Potty
& Crate Training
By
Steven @ K9 Domain
This page will be covering the subject of house breaking. You will
find much information to help minimize accidents. In addition,
seeing how crate training is an effective tool in house breaking,
some guidelines to successful crate training will be provided here
too.
From experience
and from observations on forums, I have noted that potty training
can be a real nuisance as well as a puzzling problem. Potty issues
are usually noted with puppies 11 months and under (roughly).
There is
absolutely no reason to panic if a puppy is having accidents in the
house, nor is this a reason to think that your puppy is not
“getting it”. I have seen many people come and ask for help on
forums, seemingly at wits end because their 5-month-old puppy is
having accidents in the house; there is no reason to panic. Young
puppies do not have much control over their bladders and bowels,
therefore they cannot hold it in for very long, and since (at the
time) they probably have not been taught how to let you know they
need to relieve themselves, they will just go whenever they feel the
need. Puppies will generally gain better control over their systems
about 8+ months. Some will gain this control earlier or later, it
all depends on the individual dog and its environment. These
accidents are not deserving of punishments, nor will they be
mitigated by them. Allow me to draw a comparison with small
children, isn’t it a fact that infants and small children don’t
have control over the when and where they relieve themselves? One
would not expect a child less than a year old (or even 2-3 years
old) to be fully potty trained, so why should we expect much more
out of a 5-month-old puppy, which would probably be the equivalent
of a 1-2 year old child. Much relies on the way we deal with the
problem and how much patience we have.
On a personal
note, when I was training Sheetza (at the time 6 months), I was also
training a 5 month old German shepherd mix named Tito. They were
both very intelligent puppies, but they also had a common problem:
they often relieved themselves inside the house. On an occasion,
Tito and his owners were at my house while we were going over basic
obedience commands, after which Tito took to investigating Sheetza
completely obvious to the fact that he was urinating while he was
walking, of course we had some cleaning up to do but we also put him
outside so he could relieve himself outside. This just goes to show
that sometimes pups just will not hold it in nor will they give
notable warning. However, in my case, both pups eventually got the
message that they were to go outside and do their business;
accidents were almost inexistent by 8-9 months.
Now that it is
clear that accidents are, for the most part, inevitable, what can
you do to start training? What is most important is to create
inhibitions, which is to say that you need to make it clear that
going to the bathroom in the house is wrong. This is done by telling
the dog “No” in a firm voice only if you catch the pup in
the act of relieving itself in the house, then taking the puppy to
the appropriate area where it should go to the bathroom. This
“appropriate area” depends largely on the owner, and likely
places could be a corner of the yard or potty pad in the house. If
you do not designate a specific spot, usually a pooch will pick a
spot themselves. Take note of where he picks his “potty area”,
this way if you catch the pooch relieving itself inside you can take
him to his spot. After
taking your puppy outside, stay there a considerable amount of time
all the while encouraging him to go to the bathroom. When the pup
does go to the bathroom, wait until after he is done and then
praise profusely. If one praises the puppy while he is
relieving himself, it might excite him and it is probable that he
will not finish and may later decide to finish his business while
indoors.
Accidents should
not be the only time you take the pup outside. Let’s remember that
since puppies can’t hold it for long, it would be appropriate to
take the pup to his potty area after every meal, after play
sessions, when you wake up, when you go to sleep, before crating (if
you decide to crate train), and sometimes during the night. Whenever
you see your puppy constantly sniffing a specific place, (especially
if this is a spot where an accident occurred before) it would be
advisable to take the pooch out quickly. To avoid reoccurring
accidents in the same spot, make sure you are using an enzymatic
cleaner. Simply washing with water will leave odors that encourage
the pup to urinate there again; there are some cleaners that may
contains chemicals that mimic scents that encourage urinating. Until
your pup is potty trained, it would be best never to let the pup out
of sight. Keep him on a lead attached to you (I have heard this is
effective); in short, do not allow the pup to wander around the
house unsupervised.
A myth worthy of
dispelling is that rubbing the puppy’s nose in its accidents will
help housebreak him. First of all, this is extremely disrespectful
to the dog and will affect the bond that you share with him, not to
mention that puppies having accidents are usually in their
socialization period and may associate you with something
unpleasant. Secondly, it only teaches the pups that it is bad to go
to the bathroom when you are around, therefore actually catching and
correcting the action will be harder. Back to the child analogy, it
would be absolutely unthinkable to rub a child’s nose in their
accidents in hopes of getting them to stop. Not only is it cruel but
it is ineffective. Avoid this method and ignore it when it is
advised to you, no canine knowledgeable person would advocate the
use of this method.
