Housetraining your dog or puppy

Many of you will bring a new dog or puppy into your homes this year (I hope you save a life by adopting from a rescue group!). When you do, you will come face-to-face with one of the most common- and dangerous- hurdles to successful dog guardianship: training your dog to potty outside. Come now, you are saying- housetraining is not dangerous! But it is for dogs; each year, millions of dogs are surrendered to animals shelters and die there. One the most common reasons they end up there is that they are not housebroken.

Lack of housetraining, then, is a terminal disease of dogs in this country. And, sad to say, it is not the dogs' fault. All dogs can be housetrained- if you don't mess it up!

Yep- it's all up to you. Dogs are very intelligent and learn very quickly- but you may be teaching him the wrong thing. If you allow your dog or puppy the opportunity to eliminate in the house and he does so, it is your fault. Housetraining a dog is nothing more than shaping his habits to your desires. If he is always outside when he goes potty, he will tend to develop the habit of holding it until he can get outside. Just like we wait to find a restroom, it's where your dog will feel comfortable eliminating.

How can you make sure that Rover is always outside when he goes? You must make sure that he never has the chance to go inside. Until your dog or puppy is reliably housetrained, he should never be out of your sight in the house. If you are unable to watch him for a period of time, he should stay in his crate, so he does not wander off into another room and have a chance to have an accident. Just as you would not allow your toddler to wander around the block without direct supervision, you should not trust your dog or puppy to stay out of trouble. Take dogs and puppies out when they wake from sleeping, after eating, if they seem restless, or if it's just been awhle since they went. Puppies should be taken outside at least once an hour (yes, that often); if he doesn't go potty within two minutes, he goes inside and is confined until he goes out for another chance. If puppy begins to circle or search, snatch him up before he goes and carry him outside. When he goes outside, praise him during the act and immediately after. You have less than a second to reward him for his good deed before he is on to other distractions, and your opportunity is lost. It is also a good idea to teach him a command while he is pottying. While he is actually going, repeat your command and soft praise in a happy voice ("Go potty, good puppy, go potty, gooood puppy, go potty!"). When he finishes, pet and praise him, and occasionally (not every time!) give him a treat. Play with him, but take him inside first- until he gets the hang of it, outside is nothing more than a bathroom, and should not be a play yard yet.

When you are gone from home, the dog or puppy should stay in a crate. A puppy can only hold it for as many hours as his age in months plus one, so you should try to get home during the day to take puppy out.

Some things that you should never do when housetraining your dog or puppy: never let him out of your sight. If necessary, tie his leash to your belt and make him stay with you. Do not allow him to have his own room while you are gone. He will merely potty in one spot and sleep in another. Worse yet, he will learn that it is OK to potty in that room. By the same token, do not start your puppy on papers, unless you want to confuse him when you suddenly expect him to go in the grass. One leading behaviorist suggests keeping dogs and puppies during the day in a small area with a piece of sod, so he can  potty on the grass when you're not home. Do not ever, ever punish a puppy for having an accident. If you catch him in the act, make a short, sharp noise to distract him, snatch him up and carry him outside to finish (and receive his praise for good behavior). If you do not catch him in the act, you are the one who should be punished- it was your fault for not watching him closely enough. The old, sadistic punishments such as rubbing his nose it his mess, feeding it to him in his bowl or simply hitting him will only serve to make him afraid of you. Once he is afraid of you, your relationship with him is damaged and you both lose.

Finally, never forget to praise your dog for pottying outside, even after he is housetrained. If your dog is twenty years old and has never had an accident, he still should be praised and rewarded for going outside. Don't assume that he can't relapse- he can, and relapses can be harder to correct than the initial housetraining.

When is a dog or puppy "housebroken?" Well, there is no magic moment, and you need to be on watch always. If he has had no accidents in the house for one month, allow him more freedom, but don't just let him have access to the whole house unattended. If he slips up and has an accident, go back to the old restrictions until he has another perfect grade for a month. As general rule, most puppies will be pretty reliable but not totally trustworthy by 6 months or so; but every situation is different, so don't give up if it seems to be taking longer. Remember all those dogs dying in shelters who didn't get housetrained properly. Don't let your new friend be one of them!

January 2005

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