Housebreaking Your Dog
Whether or not you plan to invite your dog into your home or prefer to let him/her roam around the yard, housebreaking your dog is well worth the effort. If your dog will be an indoor pet, the benefits are obvious. But, even an outside pet can benefit from knowing when and where to “go”. What if you and your family are going on vacation and plan to take your dog along for the trip? Not only will the hotel appreciate the fact that your dog is housebroken, but the drive will also be much more pleasant. If you don’t take your pet on vacations, what will happen if you need to leave him/her with a friend or relative? If they bring the dog into their home, both you and they will be thankful for a housebroken pet.
Housebreaking your dog is a very important detail and, although tedious, is very necessary. The truth is that your dog desperately wants your love and approval and they will do anything to make you happy. Housebreaking your dog isn’t easy and it may involve a few glitches, but it’s well worth the effort for both you and your pet.
When it comes to housebreaking, you can either train your dog conventionally by taking him/her outside after every meal, first thing in the morning and last thing at night or use the crate training method. The conventional approach to housebreaking will set your dog on a schedule and he/she will begin to recognize when and where to take care of business. With crate training, your pet will be confined to a small space that will quickly begin to feel like home. Because your dog will not want to relieve itself in a home-like environment, he/she will learn to wait for the appropriate time to seek relief. They key to effective crate training is to only place your pet in the crate for short intervals, which may be up to 2 hours at a time, and while you are unable to monitor them closely. You can also leave them in the crate overnight, but they must be taken outside first thing in the morning and last thing before placing them in the crate at night.
Regardless of which housebreaking method you choose, there will most definitely be “accidents” along the way. Crate training can be difficult, especially for puppies who are just learning how to control their bodies. As he/she gets older, the task will be easier and more controllable. During the earliest days and weeks of housebreaking, your pet will likely slip up and relieve itself somewhere that you would consider to be off-limits. If you allow your dog to roam freely throughout the house without supervision, the likelihood increases. Once they learn the routine and the training has set in, your dog will learn how to let you know when he/she needs to go outside.
How can you tell when your dog needs to step out? Sniffing the carpet, walking in small circles and whining or pawing at the door are very common symptoms that your dog is trying to tell you something. When this happens, let your pet out immediately. If your housebreaking method is to be effective, your dog needs to know that he/she will be able to communicate with you and that you will respond in a timely manner. Just as you want your pet to understand your commands, your pet very much needs to know that you understand his/hers.
There are many great resources for dog training available on the internet. One of the best ways to find these resources is by reading independent reviews and comparison rankings. In this way you can be confident your pet is getting best training possible.
Brian Dolezal
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/housebreaking-your-dog-100573.html
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
What is your opinion on puppy pads for Housebreaking?
I have a 5 mth old Pup who is Housebroken,worked within a week with the Crate, but we just got a 10 wk. old and I find it hard to tell when she has to go as the 2 pups are usually playing and if she seems to be running to the door he chases her so she runs in the opposite direction. I didn’t know if we should try the puppy pads.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 am
A very controversial question but I used them, I think it’s fine.
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Extreme dog lover
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:19 am
use pads ONLY if you want to train the dog to go INSIDE your home,, otherwise, crate train and take the pup out often
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:21 am
Puppy pads are BAD BAD BAD and will double the time it takes to housebreak your puppy. The puppy will learn to use the pads, NOT to go outside.
Don’t use the pads, use the crate and take the puppy outside frequently.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:23 am
I think training with puppy pads is a horrible idea. You are teaching a dog that it’s okay to pee and poop in the house.. IT’s not okay to pee and poop in the house. You will eventually need to retrain the dog to go outside, using the crate. It’s a mistake to allow them to pee in the house.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:25 am
Dont do it, its completly wrong your training the dog to still pee in the house, I have had loads of dogs and i have got this down to a fine art, i can housebreak a dog in a about 2 days.