If your dog is
12+ months and you have followed all the advice given to you
regarding house breaking, and still your puppy is having accidents,
consider getting your dog checked by a vet. Sometimes physical
ailments, such as urinary track infections, are commonly an
underlying cause for these accidents.
Adult dogs
So far we have considered
house breaking when it comes to puppies, however sometimes house
breaking includes adult dogs, too. The process of house breaking is
no different for adults. The owner still needs to correct the dog
when it is caught, needs to clean with enzymatic cleaners, needs to
supervise the dog, and still needs to take the dog out to a specific
spot on a regular basis. The reasons why accidents occur are a bit
different compared to puppies. Dogs that are transitioning from
being outside dogs to inside dogs will most likely have a couple
accidents. New environments accompanied with being unfamiliar with
the rules are usually the cause of urinating inside the house in
these cases. Being unable to control their bowels or bladder should
no longer be suspected unless we are talking about a senior dog or a
dog with an illness.
Besides having
accidents from our dachshund, Sheetza, we also had occasional
accidents when we got Junior even though he was three years old.
This was because Junior was strictly an outside dog before we got
him. When he came to live with us he to stay inside at night and
since he had no bathroom restrictions before, he continued thinking
that it was ok from him to go wherever he pleased. After about a
month, we were able to get him to stop because we let him know that
going to the bathroom inside was unacceptable. After some time,
Junior let us know that he had to go out by licking the door and
constantly whining.
A more obscure
cause for adult dogs having accidents is the environment in which it
was raised. Dogs that were encaged for long periods of time with
hardly ever being let out and having to live in their own
urine/feces become difficult to house break. Dogs are clean
creatures by nature especially when it comes to their sleeping area,
however when they are forced (due to the environment) to soil their
living quarters, their natural instinct of being clean is
diminished. Dogs with these beginning tend to be hard to crate train
too. That is why puppy mill dogs or dogs from poorly kept pet stores
may be harder to potty train than most dogs. These will take a
considerable greater amount of time and patience to housebreak.
Another easy and
healthy way to help the housebreaking process is to take your dogs
on regular walks. The majority of dogs will usually stop and relieve
themselves out where other dogs will be able to take notice of their
scent. This lessens the probability that an accident will occur
inside the house. This will even work for puppies seeing how
exercise and play stimulate the pup to relieve itself. When walking
a puppy, take caution that you do not over-exercise; a puppy’s
growing bones can be negatively affected with too much strain. If
the puppy still does not have all of his vaccinations, try to walk
the pup in areas less frequented by other dogs. Always remember to
be a responsible dog owner and have the necessary equipment to pick
up after your dog.
The other case
where accidents may occur (with either puppies or adult dogs) is
when you have a problem of marking. Marking is when a dog (usually
male, but also noted in females) urinates in a specific spot to
claim it as his. In these cases, firm training is needed because we
are talking about dogs that are more dominant. Neutering male dogs
will usually mitigate this problem, in the cases of females, it
might make the problem worse but it all depends on the individual
dog. Programs such as the NILIF can help establish (or re-establish)
your role as leader and might stop the occurrence of these accidents
(not technically accidents).
The last
effective method to help in the housebreaking process is crating.
The following section will give guidelines on possible ways to crate
train.
Crate
Training
When done
correctly and used in appropriate circumstances, crate training can
work wonders. Crate training is sometimes misunderstood and may be
seen as cruel. The fact is that it is far from cruel because 1) no
one is advocating crating a dog all day and 2) most dogs love their
crates. Why do I say most dogs love them? I say this because dogs
are, by nature, den animals. Dogs will feel comfortable and secure
in their crate. However, some dogs do not like them because of past
negative experiences or simply because the novelty of it. With these
dogs, and any dog that is hesitant with the crate, it is important
to take it slow and avoid being pushy. The dog has must be slowly
conditioned to like the crate and view it as a place where it can to
go be safe and unperturbed.
Getting
Acquainted
Crate training is most
successful when started with a puppy, but the following guidelines
can be used with older dogs as long as more patience is put forth by
the owner.
The first step is
helping the pup getting acquainted with the crate and helping
establish a positive association. This is done by placing a small
enticing treat, such as a piece of ham, inside the crate and
encouraging the pooch to get it. You can take it a step further and
give the pup his dinner inside the crate. For these exercises, do
not close the crate door nor step away, you must stay there to
reassure the pup, but don‘t coddle him because he may think that
there IS something to be afraid of. Maybe while playing fetch with a
toy, you could throw the toy inside the crate once or twice just to
get the pup accustomed to going in and out of the crate.
