"You can house trained your puppy in a few short weeks if you invest the necessary time"......
Here are some suggestions to make this important training period a success:
Buy a crate : During the first few weeks, keep your puppy in it whenever you are not playing, holding, or watching him or her explore their new surroundings. Spend as much time as you can with your pet, but when your puppy can not be supervised, crating them prevents mistakes and accidents from occurring.
In addition to providing the safe, secure refuge your dog needs and wants, crates are critical to housetraining because as den animals, dogs are naturally inclined to not soil their bedding. The most important thing housetraining dogs learn in a crate is that they can control their urge to eliminate until the proper time and situation.
Size of the crate: Determining what size to get for your dog is sometimes difficult for a newbie dog owner. It is always recommended that the crate be twice the size or much larger than the size of the dog. It is NOT true that the smaller the crate, the less accidents that a puppy will have while in it. What the owner will discover is that they will be washing their puppy more frequently if they purchase too small of a crate. A puppy can NOT get out of its soiled area if the crate is not large enough for him or her to move away from it. We advise placing the bedding towards the back of the crate and placing newspapers in the front area until your puppy is fully housebroken. If a puppy must be crated for more than 3 hours at a time, the puppy will have no option but to soil in the crate. Young puppies usually have the need to eliminate every 2 to 3 hours until they learn self control.
Establish a schedule and a routine and don't deviate from it: The "when" and "how" you house train needs to be consistent. Make sure all family members follow the same guidelines. Changing your dogs' routine and schedule on a daily basis will only cause confusion. A new puppy must become accustomed to their new family's routine. This may take up to ten days, so please be patient. Patience with new puppies is a must.
Pick a soiling spot in your yard and take your pup there on a leash when it is time to eliminate. The odor from previous visits to this spot will stimulate the urge to defecate and /or urinate. It is important NOT to play with your puppy while you are training it to go to the bathroom outdoors. Once your puppy has eliminated, give him or her a special treat and alot of positive praise! GOOD BOY! GOOD GIRL! Then take your puppy back indoors for a few minutes and then go back outside for "Playtime". Your puppy must not confuse the term "outside" with playing but must learn to associate "outside" with potty breaks.
Many new owners confuse their pup by using different words for the same command. In the housebreaking process, it is a good idea to use the same word like "outside" every time you take the puppy out to eliminate. Consistent use of a particul word associated with an activity will help to build a level of communication between you and your pup. Later, while you are watching television and notice your pup staring at you, or nudging you , trying to get your attention, you can say the word "outside" and your pup will become excited and want to go to the door for going outside. My personal dogs who reside indoors know the word "Ready" as well as "Go out?". When those words are spoken, each will become excited.....wagging their tail and heading straight for the door. They are permitted to go outside ONLY to use the bathroom and called immediately back in after they have done their business. 30 minutes later, they are then let back outside (without using any commands) to follow me to the front yard. It is only during that time, we play fetch or catch or chasing each other around. Playtime should never be associated with any particular commands unless you are already outside with your dog and your dog needs to be reprimanded for a misdeed during playtime.
Be patient! Dogs may urinate or defecate more than once in one outing, and not always right away. Sometimes they have to smell around and if the grass is wet, some dogs don't like to get their feet wet while others jump right in a puddle without a second glance. Don't distract your pup from the job at hand. This is a business trip, not a social time. It's important to be patient and let them do their business. If it takes awhile...so be it.
GIVE LOTS OF POSITIVE PRAISE! for their success when the job is done but don't overdo it. Just patting them across their shoulders a few times will do the trick while you tell him or her they are a Good boy or Girl. Giving a treat is a good thing too.
In a dog's language, giving positive praise while constant rubbing across the head or repeating "good dog!" means alot. Some people prefer to use a consistent phrase when the pup eliminates such as "do your stuff!". The pup soon learns this is a signal to eliminate, which is very useful when traveling or when time is short. With one of my own dogs, I actually have to tell her "Go to the bathroom" because our cats distract her and try to get her to play with them. I usually have to remind her why she is outside and then she will go to the bathroom and ignore the cats.
