Usually calls from clients prompt me to write a blog post, and today is no different. I had this afternoon about potty training their puppy. I sold this dog earlier in the year, and the owners could not understand why they couldn’t fully house break their dog at 8 months of age. They told me she’s now going in well hidden places around the house. I asked, “Are you using your crate”? “Are you giving her enough time to go when she’s outside, and are you taking her out at regular intervals”? “What’s your reaction like when you find that she’s gone inside”?
The answers were as follows: “No,” “I guess so,” “And we punish her by putting her face in her mess and then sternly say, ‘No, bad dog’ several times over.”
Below is my advice to remedy the problem:
- Use the crate more. The crate is an essential tool especially when trying to house break your puppy and young dog.
- Take your dog out and give him/her plenty of time to go to the bathroom. Repeat the phrase “hurry up” or other marker that reinforces your message and intent.
- If she doesn’t go, then back in the crate he/she goes.
- A reasonable time later, go out again and repeat the marker phrase you’ve decided to use.
- If you’re not successful, then back to the crate it is.
- If you yell and punish your dog after the fact, you’ve missed your window of opportunity and are actually teaching your dog to search for a safe place to go out of sight.
- By punishing your dog after the deed is done, you’re teaching avoidance behavior that will not only appear inside but out.
- Not the lesson you intended. If you think about it, the psychology makes sense.
- Timing is everything. By repeating the process outlined above over several days, you should achieve success.
- Remember to try and contain your frustration, lower your voice and just follow through.
- Buy yourself a true gift–a copy of Susan Garrett’s Ruff Love. It’s an invaluable resource guide! GC