Housebreaking

Keep a rolled up newspaper handy, and when you find the little nasty deed, take the rolled up paper and hit yourself over the head numerous times and repeat "I forgot to watch my dog, I forgot to watch my dog". It may not correct the dog, but it will certainly get your attention!

HOUSEBREAKING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Dear Judy, This potty training thing is driving me nuts. Some days he does real good other days it is like he forgets - I have never had such a time with the potty training. I take him out when he wakes up-I know he can hold it because he sleeps all night on my bed with me for how ever many hours and when we wake up I throw clothes on and take him right out.

GO LOOK IN THE PACKET OF INFORMATION I SENT YOU. THERE IS TWO PAGES OF INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO HOUSEBREAK. I EXPLAIN THAT THE DOG HAS TO LEARN THAT IT IS CORRECT TO POTTY OUT SIDE BUT ALSO HAS TO LEARN THAT IT IS WRONG TO POTTY INSIDE. THEREFORE HE NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO TELL YOU (WHICH IS ALSO EXPLAINED ON THOSE PAPERS). IN THE MORNING INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING HIM OUT, PUT HIS LEASH ON HIM AND TAKE HIM TO THE KITCHEN AND WATCH HIM AS YOU FIX YOUR COFFEE AND BREAKFAST. IF HE DOES NOT TELL YOU HE NEED TO POTTY BY WHINING OR BARKING BUT STARTS TO POTTY, JERK THE LEASH AND KEEP JERKING HIM ALL THE WAY TO THE DOOR WHILE SCOLDING. WHEN YOU GET TO THE FRONT DOOR, YOUR VOICE GETS NICE AS YOU UNLOCK THE DOOR AND HEAD OUTSIDE TALKING NICELY.

and I praise him and praise him for being such a good boy and going peepee and poopoo outside.

PRAISING WHILE DOING POTTY OUTSIDE IS FINE.

and I take him in and give him a treat.

BECAUSE YOU TOOK HIM INSIDE TO GIVE THE TREAT, HE DOES NOT RELATE THE TREAT TO POTTY BUT TO COMING INSIDE THE HOUSE.

and we are both delighted.

BUT FOR THE WRONG REASONS.

I take him out one more time before I leave for work,

THAT WOULD BE PROPER, BECAUSE HE MAY NOT NEED TO GO ENOUGH TO MAKE HIM ASK, BUT YOU KNOW YOU WANT HIM TO EMPTY OUT BEFORE YOU LEAVE HIM.

then put him in his room (the kitchen with the pet gate across it), When I come home at lunch I take him out.

IF YOU THINK HE HAS TO GO BAD ENOUGH TO ASK, THEN I WOULD NOT AUTOMATICALLY TAKE HIM OUT, BUT WOULD PUT THE LEASH ON AND WAIT FOR HIM TO ASK OR HAVE AN ACCIDENT AND HAVE TO GO OUT WHILE BEING SCOLDED.

and praise him and praise him then back in the house and a treat for being such a good boy and going potty outside.

NO, THE TREAT WAS PRAISE FOR RETURNING TO THE HOUSE, IT WAS NOT RELATED TO POTTY OUTSIDE. IF YOU WERE GOING TO USE A TREAT FOR POTTY OUTSIDE, YOU WOULD HAVE TO GIVE IT TO HIM IMMEDIATELY AS HE FINISHED DOING THE POTTY. I DO NOT SUGGEST THAT PEOPLE REWARD DOING POTTY WITH TREATS BECAUSE I HAVE MET SOME PEOPLE WHO SAID THAT THEY WERE SITTING WATCHING TV AND THEIR DOG CAME RIGHT UP AND SQUATTED RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. I EXPLAIN THAT THE DOG WANTED A TREAT AND THEREFORE PERFORMED HIS "TRICK" TO GET THE TREAT.

While I have lunch he runs around the apartment and plays with his toys and we play catch then he goes back in his room and I go back to work. THAT PART IS FINE. At five I go straight home and immediately take him outside.

AGAIN, HE SHOULD NOW BE ON A LEASH ATTACHED TO YOU AND BEGIN FOLLOWING YOU AROUND THE HOUSE UNTIL HE EITHER HAS AN ACCIDENT AND GETS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OR HE WHINES/BARKS TO GO OUT.

