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To successfully housebreak your puppy, you must
commit the time, have patience, and give consistent, clear
communications. In fact, before you even think of bringing a puppy
home, plan to take 1-2 weeks off work, so you have uninterrupted
time to focus on the new pup. Otherwise, it will take much longer to
train your pup where to go, and you will be much more frustrated.
And avoid getting a puppy in winter if you are in a cold climate.
The foul weather and snow make it that much harder to convince your
new pup to go outside.
Some of what we'll tell you here will seem counter-intuitive, but
trust us, it works. Also, many commonly held beliefs about dog
behaviour and how to train pups are quite incorrect, so be prepared
to let go of incorrect information you may have been given.
Learn to notice the clues that
indicate
your puppy needs
Puppies,
like people, learn new skills at different rates, so be patient.
Even if you think she should "get it by now", you're asking her to
make several leaps of understanding. It will take a while for her to
develop the solid understanding of where she is to go, and where she
is NOT to go. Her understanding of what is her den, and therefore
not to be soiled, versus what is non-den is quite different from
your perspective. It will take her a while to consistently
understand that ALL areas of the house are den, and therefore not to
be soiled.
First of
all, puppies need to urinate and defecate frequently, sometimes as
often as once an hour. There will be many accidents, especially at
first. Never lose your temper at the pup, and always use simple,
consistent one- or two-word commands. Otherwise, your pup could
become frightened and confused about what you expect of her.
 Learn
to notice the clues that indicate your puppy needs to go. These
include restlessness, sniffing the floor, or returning to a
previously soiled spot. Also, your pup will need to go about 5-20
minutes after eating, sleeping or playing. When you take her outside
to go, take her to the same spot each time, and don't play with her
at that time. You want her to focus on one thing only -- going in
the right area. As soon as she goes, praise and reward her
enthusiastically, and give her a small food treat to reinforce that
she did the right thing. While she's going, just tell her "good
girl" very softly so you don't interrupt her. Save the enthusiasm
for when she's done.
While
you're going through housebreaking, you must keep the puppy close to
you at ALL times, so that she does not have the opportunity to fail.
This means starting the puppy out in a small area of the house and
following her non-stop. Alternatively, attach one end of a leash to
her and the other end to you, so that the pup is no farther away
from you than the end of the leash, and you can watch her more
easily as you do other things around the house.
Don't spank a pup for her accidents!
When you
are not able to watch the puppy, then she goes into a kennel. Or, if
you have a fenced yard and the weather is good and there is nothing
harmful she could get into, you can put her outside. However putting
her outside when you aren't watching her means you lose the
opportunity to reward her for going outside as she should. The
kennel is a preferable training tool. A young pup 7-9 weeks old
should be in a kennel for no more than 2 hours at a time; she can't
hold her urine or faeces for longer than that.
If you
catch her in the act of going in the house, you can do one of two
things. The most common advice previously given was to correct her
with a firm "NO" and immediately take her to the proper toilet area.
This may not effectively discourage her from going indoors. What
often happens instead is that puppies learn to make sure you aren't
watching when they go indoors, so they go behind the couch, in a
closet, etc.
Newer
understanding of dog behavior says that instead of punishing on the
spot, you do everything you can to prevent indoor accidents. If they
happen, ignore them. (This is the counter-intuitive part). You don't
want to give the dog ANY attention for this mistake. Simply put her
in her kennel, or outside, when she's finished, say nothing to her,
don't even look at her, and clean up the mess thoroughly using an
enzymatic cleaner. Then redouble your efforts to get her out before
she has an accident, and keep her confined in a kennel that she will
be unlikely to soil when you can't watch her.
Don't
spank a pup for her accidents! She's going through an important
learning phase and needs a lot of your patience. You'll likely
frighten or confuse her if you physically punish her. And NEVER
punish a puppy after the fact. Let me repeat that. NEVER punish a
puppy after the fact!! Remember, any time you correct a puppy, she
will think she is being punished for whatever she is doing at the
time you correct her. That's why you can only correct her (gently!)
when you catch her in the act (if you choose to go that route - see
above caution about unintended consequences when you punish a dog
for going in the house).
New pups should be confined to
smaller areas of the house at first.
Also,
never rub a puppy's nose in her accidents -- that will only frighten
her and may encourage her to eat her droppings. It does not train
her to stop going in that spot. She is not capable of making the
reasoning leap that this is an area she previously soiled, and
that's why you're punishing her. Dogs are oriented to the present.
Unpleasant experiences (like having her nose rubbed in urine or
faeces) will be associated with what she just did - which in this
case was likely coming to you. How eager will she be to come to you
if she keeps having these unpleasant experiences associated with
coming to you?
So when
you discover a soiled area, don't show it to your puppy or scold her
for it, merely clean it up promptly using a product designed to
eliminate pet stains and odours. The newer enzyme-based products
available at veterinary clinics are very effective at removing
stains and odours. And remember, don't let her watch you cleaning
soiled areas. Why not? Because if she's in the middle of your
cleaning process, she can smell the odour of her own urine and
faeces, and you fussing with it is giving her a kind of attention.
So then
you might say, OK, if she recognizes that this is her soiled spot,
why can't I punish her for it after the fact? Because, although she
recognizes her own scent, she can't make the leap of understanding
that you are punishing her for depositing it there sometime earlier.
Punishment is ALWAYS linked in a dog's mind to what has JUST
happened at the time of the punishment. The same goes for rewards.
You must reward good behavior promptly, or you could inadvertently
reward the wrong behaviour.
New pups
should be confined to smaller areas of the house at first. A house
seems large and overwhelming to a pup, and makes it harder for her
to differentiate between indoors and outdoors. At night or when you
are gone, your pup should be confined to her kennel, which rapidly
becomes her own special den. Dogs are less likely to soil their den
area, and this helps with their training.
If you
take her outside when you think she has to go and nothing happens,
bring her inside and put her in her kennel for 5-15 minutes. Then
take her outside again for a few minutes. Repeat this cycle until
she goes. As soon as she goes, then she can stay outside her kennel.
This kind of routine helps her focus on going when you want her to
go. Also, be sure to pair some word or two with her act of going, so
she will associate that with relieving herself. This is very handy
when you're travelling, or on cold winter nights when you want her
to go quickly.
As she
starts to get the routine, start training her to also go while on
the leash, in areas other than your yard, and on varied surfaces.
That way, when you travel, she will have the confidence and
experience to go wherever you need her to go.
You and
your dog will make lots of mistakes during this time. None of us
trains with perfection. That's OK! Your dog will do fine as long as
you strive to be as consistent as possible. Your occasional training
errors and frustrations (we all go through this) will not
permanently scar your dog. Dogs are quite resilient.
In
summary, what you need to do is be very attentive to her, pay
attention to her signals (they can be subtle) that she has to go,
and enthusiastically reward her for going outside. While she's in
the act of going, tell her "good dog" very softly so you don't
interrupt her. After she's done, then get more enthusiastic. Pair
some word with her going outside so she learns to go on command.
Kennel her when you can't directly watch her. Do anything you can to
prevent mistakes. You don't want her to get used to indoors as an
optional place to go. It is MUCH easier to train her if she has
little opportunity to fail.
With
patience, time and persistence, you can successfully housebreak your
pup.
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