HOUSEBREAKING
UNDERSTANDING BATHROOM BEHAVIOR
Most puppy "accidents" come from poor communication between
owner and pet. Puppies do not instinctively know the difference
between indoors and outdoors for going to the bathroom. Left to
themselves, they will pick a spot away from their eating and sleeping
area to eliminate and later return to that area by its scent. Most
homes are big enough that if a puppy is left to roam, it will find
a location and soon begin soiling the house. Confining the puppy
to one room fails because the puppy establishes a "den"
area for feeding and sleeping with all other areas fair game for
eliminations. Problems arise when puppy owners are gone for long
stretches at a time.
Puppies learn where not to go when they are caught in the act,
and immediately taken to where they are supposed to go. Even catching
a puppy a minute or two after the fact is too late! If the puppy
is punished when you get home, it will only learn to fear your arrival,
and will associate it with punishment. This is why many owners say
their dogs look guilty and must know what they have done, when in
reality the puppy is only putting two and two together and anticipating
punishment upon your arrival.
HOW TO HOUSEBREAK YOUR PUPPY
No matter what method of housebreaking you choose, it takes persistence,
consistency and patience to housebreak a puppy. While each pup has
it's own time table before it can be pronounced housebroken, crate
training your puppy is the easiest, fastest, and most effective
way to housebreak your puppy. The following suggestions on crate
training are not meant as a permanent lifestyle for your rottweiler,
rather they are a means of surviving the first few months of puppyhood!
- Your puppy should be within your direct line of sight when out
of it's crate. Don't allow your puppy to roam the house without
you watching it. Anytime you cannot watch your pup's every move,
it must be confined to a crate (see crate
training).
- The puppy must be taken outside to the same area every time
to go to the bathroom.
- Puppies do not innately know how to eliminate on command. That
you are late for work, have other things to do, or that you are
getting eaten alive by mosquitos does not make a difference. Accept
the fact that you will need to spend some time outside with your
puppy until it goes to the bathroom. Plan for it, prepare for
it and enjoy it!
- Paper training should be avoided. If you want your puppy to
eliminate outside, then that's where it should be trained to go
every time. Otherwise your puppy will learn to use your house
as it's toilet.
- The puppy must be taken out first thing every morning. Not after
a cup of coffee, not after watching the news, not after taking
a shower. This includes Saturday and Sunday mornings!
- The puppy must be taken out just before going to bed.
- The must be taken out within 5 minutes after each meal.
- The puppy must be taken out immediately after drinking water
or play.
- The puppy must be taken out after waking from a nap.
- A puppy can only "hold it" for very short periods
of time. A good rule of thumb is that a puppy will need to eliminate
every x number of hours, with x being the age of the puppy in
months., plus one. (i.e. a 2 month old puppy will need to eliminate
every 3 hours, a 7 month old puppy will need to go at least every
8 hours). The maximum period an adult dog should be allowed to
hold it is 8 hours.
- The puppy should be lavishly praised every time it goes to the
bathroom outside. Make a huge deal out it doing the right thing!
- Puppies will usually start sniffing and circling when they are
ready to go. If you see this behavior inside, immediately take
it outside.
- If you catch your puppy in the act of eliminating in the house,
do not ever hit it or yell at it. A firm "No!" or "Uh-uh!"
is the only correction your puppy should receive, and it should
then be rushed outside and praised when it finishes. Discovering
an elimination even a minute or two after the fact is too late
for any type of correction to take place as your puppy will not
know what it is being corrected for.
- If your puppy has eliminated in the house and you did not catch
it in the act, you can only blame yourself, not your puppy. You
were simply not watching your pup closely enough or taking it
outside often enough.
- A puppy should not be left outside without direct supervision.
not only can pups easily get into danger or trouble when unsupervised,
but if you are not watching your puppy, you won't be able to praise
it when it does go to the bathroom outside, and then it will learn
nothing about proper toileting behavior.
- If your pup eliminates in the house, make sure you clean it
up very well and use vinegar or even better, a commercial enzymatic
cleaner such as Nature's
Miracle to get rid of the odor. Even though you may not be
able to smell it, your puppy can, and this smell is a trigger
to go in the house again.
With proper patience, consistency and persistence, expect that
it will take 2-3 months to train your puppy to consistently do the
right thing on it's own.
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