Potty Training Dogs

Potty training dogs is an essential step to integrating them successfully into your household. Whether they are adopted or rescue dogs, purebred show dogs, or a dog you received as a gift, taking care of potty training problems from the first can be the difference between the dog living a happy lifestyle among his human companions and being relegated to a crate or backyard indefinitely - living out his days in lonely isolation.

Help Your New Family Member Adapt

When you bring a new dog into your home from the shelter, a friend, or through other means, you will begin to develop your relationship and bond with him from the start. Undeserved corrections, built up frustration, and stress created by housebreaking accidents can create a lot of negative feelings between family members and the new dog. To get off on the right foot, it's best if you consider your new dog completely un-housebroken and commence housebreaking right away. A lot of people would avoid needless headache and heartache if they begin potty train dogs the minute they first stepped through the front door.

Top Five Potty Training Tips!

1) Schedule Food and Water Intake

2) Create an Elimination Schedule for the dog

3) Accompany the dog outside when it eliminates

4) Restrict the dog and allowing him only supervised freedom to avoid accidents indoors.

5) Clean up lingering odors from accidents to prevent a repeat-offense.

For the first few weeks potty training dogs, you need to control when they eat, when they relieve themselves, and where they are when he is not doing these things. If you allow your dog unsupervised freedom in the house, he will happily eliminate indoors and think nothing of it. Potty Training Dogs starts with limiting his freedom indoors until he has earned it!

Reward his Results!

It is your responsibility to teach your dog that there is an acceptable place to go to the bathroom where he will get BIG PRAISE for relieving himself. There are also unacceptable places to go to the bathroom and he will get BIG TROUBLE if he decides to go there.

When potty training dogs, the only way you can be sure that the proper associations are formed is by accompanying your dog to his designated elimination spot when he relieves himself so you can praise him for his good work.

I know a dog trainer who swears her neighbors think she's crazy because her advice is to "Throw a PARTY" when the dog relieves himself outside and she is great with physical and verbal praise! Your dog wants to know he made you happy and be so proud of himself that he will try very hard to figure out what he did so he can repeat it in the future. Of course, you can feel silly cheering for your dog as he poops on the front lawn, but offering profuse praise rewards your dog for performing the correct behavior and is a vital link to create when potty training dogs. If he's been corrected for eliminating in the house, he might be afraid that you will yell at him whenever he eliminates. You have to reassure him that you're thrilled when he goes in the right spot!

Preventing Indoor Accidents

Eventually your dog will learn that it's okay (even good!) for him to relieve himself outdoors. However, he also has to learn that it's unacceptable for him to go inside. Left to his own devices, if the urge to relieve himself comes over the dog while he is indoors, he will go ahead and soil your carpet unless he one of two conditions are in place.

1) He identifies the area as HIS SPACE - his instincts prevent him from soiling his own space, or

2) He recognizes that he will get in trouble for going there - because you've corrected him for eliminating indoors in the past.

Restriction is Key

So, when potty training dogs, you must utilize some sort of confinement to prevent indoor accidents. When your dog is indoors he needs to be in a space he identifies as his own (such as a crate or kennel) where he will be reluctant to eliminate. You should let him out of this space ONLY when you can directly supervise him and catch him in the act if he begins to relieve himself. Finding puddles and piles - evidence of a crime - after the fact is upsetting, but it is unfair to take your anger out on the dog. He will not associate the correction with relieving himself, if he relieved himself more than a few seconds before, instead he will associate it with you finding him. The dog was not the only one to make a mistake - the handler made the mistake of not taking him out often enough and/or not supervising him closely enough while he was inside.

Having good method of restriction and supervision is absolutely critical to potty training dogs successfully. If you're eager to take your dog out of the crate while you are home and are concerned about your ability to supervise him, try putting him on a "tie-down" where he can be tethered to the chair you are sitting in with a short chain leash. Alternatively, tie his leash around your waist and have him follow you from room to room as you go about your day.

While the dog is with you, if you see the dog start to sniff, circle, squat, or otherwise begin to prepare to relieve himself, correct him with a stern "No." Pick him up, if you can, to stop him from going, if not, grab his collar and get him outside as quickly as possible. Bring him to the designated elimination area and issue a "relief command" such as "Go Potty" or "Do your Business."

If a housebreaking accident does occur, and you can catch him in the act, take it as an opportunity to correct him and encourage the proper behavior in the future.

The primary advantage of potty training dogs who are already 6 months old or more, is that they will have a much easier time of controlling their bladders between elimination opportunities. Inevitably accidents will occur while potty training dogs. You will need to thoroughly clean the spot not only to avoid staining, but to eliminate odors of urnie or feces which may tempt the dog to return to the same spot.

Potty training dogs takes a fair amount of patience, but scheduling and consistency make it go as smoothly as possible. If for some reason, you experience unusual difficulty potty training dogs, it might be due to a medical problem the dogs are experiencing. Be especially concerned if a once housebroken dog suddenly starts having indoor accidents.

If you do need additional guidance in establishing a reliable housebreaking schedule, here are some other resources to help you in potty training dogs.

Further Assistance

If you need additional assistance potty training dogs and have not already done so, please read the free article on potty training puppies and implement the procedures recommended there. It handles scheduling, designated relief areas, and clean-up procedures in more depth. The procedure for potty training dogs and puppies is very similar. The primary distinction being that puppies have to go to the bathroom more frequently than adult dogs.

You can start potty training dogs 6 months and older using the schedule outlined on the puppy training page, just customize it by eliminating the lunch time potty break recommended for younger puppies.

If your dog's still having accidents, you need more help! If you need more great techniques for Potty Training Dogs this inexpensive E-book will help rid you of housebreaking nightmares!

You might consider Litter Box Training your dog if he is too young to go outside, you live in an apartment or own a small breed who can go indoors for life!

1) Back to article on Potty Training Puppies.

2) If you own a female dog, also refer to the article on Dogs in Heat.

3) If you own a small dog, you may want to consider Paper Training your dog to relieve himself indoors, or even Litter Box Training him to go indoors for life!

Back to article on potty training puppies.

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