Next step is to
get the pup inside and close the crate door. Placing a kong filled
with tasty treats, rewards the pup for being alone and quiet. Do
this for a couple minutes at a time, no extended periods of time
yet. Maybe 2 minutes the first time, then 5 minutes later 10
minutes, etc. While placing the pup in the crate for these times, do
not leave the room, but don’t stand in front of the crate either.
Pretend you are doing something else and do are not paying too much
attention to the crate, especially if the puppy is whining. You may
let the puppy out once it has been in the crate for the designated
time and as long as it is quite. If the puppy is constantly whining
and he does not seem like he will stop, then wait for a moment where
the whining or barking is not as bad to let him out. Try not to fuss
over the puppy after releasing him from the crate is because it
might start to look forward to being let out of the crate which may
lead to whining or barking while crated. It is all right to praise
the pup for doing a good job as long as it is done in a manner that
will not excite the puppy. If
the pooch does not take well to the crate being closed, keep on
trying to help him associate the crate with positive things.
After getting a
pooch comfortable with the crate, it is time to put it in the
appropriate place. The ideal area for a crate is in a corner of the
room that is out of the way, yet not isolated, from human traffic.
The dog will most likely enjoy an area where he can observe
everyone and monitor what is going on. Placing a sleeping matt in
the crate (if potty trained) will make it all the much more
comfortable to be in. Even if the pooch does not go in there
willingly to retire, the pup is less likely to make a fuss when it
is necessary to crate him.
Problems
There are a couple problems
that may arise when crate training, probably the most common is
barking and whining. It is of utmost important never to give in and
take the puppy out in order to stop its fussing. If we take out a
puppy when it is whining, it teaches him that it can get out by
whining, causing more persistent whining the next time he is crated.
Feeding it tidbits will also reinforce the effectiveness of barking
or whining. For noisy pups it is just a matter of ignoring it until
it quiets down (easier said than done, I know). If the pup is taken
out when it is quiet, this teaches the puppy that it will get what
it wants if it is quiet. However if the puppy is quiet for a time
and all of the sudden starts to whine, suspect that he might need to
go to the bathroom, and take him outside quickly and without much
fuss.
Sometimes the
reassuring presence of an owner will be enough to stop the constant
whining. Putting the crate in the owner’s room is an option. If
this alternative is not convenient in your particular circumstance,
another reassuring method is to take clothing with your scent (such
as a sweater) and place it in the crate with the pup. If you have
just recently acquired your puppy from its litter, the most probable
thing is that your scent will not be as comforting as the scent of
its littermates. In this case give the breeder a blanket or cloth
that can be put near the litter to acquire its scent, this way when
it comes times to take the puppy, it has something familiar to help
cope with the change. Placing this blanket wrapped around a bottle
of warm water (to imitate the warmth of the litter) in the crate
might do wonders to quiet down a puppy and get it very comfortable
with its crate. If for some reason the pup takes to chewing and
shredding whatever you place in the crate yet isn‘t quiet without
it, then simply place the blanket over the crate to allow the scent
to soothe the pup but also prevent the him from chewing on it.
Potty
Training
Using a crate to help
with the house breaking process has helped many dog owners teach
their dogs where it should be relieving itself. Avoid
unintentionally setting up your puppy for failure. Do not feeding or
give the pup water prior to crating. Next step is to get a crate
that is the right size, there should only be room enough for the pup
to get up, turn around, and lay down. If there is excess room in the
crate the pup might see fit to use one side of the crate to sleep
while using the other side to relieve itself. If a crate you possess
is already too big, use a divider to cut down the size. It would be
best to purchase a crate that will be just the right size for the
dog when it is grown up, meanwhile using the divider while he is a
puppy. As stated in the
house breaking guidelines, a dog is a clean creature by nature, and
will avoid soiling its sleeping quarters if at all possible. If you
allow the pup to go out and relieve itself in the proper place and
do not feed it before crating, the pup will learn where it is ok to
go to the bathroom quicker.
Seeing how young
puppies have little control over their system, there might be
occasional accidents in the crate; therefore, it will be considerate
to use a crate with a bottom with holes to avoid having the pup sit
in its own waste. Check
the crate every now and then to make sure that the puppy hasn’t
soiled it. Unless it is time to go to sleep, it would be best not to
leave the puppy inside his crate for long periods of time. If you
must go to work and the puppy has to stay in his crate, designate
someone you trust to come and check on the pooch allowing him to go
out and relieve himself.
Final Note
These are the most common
tips that are given to people seeking advice regarding potty
training. All in all, the tools that will make potty training most
successful are much patience on the owner’s part and a bit of
time. Setting down the rules helps avoid confusing which goes a long
way for the puppy.
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