 If
your dog is going to live inside the home, and in America over
90% of our pets do, you are going to have to go through the
housebreaking process unless you have grossly different
hygienic standards than most. It is not hard, it need not be
messy, and it need not be a struggle. It does not have to take
a long time. Remember that it is a training issue and you will
need to have more than casual input. It will take some of your
time but the more involved you get, the shorter that span will
be.
The Rules
Housebreaking Rule Number One:
This is The Most Important Rule – If you don't catch your
puppy doing it - then don't punish him for it!
Housebreaking Rule Number Two:
Praise your puppy when things go right. Don't let this be a
situation where your only action is saying "No" when they are
caught in the midst of using the wrong area. If they do it
right – let them know!
Methods of housebreaking
Starting Inside: There are
several ways to housebreak a puppy. With the first, you can
put down papers or pretreated pads, encouraging them to use
these areas for going to the bathroom. The pads are scented
with a chemical that attracts the puppy to use them. Whenever
you see them starting into their "pre-potty pattern," such as
walking around and sniffing the floor, you gently pick them up
without talking and carry them over to the papers/pad and then
praise them when they go to the bathroom (Rule 2).
When all goes well and they are using the papers
consistently, the papers are either moved closer to the door
and/or another set is placed outside. The transition is made
from concentrating the toilet habits to one spot inside the
home to one spot outside the home. Finally, the papers inside
are eliminated. The only problem with this method is that for
a period of time it encourages the animal to eliminate inside
the home. In our experience, housebreaking may take longer
when this method is used.
Crate Training: The second
popular method of housebreaking involves the use of a crate or
cage. The often-stated reasoning is that the animal is placed
in a cage that is just large enough to be a bed. Dogs do not
like to soil their beds because they would be forced to lay in
the mess. It works, and while in these confines, most pups
will control their bladder and bowels for a longer time than
we would expect. Young puppies, at 8 or 9 weeks of age can
often last for 7 or 8 hours, however, we would never recommend
leaving them unattended in a crate for that long in most
circumstances.
During housebreaking, whenever the puppy is inside the home
but cannot be watched, he is placed in the crate. This might
be while you are cooking, reading to the children, or even
away from the home. The last thing you do before you put the
puppy in the crate is take him outside to his favorite spot.
The first thing you do when you take the animal out of the
crate is another trip outside. No food or water goes in the
crate, just a blanket and maybe a chew toy to occupy his time.
Overnight is definitely crate time. As your faith in the puppy
grows, leave him out for longer and longer periods of time.
Most people do not recognize an important advantage of
crate training. It does more than just stop the animal from
messing in the house. It also teaches the puppy something very
important. The puppy learns that when the urge to urinate or
defecate occurs, he can hold it. Just because the pup feels
like he needs to relieve himself, the pup learns that he does
not have to. This is thought to be the main reason why puppies
that have gone through crate training have fewer mistakes
later on.
Make sure you buy the right size cage. You want one that
has the floor space that provides just enough for the puppy to
lie down. But cages are useful throughout a dog's life and it
would be nice if you did not have to keep buying more as he
grows. That is not necessary. Simply purchase a cage that will
be big enough for him as an adult, but choose a model that
comes with or has a divider panel as an accessory. With these,
you can adjust the position of the panel so that the space
inside the cage available to the pet can grow as he does.
Using too large of a crate can often cause long term
problems. The puppy will go to one corner of the cage and
urinate or defecate. After a while, he will then run through
it tracking it all over the cage. If this is allowed to
continue, the instincts about not soiling his bed or lying in
the mess will be forgotten and the puppy will soon be doing it
every day when placed in the crate. Now a housebreaking method
has turned into a behavioral problem as the puppy’s
newly-formed hygienic habits becomes his way of life.
