Guidelines For Housebreaking Your Puppy

If your dog is having accidents in your home you need to go back to basic house training rules. Your dog needs to have a set time for each meal. You will leave the food & water bowls down for only 20-30 minutes. This means no free choice feeding if you are to get your dog housebroken. If you know when the food and water goes in you will be more successful in gauging when your dog may need to urinate or defecate. Start keeping a journal as to when your dog eliminates, inside or outside. Note time of day and who may have been in charge of the dog .This can be extremely useful info when relating to a trainer your weeks progress. So jot it all down and keep it handy. This may seem like an unnecessary step but it will allow you to look back and get a better idea on your dog’s toilet habits. It will allow you to gauge success and failure. Keep a leash handy at all times or keep a leash on your dog whenever you are in the house together.The leash allows you to redirect the pup or if you notice the pup is squatting to pee you can quickly get the pup outside. Limit the pup/dog’s household access. Use gates /a mud room/or an exercise pen inside your home to give him room to hang out without being limited to a crate. If you can watch the dog 100% then the dog can be in the room with you (out of it’s pen or crate) but use a leash and let him/her drag the leash around.. Use a crate or confine the dog in an area that the dog can sit, stand, turn around and lie down when you cannot keep an eye on the dog or you are leaving for a period of time. Dogs who may be left alone for 4 or more hours and are not housebroken I recommend getting someone (dog walker, friend, relative) to visit and take the dog out for a bathroom break. If you are not able to arrange this and you have to leave for more time than your dog is able to go without having an accident , then allow the dog to go on newspapers or buy a dog litter box. When taking your dog out for potty breaks Rule 1) LEASH ON Rule 2) SPECIFIC POTTY AREA( 6-10 feet of space) Rule 3) SPECIFIC WORD TO BECOME CUE FOR BEHAVIOR Rule 4) TIME ALLOTMENT for potty break (about 5-10 minutes) If the dog does not go in that time then bring the dog back into the house and crate the dog for 15 minutes. Then try again. The dog does not have run of the house unless you know the dog has done his business. If you have been outside playing/doing yard work and your dog has been out with you and you DO NOT KNOW for sure if he has done his business then bring the dog in and crate or confine for 15 minutes then bring him out for a potty break. This way you can be sure the dog has a clear message and has done his business. When you take your dog out for bathroom breaks you may want to try teaching your dog to ring a bell to let you know that he needs to go potty. Courtesy of, Karen Lanoue-Lambrecht Paws-itively Obedient