Posted under
Pet Tips by oahupet on October 21st, 2008 12:50 pm
“This 6 month old Beagle I got from a shelter is peeing in the house! I need help!”
Take a deep breath and relax, help is on the way. Well maybe a deep breath isn’t a good idea yet but take heart, housetraining is pretty easy. The main ingredients are perseverance and kind hands. Be consistent and in no time at all you’ll have a lovely, well mannered house dog. One of the biggest reasons dogs wind up in rescue is, “He can’t be house trained!” Your pup may have been born in a puppy mill and thinks the bathroom is wherever he is. Puppy millers are generally known to raise dogs in dirty, crowded, and caged environments. Being trapped in a cage with no one to open the door makes for a very messy dog. It becomes “normal” to pee and poop where they stand. Many people say that a 6 month old puppy can hold it’s bladder for an eight hour day. I don’t disagree but I don’t think it’s a good idea to ask a dog to hold its bladder that long, especially a young dog. When was the last time you held your water for eight hours? With routine, “normal” will be going outside to the spot to potty. If you choose the spot, you’ll still get to walk barefoot on the rest of your yard.
Clean all areas where the dog has pottied with a great cleaner like Urine Off, Get Serious, or Pet Pee Be Gone.
Make sure to wash the crate thoroughly, too. Dogs like to potty where they’ve pottied before. Get rid of the odor and the dog most likely won’t go there again. Move the crate to a new clean place where the pup has never pottied. Next to your bed is a nice spot.
see more puppies
Pretend that your dog has come home to live with you just this minute. Never mind that he’s been driving you mad with pee since he came to live at your house two weeks ago. Forgive him completely and start all over. Going potty outside is all about routine. Dogs love routine and learn quickly when routine is established. It’s not hard to teach your dog where to potty.
I love the umbilical cord method of house training. The dog is on a six foot leash attached to you or another responsible and aware person for the next six months or until he has perfect house manners. He can’t do anything wrong because you will be supervising his every move. If he is not on the leash, he is in his crate, or outside playing with you as his guide. He will have emptied his bladder and his bowels and played and is ready for a nap before he goes into the crate. The umbilical cord is great for learning all manners. The dog can’t do anything wrong, you’re there to teach him what is right. Picks up a shoe? Trade him for a Bully Stix or a squeak toy. Barks at the postman, shush. Good dog. Watch those low to the floor dogs religiously. They can squat so fast and they’re done! Watch for sniffing the floor and get outside fast!
Routine. First thing in the morning, early, out the door on the leash. Stand still at the spot you’ve chosen for the potty. Urge him gently in a soft voice, “go pee”, “go poop”. When he does, applaud softly and pet him, “What a very clever boy, you are!” Do this every time he goes in the spot and soon he will go on command no matter where you are. Some trainers like to use treats as a reward. I like to use applause and a little bit of play to reward, maybe just a quick run to the other side of the yard, laughing and saying “what a clever dog you are!”
Routine. Eat. Within 15 minutes, back out to pee or poop.
Routine. Play. Within 15 minutes, back out to pee or poop.
Routine. Nap. Outside upon awakening, out to pee or poop.
Routine. Meals must be fed at the same time every day until he is going potty outside without fail, no house accidents. I like to continue the meals on a regular schedule until the dog is about 1 year old. Regular meals make for regular bowel movements.
Routine. Withhold water in the evening, yes, just like a toddler being potty trained. Last thing at night, outside on the leash, potty, then inside and go to bed.
Routine. It all starts over again in the morning.
If you have to be gone from home more than 4 hours at a time, get some help. A dog walker, a good friend or neighbor who will come in a couple of times a day, or a great doggie day care where your little one will have complete supervision, a lot of fun, and will return home at night tired out and ready for a long nights sleep are excellent choices.
Here’s a quick tip that I teach. (Don’t use this first thing in the morning, just get outside and pee! But every other time is good.) Dog is on leash. Go to door. “Want to go outside? Come tell me.” Pat your leg. Dog comes to you. Opening the door and going outside is the reward. Each time you do this, you’ll move a little bit further from the door, the dog learns to come to you to get you to open the door. You’ll move further into the house, until you are in the furthest room of the house. Watch his signals so you understand what he wants when he comes to get you. Don’t try to get too far into the house too fast. Slow and steady wins the race.
If you live in a high rise with a little dog, you might consider Little Stinker Housebreaking Pads.
(Big dogs and dogs with grass outside are best trained to go outdoors.)
These wonderful puppy training books
and help in quick read booklet form will give you more tips for housetraining. The more you read about dog behavior, the more you’ll enjoy your dog. We have a great library!
And relax; it’s not the end of the world if the dog does have an accident. Clean it up with a good odor cleaner. Things can and will change with positive training, kind hands, and routine, routine, routine. You and your dog will be happily going potty outside very soon…well, not you, but the dog will, you’ll just be there to applaud.