(Sometimes he peepees in the kitchen while I am gone).

YOU SHOULD PUT A WEE WEE PAD OR NEWSPAPERS DOWN SOMEWHERE IN THE KITCHEN BECAUSE YOU GAVE HIM A TREAT AT NOON AND PROBABLY HAVE LEFT WATER IN HIS KITCHEN. ANYTIME YOU PROVIDE A DOG WITH FOOD OR WATER AND THEN CONFINE IT INSIDE THE HOUSE WITH NO ACCESS TO GO A POTTY, YOU NEED TO PROVIDE A BATHROOM. IF HE WAS CONFINED TO A SMALL CRATE WITH NO FOOD OR WATER, THEN I WOULD EXPECT HIM TO TRY TO HOLD IT. BUT IT IS NICE THAT YOU GIVE HIM THE KITCHEN, THUS A PLACE TO PLAY, BUT ACTIVITY MAKES ONE NEED TO POTTY, SO A POTTY MUST BE PROVIDED. THUS THE WEEWEE PAD.

Yesterday we went out several times

WE WENT OUT MEANS YOU TOOK HIM OUT WITH OUT HIS ASKING, SO THAT IS YOU DOING HIS THINKING FOR HIM, NOT HIM NEEDING TO THINK AND MAKE ANY DECISIONS.

then all of a sudden he peepees on the carpet in the doorway to the living room.

BECAUSE THAT WAS THE TIME HE NEEDED TO PEE. WHAT HE HAS NOT BEEN TAUGHT IS (1) IT IS WRONG TO POTTY IN THE HOUSE, (2) HOW TO TELL YOU WHEN HE NEED TO GO POTTY.

When I realized what he had done, I took him to the spot and said no no no peepee in the house-bad boy

I AM SURE HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE WORDS "IN THE HOUSE", SO ALL HE UNDERSTOOD WAS YOU DID NOT LIKE IT IN THE DOORWAY TO THE LIVING ROOM, THUS HE WILL MOVE TO ANOTHER SPOT NEXT TIME AND HOPE YOU DO NOT SEE HIM DO IT.

and put him in his little crate for a while.

THAT HAD NO RELATIONSHIP TO THE POTTY IN THE HOUSE OR HOW HE COULD SOLVE HIS PROBLEM, THAT ONLY ASSOCIATED HIS CRATE WITH BEING PUNISHED. WE NEVER WANT A CRATE TO REPRESENT PUNISHMENT TO THE DOG AS THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES HE IS PUT IN A CRATE FOR GOOD REASONS.

I have even gone to PetSmart and bought the doggy litter and doggy litter box and talked to the manager there about this.

THIS WILL BE A MISTAKE.

When I put the litter in the litter box he thought it was great to eat! And he looked at me like I was nuts when I tried to get him to go potty in the litter box.

PROPER THINKING FOR A DOG.

The manager told me to bring it back

LUCKY YOU

and we gave up on that plan.

GOOD

That was a month or so ago. Any suggestions?

YES, FIND THOSE PAGES I GAVE YOU ABOUT HOUSEBREAKING AND FOLLOW THE THE INSTRUCTIONS. THE PUP HAS TO BE ON A 6 FOOT LEASH ATTACHED TO YOU WHEN NOT SLEEPING IN HIS/YOUR BED OR CONFINED TO THE KITCHEN. IT IS YOUR JOB TO CATCH HIM IN THE ACT OF POTTY IN THE HOUSE, NOT GUESS WHEN HE NEEDS TO GO OUT. ALSO YOU MUST FOLLOW THE INFORMATION ON THE SECOND PAGE ABOUT HOW TO TEACH HIM TO BARK AT THE FRONT DOOR.

Is this normal for this breed?

HOUSEBREAKING PROBLEMS ARE NOT BREED RELATED, THEY ARE SIZE RELATED. ALL SMALL BREED DOGS ARE HARDER TO HOUSEBREAK THAN LARGE BREED DOGS, BECAUSE IT IS MUCH HARDER TO CATCH A PUPPY IN THE ACT OF PEEING WHEN HE IS ONLY DOING A QUARTER SIZE PEE SPOT, COMPARED TO THE SAME AGE LAB PUP WHICH WILL DO A HALF OF A CUP OF PEE AT A TIME.

