The Key To Successful
Housetraining
Is Prevention, Not Punishment
Veterinary Exam & Urine/Fecal
Check
Your puppy's state of health will affect his ability to be
successfully housetrained (housebroken). Make sure your puppy is seen by
a vet within 48 hours of his coming home from the breeder or animal
shelter. If your puppy does not receive a "clean bill of
health", it is important that any physical conditions that can
impede successful housetraining (such as cystitis, bladder infection,
etc.) be properly treated. A fecal check will determine whether worms or
internal parasites are present. (There are several types of worms that
are not visible except under a microscope. Also, fleas can cause
tapeworm.)
Feed Your Puppy A High-Quality Puppy Food
A consistent diet of a high-quality premium brand dry (kibble) puppy
food is recommended. Avoid feeding your puppy table scraps or changing
brands unnecessarily. If you should need to change your puppy's food for
any reason, do it gradually over a period of 4 to 7 days (by overlapping
both the old and the new puppy food together, until the old food is
phased out completely). [Note: Feeding your puppy lots of canned dog
food can loosen his stool, making it harder to housebreak him.]
Close Supervision Is Essential
Close supervision is essential any time your puppy is not crated
indoors (or confined to a small area covered with newspapers) . It only
takes a few seconds for your puppy to have a house soiling accident, so
watch for signs that your puppy may need to eliminate, such as sniffing
the floor, circling, or running out of sight suddenly.
Confinement When Puppy Can't Be Supervised
Crate training or area confinement are recommended for puppies and
most adolescent dogs when left unsupervised alone in the house. If
properly introduced and used appropriately, crate training is an
efficient and humane way to prevent housetraining accidents as well keep
your puppy safe when you can not watch him (or when you leave the
house/apartment without him). The crate should not be used for excessive
periods of time and should not be used as a punishment (although brief
"time outs" in the crate are fine). Sufficient daily
companionship, interactive playtime and exercise are very important to
all puppies and dogs.
[Note: Crate training and other forms of confinement must be balanced
with sufficient exercise and companionship. Excessive periods of
isolation can be very detrimental to your puppy, and can contribute to
numerous behavioral problems including hyperactivity, destructive
behavior, digging, self-mutilation, and excessive barking.]
Determine Puppy's Safety Zone, Grey Zone & Danger Zone
Keep a diary of your puppy's urinating and defecating times for
several days or more. Determine the minimum interval between
elimination. Subtract 15-30 minutes from this period of time and that
will be your puppy's temporary "Safety Zone". This is the
duration of time he can generally be trusted to hold his urine after he
is taken for a walk or has "gone" on his newspapers, provided
he does not drink a ton of water during this time. Make sure however,
that he is still closely supervised any time he is not confined to his
crate or confinement area.
Frequent Access To Newspapers, Backyard, Or Taken For A Walk If Fully
Immunized
Puppies need to urinate shortly after the eat, drink water, play,
chew, or sleep. For most puppies over 10 weeks of age, that means
somewhere between 5 and 10 times a day! Adolescent dogs (from 6 to 11
mths. old) will need 4 to 6 walks a day. Adult dogs need 3 to 4 walks a
day, and elderly dogs need at least 3 to 4 walks daily (incontinent dogs
will need more).
Do Not Return From A Walk Until Your Puppy Eliminates
If your puppy has been confined overnight to a crate, take him
outside first thing in the morning (before he's had a chance to soil
indoors.) Be prepared to stay outdoors with him until he eliminates.
(This could take from a few minutes to as much as several hours!) As
soon as your puppy eliminates outdoors, offer him lavish praise and a
treat. If you take your puppy back inside the house before he's fully
eliminated, he will surely have an housesoiling accident indoors!
[Note: If you absolutely have to return home before your puppy does his
"business", crate him, then try taking him outside again every
15-30 minutes until he "goes".]
Early Interactive Socialization With People Is Important
Early and ongoing interactive socialization with lots of friendly
new people (including calm friendly children) is very important. If your
puppy is not immunized sufficiently to taken for a walk, make sure to
have lots of new people visit your puppy in your home. You can also
carry your puppy outdoors to public places to properly acclimate him to
the sights, sounds and activities of the outdoors (especially crowds of
people and traffic noises) soon after he has received at least two
series of shots, provided he is not placed on the sidewalk or streets,
and he is not brought near other dogs (or anywhere other dogs might have
been).
Praise & Reward Your Puppy For "Going" Outdoors
Lavish paise, a trigger word (ie: "potty", "get
busy", "business", "bombs away", etc.) and a
treat reward immediately following his eliminating in the right place
(newspapers, backyard, or outdoors) will help you to communicate to your
puppy that you are pleased with his behavior. Delayed praise is not
effective, so witnessing him going in the right spot is important.
No Access To Inappropriate Areas To Eliminate
Many puppies and dogs prefer certain areas or surfaces to eliminate
on, such as rugs, carpeting, etc. Keep your puppy away from risky areas
or surfaces whenever possible. If your puppy suddenly runs out of sight
(ei: out of the room), he may be looking for a secret spot to eliminate,
so close doors to rooms where he may sneak a quick pee or poop.
Neutralize Urine Odors With Enzyme-Based Deodorizer
Should your puppy have a few housesoiling accidents despite your
best efforts to prevent them, neutralize any soiled areas (carpet or
floor surface) with an pet odor neutralizer such as Nature's Miracle,
Nilodor, Fresh 'n' Clean, or Outright Pet Odor Eliminator. Avoid using
ammonia-based cleaners to clean up after your puppy's urine, as ammonia
breaks down to urea, which is a component of urine.
No Water After 9PM
Generally speaking, it is advisable to take up your puppy's water
bowl after 9 PM, unless he seems very thirsty or weather conditions are
exceedingly hot. (But a couple of ice cubes are OK)
Eliminate Worms and Parasites
Contact your veterinarian if you suspect that your puppy has worms,
coccidia, fleas, ticks, or other internal or external parasites.
Diarrhea Will Prevent Housetraining Success
Your puppy or dog cannot be expected to be reliable if he has
diarrhea. Loose, liquidy or mucousy stools will hinder any housetraining
success.
After-The-Fact Discipline Does NOT Work!
Never ever discipline (verbally or otherwise) your puppy or dog
after-the-fact for housesoiling accidents that you did not actually
witness. (Even if you should see your puppy eliminate on the floor or
carpet, harsh physical punishment is never recommended.)
Never Discipline A Dog For Submissive Urination!
Submissive and excitement urination are completely involuntary, so
never discipline your puppy for this. Eye contact, verbal scoldings,
hovering over, reaching out to pet your puppy's head, animated
movements, talking in an exciting or loud voice, as well as strangers/
visitors approaching your puppy, may all potentially trigger your puppy
to piddle. Disciplining your puppy for involuntary piddling must be
avoided or the problem will simply get worse.
Copyright 1995 - 2000, Robin
Kovary
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