Its very easy first of all you need to let your dog spend a lot of time outside where it will naturally start peeing for a few days, then let it come in the house and now you need to be like a eagle, soon as the dog starts sniffing the floor or starting to pee shout a firm no and put him outside, you should only have to go this no more than 4 times, And to speed the process up even further you can pee outside yourself, when the dog sees you peeing the backyard and disagreeing with it in the house it will pick it up very quickly. Follow those steps and you will have a house broken dog in 3 days!
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
My trainer said use the pads or outside, not both. It’s harder to train.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:29 am
Puppy pads are HORRIBLE.
I work rescue and the thing I hear the most when people bring their dog in is *it just wont pee outside*. I ask how they trained it and ta daaaa PEE PADS.
As a dog parent you are just going to have to work a little harder and keep up the good work you did the first time around… just watch and wait and take them both out at the same time if you have to.
I think Pee pads are a nasty fad that hurt dogs more than help them.
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link to crate train http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/cratetraining.htm
link to tether train
http://eastbayspca.org/petownership/tethering.cfm
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 am
THAT MIGHT WORK BUT WHAT IF THE OLDER HOUSE BROKEN DOG DECIDES TO USE IT TOO.? I WOULD TAKE THE PUPPY OUT JUST LIKE THE OLDER DOG AND ALSO USE THE CRATE. KEEP IN MIND. A PUPPY HAS A SMALL BLADDER AND WILL NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM FREQUENTLY AND MAY BE HARDER TO TRAIN BECAUSE HE WILL BE SO WRAPPED UP IN PLAYING, HE’LL FORGET TO GO TO THE DOOR.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 am
I’ve had dogs for 20 yrs and never used them. House training a puppy is hard work, you have to be very vigilant and patient. Every pup is different and what works for one, may not work for another……..just do what you thinks best !!
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:35 am
You should be crating them each individually, and taking them out separately – and housebreaking them.
If you let them just run around together as they are now, you will have two dogs with one brain – they will have bonded to each other, and not to you, and they won’t be housebroken. That is a good way to end up with two wild indians, instead of two good attentive dogs that llisten to you.
I owuld also point out that most likely, your little puppy is too fragile to be playing with a five month old puppy, without risking a deep muscle injury unless they are tiny dogs.
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years of raising and rescuing dogs
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 am
my male puppy loved the puppy pads, he used them wthin five days of being introduced to them. What we also did was bell train him, we tied a bell to the door, and trained him to ring it when he wanted out. So even if we were out of the room we knew he had to go.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 am
When we first got my puppy, she knew how to go on newspaper. Was this convenient? Definitely. But it’s awkward for the puppy and I gradually switched her to outside potty training. The only time she uses pads/newspaper now is when I’m gone during the day and when it’s raining outside (I don’t MAKE her use pads when it’s raining — she chooses to use the pad as soon as she sees it’s raining!)
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My puppy who is too smart for her own good
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 am
start crate training new puppy and take her out when ever she goes to door even if you have to catch her. take her out every time you take out older pup. I’m not a fan of potty pads,it is harder to get puppy housebroke properly and if the puppy goes in the house then the older pup may revert back thinking it is OK. good luck
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 am
different people have different opinions about the use of puppy pads. I think if you have realistic expectations for puppy pads they can be a great tool.
Things to remember about puppy pads.
1) When used incorrectly the can cause confusion to the puppy
2) Your puppy has little/no sense of his length and therefore will sometimes pee "on the pad" but will actually miss the pad slightly — this should not be disciplined, the pup won’t understand
3) Your puppy will be less likely to tell you it wants to go outside since it now has the pads – therefore, you are committing to pads until/unless you have time and energy to transfer your dog to an outdoor only alerting system
4) Pups sometimes have trouble seeing the difference between pads and small rugs/mats (like bathmats)
http://ezinearticles.com/?Paper-Training-A-Dog—10-Practical-Tips&id=383642
All of that being said – for small breeds I really like pads. They are also extremely convenient if you travel alot or don’t have a fence.
