House Training
by Lotte Griffiths – Accredited Behaviour Consultant (Canine) (ABC of SA™)
When you adopt a puppy one of your first tasks will (probably) be to house train the new arrival. Luckily, house training is relatively easy provided, of course, you do it correctly!
Supervision – Supervision – Supervision
The recipe for successful house training is to supervise you puppy constantly to ensure she does not get the opportunity to mess in an inappropriate area - and to develop the ability of being able to predict when your puppy needs to go.
Most puppies need to eliminate:
Limiting Access to Certain Area of Your Home:
Remember that we should always be training for success, so don’t set your puppy up to fail! Make sure he or she cannot sneak behind furniture or into another room to eliminate. Keep your puppy with you – on leash, if necessary - and close the doors to other rooms. Baby and security gates are great for this! Another means of preventing your puppy from messing is to use a crate:
Puppy-crates: Puppy crates are tremendous aide for house training a puppy – I would personally never train a puppy without one! Apart from nighttime, when your puppy sleeps, do not leave your puppy locked up in a crate for long periods otherwise your puppy will simply learn to go in the crate, defeating the whole objective!
Corrections:
If your puppy does eliminate inside the house remember thatit is Your own fault for not supervising your puppy correctly!
Do also bear in mind that small puppies cannot ‘hold’ for any length of time; as they think about eliminating, the sphincter muscles open and they go.
Rubbing your puppy’s nose in the mess is unnecessary, unhygienic and inhumane and what is more, it does not work!
The reason that so many puppies eventually does eventually become house clean despite such treatment is because dogs are innately clean animals who do not like to mess where they play, sleep and eat and most would have become clean anyway.
If you do notice your puppy beginning to squat, by all means interrupt the inappropriate behaviour (a stern NO! is sufficient) and then take your puppy to the toilet area. Wait to her to finish … and then don’t forget to reward or praise her after she has finished
Cleaning Up the Mess:
If the mistake has already been made there is him/her for and all that would accomplish it to make you puppy unsure and perhaps even frightened of you and damage the developing bond between you. In short, all you can do is clean the area well:
1. If it is solid, pick it up and if it is wet mop up as much as possible (e.g. use paper towels)
2. Sponge the area off with a half water/half white vinegar solution - test your carpets first! Please do not use detergents that contain chlorine, pine scent or ammonia, because, although they may smell good to us, they actually enhance the smell of urine to your puppy and then, because the area smells like a toilet, she is likely to go there again.
3. Next, rinse the area with clean water,
4. Then, to remove the remainder of the smell (and prevent your home from smelling like a fish and chip shop), spray with a commercial pet-odour remover which is available from most veterinarians.
Newspapers:
Puppies sometimes develop what is called a ‘preferred substrate’ for their toileting. This can be a real problem, particularly if you adopt a puppy that has been kept in kennels from puppy-hood or for a long time, because they are then likely to prefer to eliminate on concrete or sand.
If, however, you have already used newspaper and you want to change to grass, you may have to remove the newspapers gradually. To get your puppy used to go outside (e.g. on the grass):
1. Begin by placing the newspaper ever closer and closer to the door you eventually want your puppy to use to go outside to the toilet area. When you have got the paper to the doorway:
2. Place the paper outside the door and gradually move it to the area where you want your puppy to go. Next,
3. Make the paper smaller and smaller until she eventually eliminates where you want him to go.
Elimination on Command: It can be very handy, particularly when you want to let your puppy our late at night, when you are on holiday, visiting, shopping, at dog competitions, etc, to teach your puppy to go on a verbal signal. Once again, this is pretty easy to teach, simply say the word you want to use (e.g. ‘potty’, ‘hurry-ups’ or whatever – just make sure you use the same word each time) every time your puppy squats to eliminate and eventually your puppy will learn to associate the word with the behaviour.
Physical:
Inappropriate elimination may occasionally be caused by a physical condition. If, despite having tried the above methods – diligently for a couple of weeks - your puppy continues to eliminate in inappropriate areas, please consult your regular veterinarian and ask him or her to investigate.
