Training   .   .   .   .   .

Housetraining 101

By Julie Sterling ©2004

The good news about housetraining your puppy is that there are only a couple of basic ideas you need to keep in mind:

1) Dogs are creatures of habit and will become accustomed to and seek out a preferred surface on which to eliminate (this has more to do with surface than location.)

2) Dogs are inherently “clean” and will avoid soiling their own immediate living space (where they eat, sleep, play, etc.) if given a choice.

How the first premise works for you:

If you control where your puppy eliminates, by taking puppy there at appropriate intervals and at key times, the puppy will want to wait until he reaches the accustomed surface before “going potty.”

How the first premise works against you:

If your puppy has the opportunity to have multiple accidents on surfaces found inside your home (wood, tile, carpet, linoleum) he will see those surfaces as perfectly acceptable to “potty” upon.

How the second premise works for you:

If you keep your puppy confined to an area small enough that he prefers not to soil it when you are unable to supervise, the puppy will wait to “go potty” until removed from this area and taken to his potty spot.

How the second premise works against you:

If you confine your puppy too long, or beyond his reasonable ability to “hold it,” you may force your puppy to soil his immediate living space. In time, the puppy will no longer care about moving away from where he eats, sleeps and plays, as he will have become accustomed to living with his own waste. This is often the case when dogs have been kept at a pet shop and forced to eliminate on the same surface on which they live (usually newspaper, or the “magic grate” where feces and urine simply fall below out of the way.)

When housetraining goes wrong it is usually a case of the puppy having way too much freedom for his level of reliability, coupled with lack of supervision and poor timing on the part of the human being(s) responsible for the dog.

HOW TO ACCOMPLISH ACCIDENT-FREE (OR NEARLY) HOUSE TRAINING

1. Set up an area for puppy to potty. If this is to be outside in the yard, decide on a surface (grass, gravel, mulch, bark, dirt, etc.) Fence or block off an area where you can take the puppy to go potty so he is less likely to become distracted. If the potty area has to be inside, I recommend either newspaper or a doggie litter box (in my experience, the commercial “wee wee pads” just teach the dog to “go” on carpet and throw rugs.)
   
   A patch of sod in a plastic liner works well on a patio or balcony for apartments or condos. Go to www.poochpotty.com for a great product/service that may work for your situation.
   
   
2. At bedtime, confine a young puppy to a crate next to your bed. The puppy may protest for a while at first, but will become quiet eventually. If after several hours of quiet the puppy begins to stir, TAKE HIM OUT to the potty spot. Wait only a couple of minutes…if puppy “goes,” label the action with the words, “go potty” WHILE HE IS IN THE ACT. Do this every time you see him go (this will come in handy later, when you have “potty” on cue and can TELL the dog to “go.”) then praise him lavishly when he has finished. If he doesn’t “go,” don’t wait around more than a minute or two…take him back to the crate.
   
   
3. If puppy sleeps through the night, yahoo! Be sure to take him out first thing in the morning BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE. He will have a full bladder and will go easily right away in the “potty spot.” DON’T LEAVE THE PUPPY ALONE in the potty spot…you need to be there to see that he goes, to “label” the event, and to praise him afterward!
   
   
4. Feed puppy and take him out again after he eats. He may or may not poop right then; if he does, great. He may, however, do nothing. Bring him back in for about 10 or 15 more minutes and take him out again. If you can’t watch him during that time, either crate him or place him in a playpen in a central location (kitchens are good.) Repeat until puppy “goes.”
   
   
5. Young puppies and toy breeds may have to urinate as often as every 30 minutes or so when awake and active. If puppy has just come in from going potty and is “empty,” he can run around in the kitchen and play with you for about 15 or twenty minutes before you need to start thinking about taking him out again.
   
   
6. If you have to leave the house for a couple of hours, take puppy out to potty, then LEAVE HIM IN THE CRATE WHILE YOU ARE GONE. He will probably settle down and take a nap. AS SOON AS YO RETURN, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, take puppy out to the potty spot.
   
   
7. Do you see a pattern here? Get the puppy out BEFORE he has an accident, don’t leave him with the run of anything unsupervised, and have him sleep in a crate overnight.
   
   
8. Avoid letting young puppies spend time on your carpet…it is too easy for accidents to occur and way too hard to get all the urine smell out of the carpet (the smell will just trigger the puppy to go there again…if accidents occur on tile or linoleum, they are easier to clean up.)
   
   
9. If you SEE your puppy have an accident, don’t over-react…just interrupt the puppy (“hey!”) and take him out immediately to his area. If you scream, yell, hit, rub his nose in it, etc., you are likely to, a) make him afraid of you, b) teach him it is not safe to “go” in your presence (even outside).
   
   
10. If you FIND an accident after the fact, hit yourself with a rolled-up newspaper for not keeping track of your puppy! Remember, IT’S A PUPPY. You are the one with the big brain!
    

For help with dog and puppy training, call Julie Sterling (310) 573-1150

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