Finally, most everyday owners have a better time teaching the "bell" system. You hang some bells on your door and each time you take pups out to potty show them to ring the bell, take out to potty, and eventually they learn.
This article teaches you how:
http://www.uvhs.org/behavioral_docs/ringing_a_bell_to_go_outside.pdf
Good luck!!
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20+ years training, showing and breeding champions
10+ years as a vet-tech
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:45 am
Puppy pads are ONLY for dogs that go inside the house. So unless you plan on leaving a pad out constantly (possibly forever), don’t bother. Puppy pads are generally only used on tiny dogs that are indoor dogs only. Plus if you already have a housebroken dog that goes out it will only reteach them to use the bathroom indoors. So like I said, unless you plan on fully pad training both dogs don’t even bother, it will only cause you more grief.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:47 am
i HATE puppy pads i think the dog gets too reliant on them and then never goes outside just on the pad
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December 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 am
I agree with everyone that says they are bad. They teach the dog to go inside and that’s never good. Don’t get me wrong… if you have a small dog and you’re dedicated to doing it right they CAN work. I had a chihuahua that we litter box trained, and she was fine, but as soon as we got a male chihuahua a couple years later and he didn’t go in the box.. all potty training went out the door. They go ANYWHERE inside now. It was awful. So just be careful if you’re set on puppy pads.
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I had chihuahuas.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 am
I have two chihuahuas and I use puppy pads on them. They are fully trained and they don’t miss so it isn’t hard to clean. I think that puppy pads are fine, especially for small breed dogs. I recommend buying them from Target, the brand Arm and Hammer work really well. The pee doesn’t run thru or anything. The Wal-Mart ones are horrible! The pee leaks and everything. Target puppy pads are a few bucks more than the Wal-Mart ones, but at least they don’t leak.
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My dogs use them
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:53 am
Geez – you sound like us. We got a little male Pug that the breeder had trained on puppy pads. We later got a little female Pug that the breeder had kept outside and she could do her thing whenever and wherever she wanted.
Our little male Pug was easiest to train to go outside. We’d pick him up and carry him outside every hour on the hour and he was in the laundry room at night with puppy pads. One day I walked to the back door, he followed and walked outside by himself when I opened the door. Talk about a mighty proud parent!! After that, my husband took up the puppy pads at night and he never used them again.
Well now, after he was housebroke, we decided to find him a playmate. We had a terrible time after we got her. I didn’t have time to watch her like I did him. I was in the process of sewing four costumes for someone. I ended up having to set the clock so I could take her outside every hour on the hour and walk her around. I had to walk slowly and watch to make sure I stopped when she acted like she was going to do her thing. As soon as she finished, I’d praise her and give her a treat.
This went on for weeks. She eventually got the idea that she had to go outside to do her thing. At night was still a different story. We couldn’t break her from going in the house at night. The trainer we were going to suggested a crate. We used that crate for about four months before we allowed her to sleep in a king size bed (dog size) with her playmate.
Since then, we haven’t had any accidents and can let them have the run of the house.
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Personal experience
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 am
We have 4 dogs, the 3 eldest were trained right from the start to go outside and at night newspaper was placed on the ground near to our back door.
Now i got a pup not so long ago and though hey why don’t i try these puppy pads instead of newspaper, easier to clean.. I was also training him to go outside as well which he had no problem in doing..
What these pads helped him do was to allow him to go whenever he wanted regardless if the pad was down or not.. He had no control of his bladder.
These then went and i purchased a crate at the age of my pup being 4 months old. He was crated for a while and learnt how to hold and pee only outside – no messes in the crate.
I took him out and soon enough he started to pee in the house again, he was 7 months when housetrained…
So i have to say for me they were not a good idea as they have a scent on them which lures them to pee..
After doing both i would crate from the word go!!!
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