It seems like after two months he should not be having accidents,

especially since we moved across the hall to a new apartment with brand new carpet in it...

AT MY HOUSE THE DOGS DO NOT HAVE ANY CARPET, SO HAVE NO PRACTICE OF PEEING ON CARPETING, BUT IF HE RAN LOOSE WHEN YOU FIRST GOT HIM HE PROBABLY DID MANY QUARTER SIZE PEES SO QUICKLY THAT YOU DID NOT EVEN KNOW HE WAS DOING IT. EACH TIME HE PEED AND DID NOT GET CAUGHT IN THE ACT, IT IS THE SAME AS PRAISE. ONLY AS THEY GET OLDER AND SQUAT LONGER DOES THE PERSON START TO REALIZE THE DOG IS PEEING ON THE CARPET, BUT BY THEN THE DOG HAS A HABIT ESTABLISHED. THAT IS WHY WHEN YOU GOT NEW CARPET, IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE TO HIM, AS A HABIT IS A HABIT.

I AM A DOG TRAINER BY PROFESSION. I OWN " SCHOOL FOR DOGS" AND DOING HOUSEBREAKING LESSONS WITH PEOPLE IS A LARGE PART OF MY INCOME. THAT IS WHY I DO THE BEST UP-BRINGING I CAN FOR MY PUPS. SO WHEN THEY LEAVE ME, THEY ARE TRAINED TO USE A DOG DOOR TO GO OUTSIDE BUT ON THEIR WAY OUT THEY PASS THRU A SCREEN PORCH WHERE I KEEP PAPERS THAT THEY MAY USE IF THEY WANT. PUFFS USUALLY PREFER OUTSIDE AND IF IT IS COLD OR WET OUT, THE HAIRLESS PREFER THE PAPER. BUT THEY ARE SCOLDED "IF CAUGHT IN THE ACT" OF ANY PEEING IN THE HOUSE WHICH IS VINYL FLOORING. BECAUSE I USE "DOG DOORS" TO THE OUTSIDE, I AM NOT ABLE TO TEACH THEM TO TALK TO GO OUT, AS THEY WALK OUT WHEN THEY NEED TO POTTY. I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU. ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE ANSWERS, BUT I ALWAYS WANT MY PUPS TO BE AS CLOSE TO THE PERFECT PET AS POSSIBLE :-)) JUDY COUNCIL

MY ANSWER: Hi Catherine, do not despair, she is not to old to learn to housebreak. but after being at your home for one month, she does have a bad habit established. It is impossible to watch a pup constantly. You can not accomplish anything around the house that way. I learned long time ago, that I do not have time to follow the pup. Soooooo, get a nice light weight 6 foot long (not longer and not shorter) leash with a small lightweight clip on it. and htweight clip on it. and snap it to her collar. Also make sure you have a crate, cage, utility room or bathroom that you will keep her in when you are not home or are asleep or can not supervise her. At all times that you are at home and awake, you should put her on the leash and put the leash on your arm. Everywhere you go she goes. you can see her at all times. There are only 2 things I can not do with a dog attached to me and that is take a shower and vacuum the house. Then you put her in the crate or utility room etc. Now, pick a place for her wee wee pad. a forever place. Preferably a place where she will always be able to get to it. Such as if you leave the utility room door open all the time, that in there is a good place. or if you have a walk in shower, in it is good , but pick a place that is big enough that you can put her food and water in the same room. maybe even her crate or bed. She may have been trained to newspaper and not weewee pads, so put both there, side by side to see what she chooses. Now, when you are home and awake, you put her on the leash you put her on the leash with you. As you live your life you are also watching her. wait for her to start to pee or doodoo, then jerk the leash several times as your voice is loud and noisy, (do NOT pick up) and rush her by small jerks on the leash to the room where the papers are located. You or she enters the paper room, your voice gets sweet and nice and no more jerking on the leash. Unsnap the leash, close the door or gate to room and set oven timer for 10 min. Then nicely go get her and look around to see IF she peed or pooped. even IF she missed the papers, you will not complain. Anywhere in this area (room) we will accept for now. IF she did not continue to pee or poop, it is not a problem. Apparently you were to slow in your reactions and she got more out in the house before you made the first jerk. That is OK as she probably got some food and water and therefore will need to go again soon and you will have another chance to do your job better. You never scold after the fact, and always the room where the papers, food and water are is a "SAFE" room. All scary noise and jerking stops as she enters hat room. This way after 10 days to two weeks on the leash with you she will realize she needs to run for that room each time she feels she has to do that "thing" that will make you mad. After about 5 days on the leash, she should begin to tell you that she needs to go potty, by climbing repeatedly on your leg, or pulling on the leash towards the room, or whining, or barking. Do not remove the leash from your hand for 10 days to two weeks no matter how well she seems to be doing. Then when you do feel she is doing well and has done well, on the leash attached to you, you may let her loose when you are home but dragging the leash for one week. this way if she is thinking about doing "something wrong", the leash is a reminder that it is the umbilical cord to discipline. I hope this helps. Dogs do NOT WANT to be unhousebroken and get in trouble. But people start them off with to much freedom in the house and freedom in the house and then expect the dog to know what to do. Judy Council