Dog Training Tips
by Darcie Krueger
President, SitStay.com
Posted under
Pet Tips by oahupet on October 13th, 2008 12:47 am
The 5 Problems Everyone Has Potty Training Their Puppy – And How to Solve Them
Submitted By: Krista Cantrell
Puppy potty training is a full-time job…
The good news is it only lasts for a few weeks and has great benefits!
In exchange for your time, energy, and attention you can have a perfectly house trained dog for 10+ years.
…It doesn’t get any better than that.
The truth is everyone gets frustrated when training their puppy… because no one has the kind of time that allows them to focus on the needs of their puppy 24 hours a day.
…so before you throw the puppy out with the poop, check out these solutions to your dog toilet training problems.
Problem #1 Not enough time to spend with the dog.
Okay, so what’s really important here is to stop beating yourself up and ask for help.
The solution is friends, neighbors, and family members like to help each other out.
And if there is absolutely no one that you know, hire a pet sitter. Or, send your puppy to a dog trainer who specializes in house training.
Also, try to alter your schedule. If you live close to home, maybe you can come home at lunch to let your puppy outside.
If you work farther away from home, maybe you can take a longer lunch hour if you arrive at work earlier.
Try to create some flexibility in your schedule because house training does not last forever.
Because if you start your puppy right with good follow up, your puppy will never do it wrong! (And if you don’t have time to train it right the first time, you really won’t have the time to fix a bad habit.)
Problem #2 Yell or scream at the dog.
The reality is it’s hard to be positive all the time. Maybe your day didn’t go well. You tripped on the curb and sprained your ankle, or you got a last-minute assignment from the director, or the oil light went on in your car.
You come home from working all day or a trip to the store and see poop or tinkle on the floor, it’s just one more thing to add to a bad day…
So, you yell at the dog.
But your timing is way off… The dog pooped or tinkled on the floor a long time ago and does not connect your yelling to the pile of poop on the floor.
The dog just knows you were really crabby when you walked in the door!
The solution is what do you do when you want to scream?
So scream…but don’t yell at the dog.
Instead, walk into your bedroom, turn on the television or radio to loud, close the door, and yell into a pillow or at a wall. Or, sing your anthem of dissatisfaction at the top of your voice. Or, call a friend and ask them for two minutes venting time.
Then, stop.
Quietly return and clean up the mess and promise yourself that you’ll figure out why the dog pooped on the carpet and give the dog the opportunity to make a different decision (i.e. put in a doggy door, ask someone to take the dog for a potty break in the middle of the day.)
Problem #3. Rub the dog’s nose in the pile.
People rub a dog’s nose in a pile of poop because they think the puppy will be totally disgusted and revolted… And the dog and will never poop inside the house again.
But there’s no dog logic to that idea.
Why would rubbing a dog’s nose in anything create a response?
I mean, dog’s sniff poop piles all the time (it can actually trigger a pooping response.)
When you rub a dog’s nose in the poop, the dog just knows that you want him to see the poop up close and personal.
The problem is that it doesn’t stop the behavior.
And it can cause behaviors you don’t want such as the puppy starts hiding from you or running away from your hands.
It’s simple. The dog has been given too much freedom before the dog understands the house rules.
The solution isthat it’s time to go back to the basics of routine bathroom breaks, regular eating times, and crate training.
Problem #4. Hit the dog.
People hit dogs because they believe that if they hit the dog the problem will stop.
The problem is hitting doesn’t work.
Hitting does not teach the dog what to do.
If you drag a dog over to a puddle on the floor and hit her with your hand, what does the dog learn?
1. To be afraid of your hands
2. To run away when you grab her collar
3. To hide when you call her name
4. To submissively pee when you grab her collar
The solution is to add other “tools to your toolbox.”
For example, if you see your dog tinkling on the floor, don’t hit the dog!
Instead, say “Outside!” in a low voice and take the dog outside to go to the bathroom.
Then, when you are outside in a pleasant happy voice say “Go potty. Go potty.”
When the dog potties reward him.
Now you are teaching the dog the behavior you want – tinkle or poop outside – and associating it with a reward.
Problem #5. Keep the dog outside all day.
When dogs live outside all the time, they still don’t know what to do when they come inside the house.
It’s important not to give the dog total freedom in the house until the dog understands that tinkling and pooping only happens outside.
The solution is to teach the dog the “house rules.”
…which means it’s back to basics again, i.e. establish a routine, use a word signal, and reward the dog for going outside.
Because it’s not realistic to think that you can watch your puppy at all times, use a waist-leash (tie a leash around your waist and attach it to the puppy’s collar.)
Now you can still do the things you need to do, but at the same time when you see the puppy start to sniff or circle, you can quickly take the puppy outside to tinkle or poop.
Solving puppy potty training problems is not difficult. All it requires is that you understand that dogs have to learn new behaviors.
…After all in nature it doesn’t matter where dogs pee or poop!
Only you can give them the information and training the dog needs, but it has to be done in a way that makes sense to the dog.
…And that’s by associating a behavior (pee or poop) with a word signal (“Go Potty!) and a reward. Then it’s easy to solve puppy potty training problems.
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