Is Fido having a difficult time getting the hang of housebreaking?
This can be an extremely trying situation no matter how old your dog is. However, don’t give up! Read on for some helpful tips…
As with any training method, results will depend on the consistency and effort put into training your dog. Dogs are instinctively clean animals. This means that if they can avoid it at all, they would rather not soil themselves or their eating and sleeping areas.
A rule of thumb is that puppies generally cannot hold it for more than four hours. Adult dogs should not be expected to hold it for more than 6 hours. If you have a long work day, it is a great idea to hire a dog walker to come in and relieve your pooch midday. Not only is this more comfortable for your pup, but an extra walk during the day can provide a great increase in exercise and health!
Specific and clear verbal communications will also help everyone involved understand what is desired. Many people use the word “Outside?” to trigger the event of going outdoors to eliminate. It is extremely important that everybody in the family always uses the same word in the same way.
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. It may be better to use verbal commands to initiate this sort of activity rather than waiting for the puppy to learn this behavior on his own. To help your dog learn this behavior more quickly, you can initiate the use of Poochie Bells, which act as a doorbell for your dog. Pooch Bells are a great training tool; simply choose a a fun Poochie Bell pattern to match your home and hang on or by the door your dog exits to go outside. Be consistent and your pooch should pick up on this in no time at all. The bells just need nudged a little and you should be able to hear them throughout your house. This is your dog’s way of telling you it’s time to go out. No need for barking or whining anymore!
Once outside, try to encourage the pup to “Go potty.” As soon as they eliminate, it is very important to praise them with a phrase like, “Good Dog.”
Michelle Karolicki, lead trainer of Pup Prep encourages use of small training treats to support successful training. “Something that’s very helpful when it comes to potty training is to bring your treats outside with you and treat the dog right after they go potty. This way they know what they’re getting the treat for!”
One of the key issues in housebreaking is that if you do not catch your puppy doing it, then do not punish him for it! Dogs will have no idea what the scolding is for. Punishment will not speed up house training. Often, it makes the dog nervous or afraid every time it needs to go to the bathroom.
If you do happen to catch them in the act, do not get mad. Karolicki suggests making a distracting noise, such as clapping. Then quickly, but calmly pick them up and without raising your voice sternly say “No.” Take them outside and then use the words you and your family agreed upon, such as, “Go potty.” Be sure to provide verbal praise at this point after your dogs finishes eliminating outside.
To clean up those unfortunate accidents, I have found two products that work amazingly well:
Get Serious
This is the best bet for getting stains and odors out of carpet, upholstery, or any other fabric. Get Serious actually breaks down the enzymes and extracts the pheromones. This helps stop the pets from re-marking. For extra “serious” stains, warm up a bit in the microwave first. I have used this on stains left by the previous dog who lived in our house, red wine, Coke, and finger paint just to name a few uses in our household!
Nature’s MiracleThis is our favorite for hard surfaces like hardwood floors, tile, and ceramic. We actually use this at both stores when there happen to be accidents. I suggest wiping up the mess, spraying some Nature’s Miracle (I like to use the bottle with the spray trigger as it is more evenly dispersed and less is wasted) and wiping it up. The most important part is to spray the soiled area again and allowing it to air dry as this is what will break down the enzymes in the urine and prevent re-marking.
Good luck with the potty training. Be consistent and stick with it! I’d love to hear of any tips you may have learned throughout your housebreaking ventures.