can smell
urine.
- Put a new dog on a schedule of going outside every 30-60 minutes
to go potty. Take her out to the same place every time. Be patient,
and when she goes potty in that spot, say, "Go potty (or
whatever term you prefer), good girl." Praise, praise, praise,
"bring out the band"!
- Dogs usually have to potty after they wake up from a nap, after
playing, and 30 minutes or so after eating.
- If you catch her relieving herself in the house, don't smack
her or rub her nose in it as this accomplishes nothing. Instead,
say, "oops!" or "ah-ah-ah" and hustle her
outside to finish her business. Clean up the mess with as little
fuss as possible.
- These techniques can be very effective with young dogs as well
as older dogs who have not previously been properly housetrained.
You may spend a lot of time going outside initially, but the dog
will generally catch on quickly and could be trained within a
few days.
Links to other web pages on house training your dog:
dogpatch.org
canines.com
santa
clara valley humane
crate training
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