Yes, I am a dog breeder and helping people with housebreaking problems is a big part of my income :-)) All small dogs are much harder to housebreak than the larger breeds. The small dogs "personal area" or "clean space" is much smaller than the bigger breeds. So the small breed can pee or poop at one end of the utility room and feel perfectly comfortable about it. Where as the large breed might not feel the utility room was large enough to put their size pee or poop in the room at all. But what really causes the small breeds biggest problems in housebreaking is that their pees are soooo tiny that it is hard to "catch them in the act". So they usually pee in the house a thousand times that the owner does not see or catch. Finally, they reach a size that the owner can start finding the spots or catch it in the act and then they start to discipline. But of course it is sort of late, as the dog has gotten accustomed to peeing in the house one thousand time that it was not scolded. When I used to raise Borzoi, each pup would have only 1, 2, or 3 accidents at the most before they were housebroken. Because it was easy to catch a pup that size in the act. When I raised Whippets, it was 3 to 5 accidents, as they were just a little smaller. Cresteds, though, are much smaller and thus much harder. If you are starting with a pup that is raised going out side or to paper and you do a good job with it when you first get it, they can housebreak very well. If you purchase your pup from a pet shop (thus puppy mill raised) or from a poor quality breeder, the puppy may already be taught to potty in its crate or in small areas. Also it may never have been raised going outside at all, so is accustomed to doing all its potty in the house. If you are using them for breeding or have many small dogs the worse one will tend to drag the others to its level :-((

ADVICE: That certainly IS a big problem. Can't have that happening. That for sure would eliminate me from leaving him loose in rooms with carpets when I was asleep or not home. Probably what happened was, when he was young, as you eliminated his stuffed toys because he enjoyed pulling out the stuffing, he finally chewed on the carpet and you naturally raised cain about it. He found that it got your attention. You and I would say he got my "wrong" attention. But in his eyes he said " Oh, so doing THAT makes her pay attention to me!" Unfortunately he is quick to learn. So when you fell asleep "during his time" when he felt you should be playing with him, he knew what to do to get you to wake up and pay attention. It is a learned behavior that unfortunately he has learned to use well. Even in play, one of the things that most dogs like to do is tear things apart. If one dog finds a stick the other will chase it and they will play tug of war until the stick breaks. then they will chew on the stick to make it into many pieces. It keeps them active and using their mouth which is what they would do in nature. Therefore i would handle the problem the opposite of what you did. You removed all the toys that he liked to entertain himself with, by tearing them apart. Where as, I would go to garage sales where parents sell stuffed toys of all sizes for 10 cents to a dollar, and I would buy him a bunch of them. Some even really big. I would make sure they were ones that were washable as most kids toys are now days. Pull off any hard plastic eyes or noses that he could swallow. Each day when you sit down to play with him bring out a new stuffed toy to play with. That way if you fall asleep during " his time", he will take his frustration out on pulling apart the new toy. it should be far more fun to pull out fluffy stuffing than the carpet. When you wake up and find the pile of fluff, this time you can pretend to be mad, but with a smile on your face, because it was not your carpet. I would be saying "oh my, look what a bad boy you were for tearing up a toy that cost me a quarter. Oh my, you certainly did get even with Mom for falling asleep!" I would be thrilled that the fun he had and the damage to the stuffed toy cost me only a $1 and not $100 for a carpet. I hope that helps. when you do move, please remember to tell me your new address :-))

