I will teach you how to completely housetrain your dog and stop it from urinating and defecating in your house right this second, once and for all. Keep in mind there is no half-way point in the house training. Either your dog is house trained or he is not. There's no such thing as an almost housebroken dog. When a dog is housebroken he NEVER goes to the bathroom in the house.
The problem starts when new dog owners take their new dog outside and just leave it there for a few minutes thinking they will run on auto-pilot, and figure it out for them selves Many people do not understand why their dog does not know what to do when taken outside. Just turning a dog out in the back yard by himself a few times a day is not the way to house train a dog.
Just letting the dog roam around for a bit and maybe urinating on a bush or something does not send the right message to the dog. Remember he wants to make you happy, but you have to tell him in a clear way, what it is that you want him to do. Here is where we start to see how important proper communication is.
With the introduction of housetraining to your dog, we as trainers (and that is you too, since you have a dog, it makes you a trainer!) learn that we set our dogs up for one of two things in life, success or failure. As dog owners we must eliminate the possibility of our dogs making a mistake. If we don’t want a child to put a fork in the light socket, what do we have to do? Cover all sockets, lock up all the forks, AND NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF THE CHILD. So it goes with your dog. We must find a way of preventing your dog from ever soiling the house. We also have to teach the dog to communicate with you about going when told to go and about letting you know when he has to go outside.
Dogs thrive on regularity and they know exactly what they were doing the second something good happens in their life. When we teach a dog with consistent, positive reinforcement that they are pleasing us, they will strive to that thing over and over again. When we do this he learns that the only place to relieve himself is outside.
As luck would have it, dogs instinctively want to keep their immediate living areas clean, especially where they have to sleep. Since we determine what they use as a sleeping area we can use this desire to aid our mission of house training the dog. Since dogs are naturally den dwellers we introduce an artificial den in the form of a crate. When your dog is in the crate, he cannot leave unless you allow it. At first your pup will protest quit loudly and for long periods of time. We don’t recommend that at this point you use any corrections as your dog will not respond. If it gets too much try some ear plugs, turn on the radio, or maybe the television. Remember, he will yell his little puppy head off! Not because he doesn’t like the crate, he would just rather be out with you.
If you have ever watched a nature special on wolves or coyotes you have probably seen that they will dig a den under ground and live there. They do this because it means safety for their pack. In it they know that no predator can jump on them in the middle of the night. Dogs are and always have been den and pack animals. If you have had a dog in the past you have probably found him either under a table or maybe in the closet when things got a little loud at your house or when he was really tired.
Some people have said to me that they don’t want to put their dog in a “cage”. If you are appalled by the idea of confining him to a cage, let me dispel any idea of cruelty. You are actually catering to a very natural desire on the part of the dog. In his wild state, where does a dog bed down for the night? Does he lie down in the middle of an open field where other animals can pounce on him? No! He finds a cave or trunk of a tree where he has a feeling of security - a sense of protection. The correct use of a crate merely satisfies the dog's basic need to feel safe, protected, snug and secure.
It will take some pups a couple of weeks to get comfy in the crate. In the meantime, some will scream their furry little heads off. But think about this The question you need to answer is "would I rather crate train my pup, or live in a house that my dog uses as a toilet?
Your pup will eventually realize that all the screaming in the world will not get them out of the crate. As long as you don’t take them out! Wait for them to be quiet for a minute or so before you take him out. Pups do get over the fact that screaming gets them no where - as long as you ignore it and DO NOT TAKE THEM OUT OF THE CRATE WHEN THEY ARE SCREAMING. I like to put a Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter in there with them when they are really young.
Since small pups sleep up to 18 hours a day it shouldn’t be too hard to get them in a good crate / sleeping routine. Before you know it, going into the crate will mean naptime!
As I mentioned earlier in the beginning I might throw a Kong stuffed with peanut butter in the crate with the pup. Another idea is to toss a few treats in the crate and give a verbal crate command. Doing this will keep the crate process a positive one. You will be surprised at how fast he will learn to hustle right on in. Remember keep it positive!
As your training progresses your dog will go into the crate simply based on a verbal command. When this happens switch to giving the command first, wait for him to go in then give the treat as a reward. At this point you will be able to use your crate for another reason. If you have a pup, or a juvenile dog and the idea of new people entering your house may make him very excited. Use your crate to contain your dog. Don’t wait till your guests arrive to put him in otherwise he may associate guests with getting stuck in the crate. Get him settled a minute or two before your guests arrive.
When picking out the proper size for you dogs crate it should be just big enough for him to stand up turn around and lay back down. We don’t want him playing racketball in there. If the crate is too big it will encourage him to use the back corner as a bathroom. If your dog is a large breed and you don’t feel like shelling out 80.00 dollars every time he out grows his crate every month then buy a size that will fit him as a full grown dog, and while he is still small put a box in there to block off the back of it. As the dog grows, adjust the box accordingly.
IN order to make sure that your puppy only goes to the bathroom out doors you may put the crate in the bedroom of the person who will be either getting up in the middle of the night, or early mornings. If you even think your puppy may go to the bathroom on the way outdoors either put him on a leash, or maybe even pick him up in your arms. If you allow your pup to have an accident in the house, you will have to go back to square one in your housetraining. Bummer. I’m really not in favor of letting your dog sleep in the bedroom for too long because that tends to lead to dominance problems. I know I can sound like a wet blanket, but why take the chance of letting a problem develop when you don’t have to?
Your pups crate should never be used as place for punishment. As I mentioned earlier a Kong in the crate goes a long way for peace in the house. You can try other toys as well. In fact, you should have a few “in the crate toys”. When the pup is out of the crate pick up the toys and put them away. This way the toys stay new and exciting to your pup. Make sure any toy you put in there doesn’t have a small little squeeker part in it. If your pup injests that squeeker it can get stuck in your pups digestive tract and you will be lucky if all you get is a HUGE Vet bill. All too often this can be fatal.
When you first start the training put the pup or dog in the crate only for a minute or two with you right there in the room. As he sits in there quietly make sure you praise him and toss in a treat or two to let him know that he is making you happy. WHEN HE IS SILENT, PRAISE HIM AND LET HIM OUT. As he gets used to the idea of being in there for a few minutes start leaving the room for a few seconds, working up to a few minutes. As you do this, your dog will get used to you entering and leaving the room. When you leave, just leave, don’t make a big production out of it. And when you return, just show up. No biggie.
Over a period of time you can gradually increase your absences to a few hours at a time. A good rule of thumb is only 1 hour in the crate for every month of age for your pup. The exception to this would be at night while the pup is sleeping or naptimes.
Don’t be surprised to see your dog start to go into the crate on his own for naps and rest times. Soon he will feel that his crate is his castle. Make sure you NEVER let a small child enter the crate. You have worked hard over the months to teach your dog that that crate is his. Lets not create a problem where there is none. email me to get the rest of the info
ashley@caninetutors.com