Housebreaking (also known as House Training or Potty Training)
for Puppies and Adult Dogs
By Michele Welton. Copyright © 2000-2010
If owners could choose only one skill they wanted their dog to have, HOUSEBROKEN would probably be the winner. Who amongst us is happy with a dog who's peeing or pooping in the house? Housebreaking problems are a chief complaint of dog owners who contact me for behavioral consulting.
So here's what I tell dog owners who are looking for housebreaking advice:
"There are two keys to housebreaking. Just two, but you have to get them both right. And I mean 100% right, not 50% right. Otherwise you're going to end up with a dog who is 50% housebroken, and who wants that?"
So here they are . . . your two keys to housebreaking
1. Confinement – so your dog can't go to the bathroom in the wrong place.
Confinement means that until your dog is housebroken, he is never allowed to walk freely around the house.. Because if he's loose and you take your eyes off him for just a few moments, he can go to the bathroom on your floor, and the bad habit is begun. No, until he is actually housebroken, he needs to be confined for every minute of every hour of every day – unless you're sitting with your dog, playing with him, walking him, feeding him, grooming him, teaching him something, or otherwise interacting with him.
2. Regular or constant access to the RIGHT place to go.
This means you TAKE your dog outside on a regular basis – every few hours – or else he lets himself outside through a doggy door at will, into a small potty yard. Or you can provide him with an indoor bathroom – newspapers or a litter box.
He must have SOMEWHERE to "go" – on a regular, reliable basis.
Plain and simple, those are the two keys to housebreaking. If you give your dog NO OPPORTUNITY whatsover to go on your floor, and you keep taking him out, and out, and out, that's the habit he will develop.
If, on the other hand, you give him too much freedom in the house too early, or not enough access to the right place to go, then he will probably "go" in the house, and that's the habit he will develop.
If you'd like some help housebreaking your dog . . .
 © 2010 Revised Edition
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In my dog training book, Teach Your Dog 100 English Words, I'll show you three methods for confining your dog, plus three options for providing him with a place to potty. Also how often he needs to go to the bathroom, what to do if he won't "go", and how to deal with accidents. Follow my step-by-step housebreaking advice and you will have a housebroken dog.
Available exclusively from my website – as a printed book or an instant-download ebook. Learn more about Teach Your Dog 100 English Words! |
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