Constant Supervision: The
last method involves no papers, pads, or crates. Rather, you
chose to spend all the time necessary with the puppy. This
works very well for people who live and work in their homes,
retired persons, or in situations where the owners are always
with the animal. Whenever they see the puppy doing his
"pre-potty pattern" they hustle him outside. It is important
that the dog is watched at all times and that no mistakes are
allowed to occur. This method has less room for error, as
there is nothing like a cage to restrict the animal’'s urges,
nor is there a place for him to relieve himself such as on the
papers or pad. When he is taken outside, watch the puppy
closely and as soon as all goes as planned, he should be
praised and then brought back inside immediately. You want the
dog to understand that the purpose for going outside was to go
to the bathroom. Do not start playing, make it a trip for a
reason. Verbal communications help this method and we will
discuss them soon. For those with the time, this is a good
method. We still recommend having a crate available as a
backup when the owners have to be away from the animal.
Verbal cues
Specific verbal communications will also help the two of
you understand what is desired. It is an excellent idea to
always use a word when it is time to head to the bathroom. We
like "Outside?" Remember that whenever you use a verbal
command or signal, it is important that everybody in the
family always uses the same word in the same way. Think of the
word "Outside" in this situation not only as a question you
are asking the pup, but also as an indication that you want to
go there. Some dogs may get into the habit of going to the
door when they want to go outside. This is great when it
happens but it is not as common as some believe. We have found
that it is better to use verbal commands to initiate this sort
of activity rather than waiting for the puppy to learn this
behavior on his own. It seems like your consistent use of a
word or phrase like "Outside" will cause the puppy to come to
you rather than the door when he needs to go outside. The pup
quickly sees you as part of the overall activity of getting to
where he needs to go. We believe this is much better.
Once outside, we try to encourage the pup to get on with
the act in question. We use the phrase "Do your numbers." This
is probably a holdover from our own parenthood and hearing
children use the "Number 1" or "Number 2" phrases. Others use
'Do It,' 'Potty,' or 'Hurry Up.' As soon as they eliminate, it
is very important to praise them with a "Good Dog" and then
come back inside immediately. Again, make this trip that
started outside with a specific word "Outside" be for a
purpose. If we are taking the pup out to play with a ball or
go for a walk we will not use this word even if we know they
will eliminate while we are outside.
When an 'accident' happens
One of the key issues in housebreaking is to follow Rule
Number One: If you do not catch your puppy doing it, then do
not punish him for it! We do not care what someone else may
tell you or what you read, if you find a mess that was left
when you were not there, clean it up and forget it.
Discipline will not help because unless you catch the puppy
in the act, he will have no idea what the scolding is for.
Your puppy has urinated and defecated hundreds of times before
he met you. Mom or the breeder always cleaned it up. Nobody
made a fuss before and the pup will not put the punishment,
regardless of its form, together with something he has done
without incident numerous times before. Especially if he did
it more than 30 seconds ago! Puppies are just like our
children. Unless something was really fun (and a repetitious
act like going to the bathroom is not), they are not thinking
about what they did in the past. They are thinking about what
they can do in the future. At this point in his life a puppy's
memory is very, very poor.
Anyway, let us face it. It was your fault, not the pup's.
If you had been watching, you would have noticed the puppy
suddenly walking or running around in circles with his nose
down smelling for the perfect spot to go to the bathroom. It
is just as consistent as the taxi cab driver behind you
honking immediately when the light changes. The puppy will
show the same behavior every time. It may vary a little from
pup to pup but they always show their own "pre-potty pattern"
before the act.
The same should be said as to your first reaction when you
actually catch them in the act of urinating or defecating. It
is your fault, you were not watching for or paying attention
to the signals. Do not get mad. Quickly, but calmly pick them
up and without raising your voice sternly say "No." Carry them
outside or to their papers. It will help to push their tail
down while you are carrying them as this will often help them
to stop urinating or defecating any more.
They are going to be excited when you get them outside or
to the papers, but stay there with them a while and if they
finish the job, reward them with simple praise like "Good
Dog."
| Housebreaking
Rule Number One: If you don't catch your puppy
doing it, then don't punish him for it! |
In the disciplining of dogs, just like in physics, every
action has a reaction and for training purposes these may
not be beneficial! If you overreact and severely scold or
scare the heck out of a puppy for making what is in your
mind a mistake, your training is probably going backwards.
With housebreaking this is especially difficult for them to
understand as they are carrying out a natural body function.
