One of the biggest concerns that people have when they bring a dog home is whether or not they will be able to housebreak it. The question should never be whether or not the dog is going to be able to learn the rules, but rather or not the owners are going to be able to follow through with the teaching. All dogs are able to be housebroken. The size, breed, temperament, and age do not matter. You will be able to teach your dog all of the rules of the house as long as you stick with the plan and follow through at all times.
The more efficient the owners of the dog are with their training techniques, the faster they will see positive results. Many people ask about when it is really a good time to begin to housebreak a dog. Some people feel as though you should wait until the dog has gotten used to the family before you begin any sort of training procedure. Their thought process is that the dog will see that it is family and it will listen better. There is a major flaw in that line of thinking though.
It is important to begin to housebreak a dog from day one. Before the dog ever walks through that door for the first time the rules and procedures to be used in the housebreaking should have already been planned out. If you wait until days, weeks, or months after bringing the dog home, you have set it up for failure. You have allowed the dog to think the rules of the house are one thing and then suddenly one day you wake up and change the rules. That seems a little unfair to the dog.
Decide if the dog is going to use a pee pad and if so, where it is going to be placed. A better option is the back or front yard if you have it and it is a safe area. If it is not a fenced in area then you are going to have to commit yourself to leashing the dog and taking it out each time. Even though it may feel as though it is an inconvenience to you, cleaning out messy accidents all throughout the house would probably be a lot worse.
Make sure that you are limiting when the dog is allowed its food and water. Until the dog is properly housebroken, do not leave food and water out all day long. This is because the dog is likely to snack and take drinks throughout the day which means you could be looking at potty breaks or accidents every half hour to an hour. As the dog ages, it is able to hold its bladder longer but you still should not leave food and water out all of the time. Plus, leaving the food out all of the time is an easy way to make sure that the dog becomes over weight.
When housebreaking a dog, make sure that you start from day one and that you remain consistent throughout. There are no breaks for the weekend. Your housebreaking schedule must be adhered to until the job is complete.
The most immediate concern of new dog owners is that of housebreaking the pet. In order to accomplish this task, the essential principle that the owner must recognize is that it is always the desire of the dog to please its master. Nothing can give the dog greater pleasure than to know that its actions have met with approval; nothing can cause the dog greater displeasure than to know that its behavior has called forth disapproval.
When the dog performs its functions properly, it should immediately be rewarded by a lot of endearing words, by petting, or even with a treat. When the dog performs its functions improperly, it should be told briskly in a deep, stern and powerful voice -- but not necessarily loud -- and with no uncertain terms that it has done the wrong thing, shown what it has done, and then put back on its paper.
It must also be remembered that these expressions of approval or disapproval must be made immediately after the animal performs or is about to perform. If there is a delay of even a moment, the animal simply will not associate the praise or punishment with its natural functions, and will be at a complete loss to understand the favorable or unfavorable outbursts on the part of the owner. In any case, the owner must be rigidly consistent in his rewards and punishments in the housebreaking routine. For the speed with which housebreaking will be accomplished depends on the owner's diligence in maintaining that consistency. It must further be remembered that a dog does not have a human mentality; so a reasonable amount of patience in training will be required.
In a variable amount of time -- anywhere from a week to three weeks -- the dog will become conditioned to the fact that when it does not perform its functions properly, it is punished. When it does perform its functions properly, it is praised. Soon the dog will always perform its duty as required, not because it recognizes a sanitary code, but simply because of the desire to meet with approval and avoid displeasure.
Very young puppies, say between the ages of six weeks to two months, are usually first broken to paper indoors. This is commonly accomplished by lifting the animal and placing it on paper as soon as any "danger signals" are noticed. This is combined with punishment for mistakes and reward for correct conduct. After any mistake the dog should be put back on its paper. The paper should be placed in one specific area. Usually, after a few days, the animal will be noted to make a beeline for the paper whenever it has to "go."
When the animal becomes strong enough and if the weather is agreeable, the animal is broken to the outside. With older pups, or with pups acquired during the warm seasons, it will save time to break the animal directly to the outside.
It has often been suggested that the most effective way to housebreak a dog is to rub the animal's face in the excretory matter whenever it has made a mistake. While the effectiveness of this procedure can hardly be denied, it is at best a barbarous, unclean, and unnecessary practice that will only damage your relationship with your dog. Consistently good results will be obtained by the painless method described above.
With these few tips you should be able to successfully housebreak your dog in a reasonable period of time. However, if your dog does not seem to be catching on after a couple of weeks, consider consulting a professional dog trainer to learn alternate techniques instead of making the punishment increasingly harsh.
Both Kelly Marshall & Jon Weaver are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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