The process of housetraining is relatively simple. That being said, simple isn’t always easy. I have outlined the most important aspects of housetraining with the assumption that your particular dog and circumstances will require some adjustments.
Scheduled Meals and Water: The best rule of thumb for housetraining is “what goes in, must come out – when and where is up to you.” Pups are often placed on a three-meals per day schedule. Most adolescents and adults adapt well to a two-meals per-day schedule. Regardless, if you have a housetraining problem, free-feeding is temporarily not an option. The problem with free-feeding is that eating stimulates drinking, which causes peeing and pooping. Most dogs have a particular lag-time between a meal and when they tend to eliminate. Without regular meals, this lag-time is difficult to observe. Try to set up two times a day that you can offer food and water. Your dog/pup should have access to outdoors within a few minutes of feeding and drinking so you can have all your tools ready to go.
Confinement: A crate, pen or small area, such as a bathroom are great tools for controlling elimination. It is widely suggested that dogs will not soil their own nest – this is merely a tendency and is neither instinctive nor reliable. (Consider that dogs are notorious as a species for consuming feces… if you would put it in your mouth, why would you object to stepping or sleeping in it? ) A small pup (8-16 weeks) may not be able to hold it for more than about four hours. The time in the crate is usually spent napping or sleeping, which slows the process of producing urine or feces. This means that confinement areas are the least likely trigger elimination, but don’t bet on it. Any puppy confined for a long period will have an accident.
Tangible consequences for success: The secret for creating a strong behavior of “housetraining” starts with getting your dog on the right surface at the right time, in the right place. Once you are there (normally this is outdoors, on grass or gravel) you must wait quietly while your puppy sniffs around awhile. Do not disturb this process with “encouragement.” If you do, you’ll merely cause the dog to focus on you rather than the urge to go. If you need a metaphor, consider yelling “ice cream truck” just as your child has settled down on the kiddy-potty seat. So, keep your lip zipped when Sparky is about to go to the bathroom.
The other good reason for this is that you want the pup to start initiating the process himself. The more you are a part of the housetraining equation the less the dog must rely on his own knowledge of how to solve the problem. As you watch your pup or dog pee or poop, wait for the last drop to hit the ground. That is when you click. The click ends the behavior and tells the pup what he did to earn what comes next – a treat. Do not rely on praise to create this critical behavior. Actual, fancy, highly desirable food treats are the way to a pup’s bladder. So, be prepared to click and then treat for success. Put a Tupperware container outside with moist dog treats so that you are always prepared to reward good behavior.
A good suggestion is to make sure your pup starts walking around with you as you go back and forth in the potty area. Young animals have little control over their bladder or bowel and a little exercise is a good stimulus for peeing and pooping. This means that you don’t want to stand there watching your pup standing there. For older dogs, a good game of fetch or chase helps stimulate elimination and cuts down on your time watching things unfold.
Remember to keep your wording friendly, approachable and
No punishment for errors: No matter what anyone says, the use of punishment in housetraining is incredibly risky and almost impossible to use effectively, even if it occurs at the instant the pup starts peeing or pooping. The most common outcome is a pup who is afraid to eliminate in front of you. So, if you are indoors and your pup starts to pee, right in front of you, don’t gasp, shout of do anything that might scare him. (That includes picking him up and running outside, spraying urine all the way.) Imagine if you were in a porta-potty and a bunch of thugs grabbed you dragged you a short distance away and the shoved you down in another port-potty. This isn’t going to teach you to trust porta-potties or people who hang around when you need to pee or poop. If your dog pees or poops in front of you, smile – and go back to watching his schedule better so there won’t be a recurrence. It’s up to you – one accident in your presence punished will yield weeks of finding “presents” behind a couch, on a bed, or in a rarely used room.