Thursday's Training

 

Housebreaking Your Puppy

Housebreaking your puppy/dog is one of the very challenging responsibilities that you will have.  A puppy will need to be trained, and oftentimes a rescue dog will require diligent conditioning as well.

I have not been a good teacher for potty training due to lack of consistency.  This is an integral part of your lesson plan.  Setting up a routine, and sticking to it, is imperative.  Since I was working full time it was difficult if not impossible to concentrate on getting my pup outside to potty at regular times.  As a result, my housebreaking training was slow and often interrupted, with accidents occurring through no fault of my dog. 

Keeping your dog confined to a small area of the house will help him to succeed as he becomes familiar with his new surroundings and schedule.  Dogs do not like to soil the area where they sleep, so keeping them crated initially can also aid in teaching them where their bathroom area is.

When I got my Cairn Terrier Swayze at 13 weeks old, he had been 95% housebroken already!  Easiest puppy I ever had as my work was already done.  But this is not usually the case.  Remember that a puppy has an extremely short attention span, and they are easily distracted.  Take your puppy to the same spot in the yard, always on leash, a short time after feeding, immediately outside in the morning, and before bedtime.  If you can get some scent of urine or stool on newspaper or a pee pad, take it outside to the designated potty area so the scent is there for the dog.  If the dog becomes preoccupied on a sight, sound, or smell, you can slightly move in the general area to redirect its focus.  When the dog is actually voiding, I will say and repeat a word, such as potty.  Eventually the dog will associate the word with the action.  Do not use the word beforehand as the dog might associate it with watching a bird in the tree or looking at the neighbor next door!

Be patient and consistent, and you will succeed.  Of course, the winter is a horrible time for housebreaking.  Right now, I am trying to figure out how I will get my dogs out into the yard to potty with two feet of snow!!

Dog bless, 

Judy Endo
andtoto2@ptd.net