QUESTION:

My name is Jill and I also live in Florida. I have a WONDERFUL Crested named Major Payne (he's not bad, it's from the movies) and he is the prince of our house, but I have a MAJOR (no pun intended) problem with him...

Potty training. Wow...this has been one heck of an up-hill battle. Please keep in mind I got Major at a later age (7 months), and he was outside much of his time in the horse pastures where he came from. He has been VERY difficult to train. I am required to crate him while at work which he handles very well, but he has not shown any regular method of telling me he has to "potty." Major is now 1 1/2 years old and he is neutered. I even tried a "belly-band" which he felt was SO easy to use...he peed right in it! :-)

I have tried various methods (books, on-line advice) but I have not had much luck. Much like some of your emails I read...there is little consistency. I read that this situation is something that you "specialize" in, and I was wondering if you had any literature/advice.

JUDY’S ANSWER:

I probably won’t have a lot to offer that you have not already tried, but I will tell you what I would do. I will presume that he was NOT neutered when you got him but has been sometime after you got him. Usually it takes 6 to 9 weeks for the hormones to drain out. But that does not alter the habit or knowledge. Just the drive.

I most definitely would have him wear a pee band when ever he was in the house. I would probably buy a cheap bag of cotton tube athletic socks and a box of Diaper pins. Even though he pees in them, they are easy to wash. It can’t be comfortable for him to have it wet but most importantly, he is no longer making his house smell like him. Each time he marks something he adds it to his territory and must keep refreshing the spot. So you want to eliminate that smell. Now I am not talking about doing it for a month or so. You may do it for 6mon. 1year or forever. He will just have to get used to standing at the door before he goes out for you to take it off, and standing there when he comes in to put it on.

I would also put his only source of drinking water outside of the exit door. Have no water source in the house that he can reach. Now he has a reason to go out side.

He apparently does not bark to go out, so tape a string attached to an aluminum drink can on the frame of the crack of the exit door. Can at his face height. Each time you are going to take him out, you step thru and close the door all but one inch and tease him so he will accidentally hit the can. As the can clinks, open the door and let him out. If you have other animals, let them out but close door all but one inch so he is jealous and accidentally hits the can. When company comes open door only one inch till he hits the can do to his excitement.

Once he finally figures out that he can cause you to open the door for him, he will be able to ask to go out and get a drink. Of course any time he asks to go out, he is allowed water and a chance to potty.

Now if you really really want to do it right, starting now, you put a 6 foot leash on him in the house and keep it on your wrist at all times that you are awake. There are only two things you can’t do with him attached to you and that is vacuum and take a shower. At that time he is either in a crate, attached to someone responsible, or outside. With him attached to you, do not take him outside unless you catch him pottying while attached to you and you jerk the leash, yell and run his body outside. In other words, once leashed to you he will either need to pee in front of you, or tell you in some way that he needs to go out. Then you would go to the door and if he has learned to bump the can, he can do that to get out. It is either that or he will have to pee in front of the wicked witch.

There is a 50/50 chance that he will always have to wear a pee band for ever for security, the other 50% chance that after a year of wearing it, he will no longer need to. The better he learns to communicate to have you open the door, the better the chance it will help the housebreaking.

If you are a person who likes to feed food for potty, (I don’t) at least feed it outside just as he finishes, never once you bring him back inside.

That’s about all I can offer. Always remember a dog lifting his leg or “marking” is not always a dog that is not housebroken. A male can know right from wrong and still choose to “mark”. Because that is a learned and hormone controlled response. It has become a trained, mental response. Yeah for pee bands !!!

The best training tip I've ever heard when it comes to housebreaking...