Counter Surfers Unlimited
Labsr4U Pawsitive Advice
Potty Training (aka House
Breaking)
The following article was composed by Ellen Morris
Editor's note: he first part of this
article is very similar to the Crate Training article... But please read
on!
The crate is a prime tool in house training your pup because feral
instincts teach a dog that soiling the crate is dangerous, as it gives
predators the location of the den. So, as soon as they have the
musculature, the pups will do their best to avoid soiling their home.
You should do your best to keep the crate clean, with a product like
Nature's Miracle or other enzymatic cleaner. Don't put newspaper in the
crate for several reasons. The newsprint will come off on the dog's pads
and get tracked through the house. You do not want to teach your dog
that the daily paper, which invariably ends up on the floor, is a
toilet.
House training depends on the dog. There are several things you can do
to help matters along. The crate should be where your dog feels safe,
protected and sheltered! (Please take a look at our article on crate
training). If, when you take your dog outside and you don't think he has
done his thing yet, you can put him in his crate with a treat for a few
minutes and then take him outside again. If you want to be sure he will
go in a limited amount of time, take him into the yard and play a game
which will get him moving around, as exercise will often bring on what
you are hoping for.
In the house, have a good supply of Nature's Miracle because as the pup
runs around, they will pass places which will remind them, "HEY, this
place has been used as a toilet!" Their noses are a lot keener than ours
and also a lot lower to the ground than ours. We may think we have the
odor out, but dogs are far keener than ours in the sniff department. For
those newbies who haven't found out about Nature's Miracle, you have a
treat coming as it removes a lot more than just urine with little to no
work. It works on vomit, blood, dead fish, grass stains, magic marker
and lots of other things. It also works for people "mistakes" when they
are babies or ill or injured (with blood)!
As far as how long housetraining should take, the answer stinks. It
varies and depends on your dog. If the dogs know that these mistakes do
not please you, they are often motivated to find what does. Just grab
the Nature's Miracle and clean up mistakes and make absolutely no notice
of the "sin" at all. BUT when they go where you want to or when, make a
HUGE fuss, lots of praise, pats and terrific treats. Then the dog will
want to "go" where all these good things happen. It can take anywhere
from no time at all to 3 or 4 months. The longest time I have spent
housetraining a dog is about 12 weeks and he was sick with Coccidia. It
usually takes a lot of MY TIME and about 2 to 3 weeks with about 4 month
of age when I consider the dogs reliable. Some pups NEVER make in the
house. Remember that younger dogs do not have the sophisticated
musculature and have got to go outside more often, too! When they are
tiny, take them out about every 45 minutes to an hour. Gradually
increase the increments of time until they learn to ask to go outside.
Unfortunately, dogs ask to go outside in different ways. They may come
to you and act restless, they may bark, they may scratch at the door and
you wouldn't hear that if you are in another room. Some people hang a
bell on the door and shake it when they open the door to go out. The
problem there is that some dogs just like to ring the bell! Your best
bet it to crate your pup whenever you cannot watch them because, in the
crate, the pup will wait as long as it can before making a mistake and
it will do its best to let you know that a sin is about to occur unless
they get outside.
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