Housebreaking (House Training, 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 be very high on the list!
The 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 should never be 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. Until he is 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.
Regular or constant access to the RIGHT place to go means you let your dog outside or take him outside on a regular basis -- every few hours -- or else he lets himself outside through a doggy door at will. 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 puppy 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 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.
Housebreaking success or failure is entirely up to you.
Three ways to provide confinement and bathroom access
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Confinement in a crate (no more than 4 hours total per day). Take outside to bathroom every couple of hours. |
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Confinement in an exercise pen. Constant access to newspapers or a litterbox. |
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Confinement in a small room. Constant access to an outside yard via a doggy door. |
If you'd like some guidance housebreaking your puppy or adult dog, my dog training book will help!
Everything you need to know to housebreak your dog!
Copyright © 2000-2010 by Michele Welton. All rights reserved.
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