 Paper training a pup that you eventually want to eliminate outside your home is not recommended. Doing so prolongs the housebreaking process because you first encourage eliminating indoors, then you must discourage it. Consistently follow the steps below to teach your pet to eliminate outside.
Choose one or two areas where you want your pet to eliminate. The odor left at this place will remind your pet to eliminate when you take him there.
Take your pet to the area on a leash. While he eliminates, praise him profusely. DO NOT put your pet out in the yard by himself! You must be there to help focus his attention and to praise within seconds of elimination.
Stick to a schedule for feeding and walking so your pet can anticipate being taken out.
Confine your pet to a small area, such as a dog crate or part of a tiled room when you can not watch it. Dogs naturally avoid soiling their den or bed area. Close confinement helps to motivate your pet to wait to be taken outside and prevents damage to your home. If you must confine your pet longer than it can wait to eliminate, give it ex tra space to eliminate away from its bed.
When your pet soils inside, clean the area with vinegar or an odor eliminator. Do not use ammonia. On carpets, soak up as much urine as possible with towels, then soak the carpet and padding with odor eliminator. Unless all odor is destroyed, the pet will be attracted to eliminate there again. Punishing your pet in any way will do more ha rm than good, especially if punishment occurs more than a few seconds after elimination. You must anticipate your pet's need to eliminate and provide it the opportunity to eliminate in the appropriate place. Adjust the schedule or watch your pet more closely. Call CCHS for help if "accidents" occur frequently.
Plan to take the pet outside 10-30 minutes after feeding, first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and whenever the pet gets excited.
In general, you should plan to take your pet out in hourly intervals equal to your pets age in months. e.g. a 2 month old pup should go out at least every 2 hours, a 4 month old every 4 hours, etc. Re gardless of age or previous training, start with a maximum interval of 4 hours.
Although pups younger than 6 months may understand that you want them to go only outside, their performance is still limited physically by the size of their bladder. Some dogs, once housebroken, can wait over 8 hours at a time, but others, like most people, can't. It may be necessary to hire a dog walker if your schedule can't accommodate your pet's physical needs. |
