Friday, December 02, 2011

House-breaking woes

I have had Dobie for 2.5 weeks now and I have to say that the most challenging aspect of his training is house-breaking. He learns commands extremely quickly, usually after just 5 repetitions. But his bad habit of pottying indoors has been tough to break. I’m sad to admit though that all his accidents during the first week have been my fault. Either I didn’t take him out quickly enough after playtime or I brought him inside before he was done.

The second week however, I’m certain he was going potty indoors on purpose. One day, he pooped in his crate 3 times. I figured out 2 days later that this trend was the result of wanting to get out of the crate. So his solution was to poop, cry, then we would let him out. My breeder suggested that next time he does this, clean up around him, but don’t let him step foot out of the crate. This worked like a charm. He was tricking us the whole time!

We’re on the 3rd week now, and yesterday we saw great improvement in his behaviour. Since he learned how to go down stairs, he has started indicating the need to go outside by going down the 2 steps to the doorway and sitting by the front door. When I saw him do this, I praised him like he won a Nobel prize. I think the worst is over now, so I’ll share what I learned this week. Here are some potty training tips to help out future puppy owners.

House-breaking DOs and DON’Ts

DO take puppy out often, every 2 hours, after naps, after play, after meals
DON’T crate for more than 2 hours at a time (until puppy is over 10 weeks old)
DO praise puppy exaggeratedly for his potty outside
DON’T bring puppy inside if he hasn’t attempted to potty
DO give puppy a treat as soon as he finishes the potty outside
DON’T give puppy water after 8pm (make sure he drinks enough during the day)
DO praise puppy for indicating the need to go outside
DON’T leave puppy unattended indoors or you can’t correct him for pooping inside
DO bring puppy back outside 5 minutes after a pee break for a chance to poop
DON’T let any indoor accidents leave a scent, clean thoroughly
DO repeat a phrase (command) while puppy searches for an appropriate potty location
DON’T let puppy out of the crate if he poops in it, clean around him

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