Housetraining

No training is more basic for pet owners than that first important lesson: Do it outside!

Teaching your pet to potty outside the home, not in it, usually starts between six and eight weeks of age. Dogs as young as four weeks have been started on the program, but at that age not many have the muscular control to succeed.

Like any dog training curriculum, trainer patience is as important as the dog’s temperament. ‘Sit’, ‘stay’ and other behaviors can often be learned in a few days. ‘Potty’ training typically takes weeks – maybe as short as two, sometimes a month or more.

As with other learned behaviors, it helps to watch for signs of the wanted actions and enforce and direct them with a voice command followed by praise. In this case that technique works even more to the trainer’s advantage, since all dogs will naturally eliminate. The goal is to get them to do it when and where you want!

Watch for circling or squatting, then scoop up the pup, say ‘outside’ and dash outside. The puppy may circle some more, but will often squat quickly. As it begins, say ‘Go potty’ (or some other unique phrase) in a clear, firm (but not angry) voice. Wait until the puppy is finished and praise lavishly.

You won’t always be able to catch the puppy about to go, but don’t become angry or impatient when the dog eliminates indoors. It takes time for your puppy to learn to tell you it’s time to ‘go potty’. It also takes time for the muscles needed to control bladder and bowels to gain control.

Usually, puppies will need to eliminate every 2-3 hours. If you haven’t spotted pre-elimination behavior within that time, take the dog outside anyway. Issue the command ‘Go potty’ and wait. At first, usually, the dog will have no clue what you want.

Especially, even when outside, it helps to wait and observe for the desired behavior then issue the command. That helps the dog associate the command with the behavior. If your puppy hasn’t gone after a few minutes and a few ‘Go potty’ commands, take it back inside for an hour. Of course, if you notice the pre-elimination behavior sooner, go outside again immediately.

Puppies have an amazing ability to quickly learn what their ‘alpha’ (the leader of the pack) wants. This is almost always accomplished by associating a verbal command with behavior, followed by praise. Punishment is usually counter-productive, and nowhere more so than in waste elimination training. Never rub a dog’s nose in the mess.

Paper and/or crate training is preferred by some. A puppy can be trained to go on a newspaper, or on one of the chemically treated pads designed for the purpose. Some small breeds that live all day in the home may not need to go outside at all.

The technique has a couple of downsides however. Unlike cats, dogs prefer not go in a perfumed litter box. Newspapers will often leave an unpleasant smell in the house.

Also, long before the odor becomes noticeable to humans, dogs can smell their own distinctive odor. They don’t find it unattractive – quite the opposite. So that spot continues to be the problem.

Dogs that are paper trained will often prefer to eliminate indoors. Occassionally they’ll miss the paper by just an inch, creating a nasty mess to clean up.

Once the accident is in the carpet, the dog will often seek that spot out as its proper ‘place to go’. This makes training the dog to eliminate outside even more difficult. Best to suffer a few accidents than to create a hard-to-overcome habit.

The keys to any dog training are patience, praise and consistency. Elimination training is the first test for you and your dog.

Get more tips and advice on housetraining or dog training at Luvurdog.com/dogtraining