This article is copyrighted and remains the property of the author. Individuals are welcome to print or copy same for their own use in furthering their knowledge of dogs. However, no reproductions or alterations/variations are allowed without the express written consent of the author.
Most puppies need to eliminate:
- As soon as they wake up,
- After play or exercise,
- After meals, and whenever they have not been for a while.
- If you notice your puppy circling and sniffing around, it is likely that your puppy needs to eliminate.
Limiting Access to Certain Area of Your Home:
Remember that we should always be training for success, so don’t set your puppy up to fail! Make sure he or she cannot sneak behind furniture or into another room to eliminate. Keep your puppy with you – on leash, if necessary - and close the doors to other rooms. Baby and security gates are great for this! Another means of preventing your puppy from messing is to use a crate:
Puppy-crates: Puppy crates are tremendous aide for house training a puppy – I would personally never train a puppy without one! Apart from nighttime, when your puppy sleeps, do not leave your puppy locked up in a crate for long periods otherwise your puppy will simply learn to go in the crate, defeating the whole objective!
Corrections:
If your puppy does eliminate inside the house remember thatit is Your own fault for not supervising your puppy correctly!
Do also bear in mind that small puppies cannot ‘hold’ for any length of time; as they think about eliminating, the sphincter muscles open and they go.
Rubbing your puppy’s nose in the mess is unnecessary, unhygienic and inhumane and what is more, it does not work!
The reason that so many puppies eventually does eventually become house clean despite such treatment is because dogs are innately clean animals who do not like to mess where they play, sleep and eat and most would have become clean anyway.
If you do notice your puppy beginning to squat, by all means interrupt the inappropriate behaviour (a stern NO! is sufficient) and then take your puppy to the toilet area. Wait to her to finish … and then don’t forget to reward or praise her after she has finished
Cleaning Up the Mess:
If the mistake has already been made there is him/her for and all that would accomplish it to make you puppy unsure and perhaps even frightened of you and damage the developing bond between you. In short, all you can do is clean the area well:
1. If it is solid, pick it up and if it is wet mop up as much as possible (e.g. use paper towels)
2. Sponge the area off with a half water/half white vinegar solution - test your carpets first! Please do not use detergents that contain chlorine, pine scent or ammonia, because, although they may smell good to us, they actually enhance the smell of urine to your puppy and then, because the area smells like a toilet, she is likely to go there again.
3. Next, rinse the area with clean water,
4. Then, to remove the remainder of the smell (and prevent your home from smelling like a fish and chip shop), spray with a commercial pet-odour remover which is available from most veterinarians.
Newspapers:
Puppies sometimes develop what is called a ‘preferred substrate’ for their toileting. This can be a real problem, particularly if you adopt a puppy that has been kept in kennels from puppy-hood or for a long time, because they are then likely to prefer to eliminate on concrete or sand.
If, however, you have already used newspaper and you want to change to grass, you may have to remove the newspapers gradually. To get your puppy used to go outside (e.g. on the grass):
1. Begin by placing the newspaper ever closer and closer to the door you eventually want your puppy to use to go outside to the toilet area. When you have got the paper to the doorway:
2. Place the paper outside the door and gradually move it to the area where you want your puppy to go. Next,
3. Make the paper smaller and smaller until she eventually eliminates where you want him to go.
Elimination on Command: It can be very handy, particularly when you want to let your puppy our late at night, when you are on holiday, visiting, shopping, at dog competitions, etc, to teach your puppy to go on a verbal signal. Once again, this is pretty easy to teach, simply say the word you want to use (e.g. ‘potty’, ‘hurry-ups’ or whatever – just make sure you use the same word each time) every time your puppy squats to eliminate and eventually your puppy will learn to associate the word with the behaviour.
Physical:
Inappropriate elimination may occasionally be caused by a physical condition. If, despite having tried the above methods – diligently for a couple of weeks - your puppy continues to eliminate in inappropriate areas, please consult your regular veterinarian and ask him or her to investigate.
This article is copyrighted and remains the property of the author. Individuals are welcome to print or copy same for their own use in furthering their knowledge of dogs. However, no reproductions or alterations/variations are allowed without the express written consent of the author.