A Guide to House Breaking Your Dog
Monday, March 23rd, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
It’s no fun having your dog soil your carpet. Yet the answer isn’t always to leave the dog outside. Some dogs are just made to live in the house with the family. Instead, the answer is to properly train the dog to be house broken by following dog training tips like these. The steps outlined here are designed to help you train your dog in a minimal among of time.
The speed at which your dog learns this important pattern will depend on several things. First it will depend on the intelligence of the dog. Check online for a list of the smartest and most easily trained dogs. If your dog isn’t on it, he can probably still be trained. It will just take a little longer. Second, it will depend on the maturity of the dog. An older dog may have better bladder control, but a really old dog is hard to teach new tricks. Third, it will depend on your consistency with the training. You have to keep at it consistently until your dog won’t want to go in the wrong place. This article centers on a consistent method.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sit and reason with Phydeaux? “Look, neither of us wants you to relieve yourself in the house. So if you have to go, just wag your tail or stand by the door and I’ll get the message, OK?” Since that won’t work, you must try to convey the same message through your voice tone, words, praise, gestures, and rewards.
Fact number one: dogs usually need to go within twenty minutes of eating a meal. So don’t plan to feed him until you have time to take him out as soon as he eats. If the bathroom is going to be outside, then go with him for the first while so that you can reinforce how good it is that he went there and not in the house.
Consistency will be the key to success with housebreaking a dog, both in encouraging what you want and discouraging what you don’t want. The dog must learn your language so be patient with him while he is learning. Once the dog knows what you want and is able to control his bladder, if you feel he made a mess out of laziness, then a swat with a paper may be needed to teach him this is serious business.
The ideal age to get a puppy is eight weeks old. If your puppy is that age, it’s time to begin training in earnest. Be patient and give the young dog time to learn. After he has eaten, put a leash on him and go for a walk. (Be sure to take a shovel and bag with you.) As you walk, say things like, “Time to do your business, Phydeaux.” When he does, make a big deal out of it, as you would a child. You might even take along a favorite treat that he gets whenever he goes in the right place. Do this every time he eats until a pattern is imprinted on his brain
Of course, while the dog is learning, you won’t want to sacrifice your good carpet. You may want to restrict the dog to a floor that is easy to clean. Freedom to enter the rest of the house comes at graduation. If the dog gives any kind of signal he wants to go out, jump to it and, if he does, again praise and reward him. Just make sure he has plenty of opportunity to go so that holding it pays off.
When the dog does what you want, don’t punish him by taking him into the house right away. This might convey the wrong message. Instead, reward him as always and let him romp around and explore for a few minutes as a reward.
Building a relationship is most important. Your dog will want to please you anyway. But the greater your relationship, the more he will want to do what you like, including doing bathroom duty in the right place.
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