Don't mix business with pleasure! When your pup has finished, take him back inside, even just for a few minutes. When you come back inside, spend some time with your pup. You know there is little chance the pup will have to eliminate for a good time. The more time you spend with the pup, the better it is. Remember, they are still young and need to act like a pup, developing and learning about their new situation and environment. When you're finished, take one more trip outside and then place the pup back in its crate. After every meal and playtime, remember to take the pup outside before placing them back in the crate.
The key to housetraining is you. Many times people can't understand why their dog is NOT being housebroken or not able to train quickly. They fail to realize however, their dog is only as smart as THEY make them. Take a child for example. If the parent never teaches the child to speak.....the speaking process will take much longer because the child doesn't understand how to communicate. If the parent doesn't show a child how to play, then there are no bounderies for a child to learn of what is the right way to play and what is the wrong way to play. The same goes for your new pet. A puppy has a very impressionable mind and is quick to learn so long as its owner shows them what is right and whoat is wrong. The key to successful dog ownership starts with the owner. Spend as much time with your puppy as possible during the first two to three weeks your puppy is home. If you work alot of hours, you may want to hire someone to come over and spend some quality time with your pet or even someone to come over and let him or her out for potty and exercise breaks. Finding a teenager who may be seeking some extra summer cash is a good place to find some help if you are not able to spend alot of time with your new pet during the week. Or if you are never home long enough to care for a pet, you may not want to purchase a pet until you have more time to spend with him or her.
Be consistent, patient, praise when appropriate and be willing, for however long it takes, to invest the time and energy necessary to make this important training time a success! The effort you put forth now will be well worth it for the lifetime of your pet.
Establishing a schedule is very important! Dogs are creatures of habit; they like to eat, sleep and relieve themselves on a regular schedule.
Establishing and maintaining a schedule is easy to do and gets easier as your puppy grows. Pay attention to your dog's behavior so you can develop a schedule that works for both of you. Although your dog can not TELL you verbally what he or she wants, they DO show you through their behaviour what it is they want or need. First, learn when your dog naturally defecates...in the morning, at night, 30 minutes after eating, etc. Look at your schedule and determine what compromises need to be made to make this workable for everyone.
If you catch your puppy in the act of having an accident, tell him "NO!" forcefully....pick him up and take him outside. If you don't catch him in the act, simply clean up the mess and scold yourself for not being available. DON'T SCOLD THE PUPPY.
Until your pup is 14 weeks old, take him outside frequently or place him or her on newspaper and watch them very closely when they are in, or out of the crate. As soon as you see your puppy pacing around in circles or sniffing around or trying to sneak away (if they are outside of the crate) take the pup outside. These are telltale signs!!!!
PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE YOUR CANINE'S CRATE FOR A BABYSITTER! WE DO NO ADVOCATE ALLOWING DOGS TO ACTUALLY LIVE INSIDE OF A CRATE. CRATE TRAINING IS ONLY FOR SHORT DURATIONS, FOR YOUNG PUPPIES WHO ARE GOING THROUGH THE HOUSEBREAKING STAGES AND WHEN YOU CAN NOT SUPERVISE YOUR PUPPY. WE DO NOT ADVOCATE CRATING DOGS AS THEIR "HOME" TO LIVE IN FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND DAYS ON END. DOGS NEED ROOM TO EXERCISE AND RUN TO BUILD UP MUSCLES. MANY HEALTH PROBLEMS CAN SET IN FROM DOGS LIVING IN A CRATE AND NEVER BEING ALLOWED OUT FOR PLAY AND EXERCISE.
HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS FOR THOSE WHO WORK LONG HOURS YET WOULD LIKE TO OWN A FAMILY PET:
We suggest if you do not have anyone that stays at home during the day or who can come by to let the puppy or dog outside for potty and exercise breaks, to possibly fence in an outdoor section for your puppy or dog to stay while you are gone. Even housebroken dogs need to go outdoors for potty breaks and if you are gone for 8 hours or longer, it is very difficult for even a dog that is housebroken to hold it for that long a period of time. Many vets can recommend a "dog sitter" or may have heard of someone in your area who does doggie sit or who can come by and let your puppy or doggie out for potty breaks. They may even have low fees. Sometimes neighborhood teenagers who are looking for a summer job and is a responsible teenager may be the best answer for those seeking a family pet but who spend many hours at work during the week.
