Teaching
your puppy not to soil in your house is not an easy task, but you can
make it easier by teaching him or her to ring bells.
Dogs find this fun and it gives you a clear indication what the dog is asking for.
Housebreaking
is simple using this method. The one thing to remember is you won't get
overnight results and it takes many months and sometimes up to a year
to fully teach your dog to 'hold it' until you are around. After all,
puppies are babies and just like human babies, they take time to learn
things and their bodies are growing and changing all the while as well.
Consistency & patience on your part is a must as well.
The
first rule of housebreaking is not to use paper on the floor. You only
teach the dog to pee in the house this way. Also you confuse the dog
because one minute he's getting praise for peeing on the paper, the
next outside. Then he gets scolded for messing off the paper but you
just taught him inside is OK by giving him paper. Only he can't
differentiate between which place inside you allow him to mess.
Confused reading that? Well, so is the dog trying to learn by that.
Now,
you must confine your dog when you cannot supervise his actions all the
time. Crate training is best, but if you absolutely refuse crate
training, then a baby gate across a room that an occasional accident
can be allowed to occur is best. We confine the dogs to the kitchen,
which by the way has the door to outside with the bells.
Any
inside messes whether it be pee or poop gets picked up with paper
towels (sanitized and cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's
Miracle) and the dirty towels placed in a specific spot outside and
left there. This is going to be your designated toilet area for a while
until the dog gets the hang of this outside business. Doing this leaves
the dog's scent there indicating in 'doggie lingo' that this is the
spot to toilet at. Leave any poop there for a few days longer than you
normally would as well. This helps to teach the dog. Only pick up the
poop if you walk the dog where the law says you must pick it up or it's
in a public area where it SHOULD be picked up.
Always
walk the dog on a leash to teach them to housebreak. This is done even
when using your own back yard. Why? Because this means business, not
play. It keeps the dogs mind on the task at hand. Playtime is only for
when the dog has done what you brought him out there to do.
Use
lots and lots of praise when your dog does toilet outside. Make a big
deal out of it. Don't use food treats as the dog only will become
accustomed to receiving food for doing what he needs to learn. Praise
works best. This goes for any training, whether it be obedience, or
tricks or housebreaking.
Now
you need to get a regular schedule installed for out times and food.
Young dogs eat 4 times a day. This makes for a lot of poop and pee!
Water needs to be left out at all times but now until your dog is
trained or it is unbearably hot and you've no air conditioning, you
need to start taking the water away in the overnight hours. Taking the
water away gives you a fighting chance.
So
now you feed the dog at the same time for each meal (as the dog gets
older and you reduce the meals, you still keep your schedule). When the
dog is finished eating, IMMEDIATELY put his leash on and take the dog
outside. Use the SAME WORDS to indicate the dog is going outside to
toilet. We use, "Want to go out?". This is another tool that shows the
dog what is going to happen next.
So,
as you're putting the leash on, say "want to go out?" and take the dog
to the designated toilet area. You must stay there until the dog does
his 'business'. We used to say 'go piddle' or 'go potty' and all the
other words we want the dog to associate with going out to toilet. Once
the dog actually does his 'business' you give lots and lots of animated
and happy praise.
Keep
in mind you could be outside for quite a while before the dog learns
what you're there for. Patience, patience, patience! Also, once the dog
goes in the spot you designate more and more, the time you wait for the
dog to 'go' will be shorter. A new spot is always the longest wait.
Now take the dog inside. Lesson done.
If
you planned on a combined pleasure and toilet walk, put the leash back
on the dog and go outside now to 'play'. Keep the two separate until
your dog is totally housebroke or has learned to use the bells
consistently.
Your
dog should understand the words and the routine for this after a day or
two, but not necessarily be good enough to start asking to go out yet.
But the words you use now are going to be recognizable to him. You
should use the same door to teach the dog to toilet outside every time.
This is another indicator to the dog what is expected of him.
So
now the basics are done. You are going to get a pair of sleigh bells. I
used a pair I had from an old Christmas decoration I tore apart for
this lesson. If you don't have any lying around, you can find sleigh
bells in any equine supply shop or Christmas shop. Search on line if
you need to. Craft stores will have bells too. The bigger the bell, the
louder it is, so get big bells. We have bells around 2 inches across.
Loud
bells are very nice when you are sleeping and the dog needs to go. We
are pulled from a dead sleep every night at the exact same time by our
dog because she always has to go and using the bells allows us to hear
her signal. Even if we sleep upstairs we can hear the bells.
Ok,
attach the bells to a string or ribbon, and tie that to the door and
make the length low enough for your dog to reach them without having to
jump up at them. You will be adjusting the height of the bells as the
dog grows.
Next
time you need to take the dog out, like after the next meal, you are
going to shove it's nose into the bells (gently!) and AT THE SAME TIME
you will be saying, "want to go out?" (or whatever your tag line is).
Repeat this a couple times giving the dog a second to try it on his
own. When the dog does this on his own, repeat 'want to go out' and
praise and GO OUT to the designated toilet area.
Keep
in mind that the dog may not mimic your bell ringing the first few
times you start teaching this, but usually dogs pick this up fast. Why?
Because for some reason, making noise is fun for dogs! It's also
probably one of the few noisy things inside you're going to allow the
dog to do.
Do
this until you finally hear the dog do it on his own. Make sure you
ALWAYS ask, ''do you want to go out?'' every time the dog rings the
bells.
Now
you are going to have accidents on occasion. You may slack off in your
'baby sitting' or may not make it home from work on time etc, and
you'll see the dog's mess by the door you take him out from. This is
GOOD! Soiling BY the door is a good sign that the dog knows this is the
door he goes out to toilet from and although he messed up there, it
shows there was an effort made only you weren't there to prevent it.
The dog should be able to not mess now you’re home.
Another
thing you must remember is to NEVER scold the dog for messing in the
house. Most times you will never catch the dog making a mistake with
your own eyes. You will most likely only find it long after the
accident has been done. So you simply clean it up, put the paper
outside as instructed and take the dog out to toilet.
Never rub your dogs face in the mess either.
Both
these methods only teach your dog that 'doing his business' is bad, not
the act of going in the house. He's a dog. He doesn't have the ability
to reason and sort those kinds of thoughts out.
If
you do catch the dog in the act, simply pick the dog up (sometimes this
can be messy so be prepared!) and take the dog outside. When the dog
is finished, praise and bring him inside.
So
remember, patience, diligence and the proper sequence of commands will
get results. Hollering and beatings only frighten and prolong your
progress and frankly are just cruel.