Carried one step farther is the idea of rubbing a puppy's
nose into a mistake he made, whether you caught him or not.
In the limits of a puppy’s intelligence, please explain to
us the difference of rubbing his nose in his mess he left in
your kitchen an hour ago versus the one the neighbor's dog
left in the park two weeks ago. If the dog were smart enough
to figure all of this out, the only logical choice would be
to permanently quit going to the bathroom. Punishment rarely
speeds up housebreaking. Often, it makes the dog nervous or
afraid every time it needs to go to the bathroom. We will
give you a perfect example of how this kind of disciplining
causes long-term problems between a dog and his owner. A
client makes an appointment to discuss a housebreaking
problem. They are hoping that on physical exam or through
some testing we can find a medical reason for the animal's
inability to successfully make it through housebreaking.
They readily admit their frustration with the dog. The fecal
and urine tests reveal no problem. We assumed that would be
the case and have no intention of charging for those
services. In the examination room, the pup is showing a lot
more interest in the veterinarian than he is in his owners.
The animal's eyes are almost saying, "Please kidnap me from
them." When the owner reaches down to pet the dog on his
head, the pup reflexively closes his eyes and turns his head
to the side. The dog reacts as if he were going to be hit.
What this tells us is that the dog has been punished for
making messes in the owners' absence. During this punishment
the puppy is not, and we repeat, the puppy is not thinking
about what he might have done two hours ago. He is not
thinking that he should not make messes in the house. The
animal is not even thinking about the messes.
The classic line that usually goes with this scenario
then comes up "When we get home we know he has made a mess
because he always sulks or runs and hides!" The dog is not
thinking about some mistake he may have made. Rather, the
pup has learned that when the people first get home, for
some reason he has yet to figure out, they are always in a
bad mood and he gets punished. The puppy has decided that
maybe he would be better to try to avoid them for awhile so
he does try to hide. In this particular case, discipline,
misunderstood by the puppy, has caused him to fear his
owners and this will probably affect their relationship
throughout the life of the dog.
If you want housebreaking to go quickly, regardless of
the method you use, spend as much time as possible with your
puppy. In an exam room, one of us once listened to a client
complain about how he had to take some time off from work
for his own mental health and also, but unrelated, how the
puppy was not doing too well in the housebreaking
department. For us this statement was just too good to be
true. It was the perfect set-up for our pitch. This
gentleman, a bachelor, truly loved his puppy. We saw them
together everywhere. Still, the problem was that he worked
in a downtown office and the pup was home. His work allowed
him to get home frequently but not always on a consistent
schedule. There would be accidents when he was gone and
sometimes he was gone longer than the abilities or the
attention span of the puppy.
The solution was easy. We simply suggested his health and
the puppy's training would both do better if he stayed home
for a week or so. It worked. Under the man's watchful eye,
he was always there at the time when he was needed and in
less than seven days the ten-week-old puppy was trained. We
are not saying there was never another accident, but they
were few and far between. In the end, the best of all worlds
occurred. The man realized his dog could be trusted, and
thereafter, they spent their days together at the man's
office.
Feeding and housebreaking
The feeding schedule you use can help or hinder
housebreaking. You will soon notice that puppies will need
to go outside soon after they wake and also within 30 to 40
minutes after eating. Be consistent when you feed the animal
so you can predict when they need to relieve themselves.
Plan your trips outside around these patterns.
All of this may seem simple, and it really is. The keys
are that it will take time and you must be consistent. And,
of course, you must never lose your temper or even get
excited.
 Spontaneous
or submissive urination
Puppies may spontaneously urinate when excited. This may
be when they first see you, at meeting a new dog, or when
they are scared. It is often referred to as
submissive or excitement urination. Do not discipline
the puppy for this, as it is something they cannot control.
Simply ignore it and clean up the mess. If you do not
overreact, they will usually outgrow this between 4 and 7
months of age.
Summary
Your new puppy is home and you have started the
housebreaking process. This is just as much a part of
training as the "Come" and "Stay" commands. However,
mistakes that occur with housebreaking can cause more
problems between you and your pet than those encountered
with any other form of training. Be patient and stay calm. |
