Making Housetraining Successful
Ability to hold bladder/bowels:
- 1 hour/month of age (subtract 1hour for small breeds such as Yorkies, Maltese, Shih-Tzus)
Length of time confined:
- 1 hour/month of age
- Do not exceed a maximum of more than 8 hours (as an adult)
- A young puppy cannot and should not be expected to stay in a confined area more than 4 hours. Your puppy must be out of the confined area an equal amount of time (eg. Confined for 4 hours must be out for 4-hours cumulatively)
Size of confined area:
- Crate should be small enough that your pet can sit and stand up, spurn around completely, and stretch out fully
- Pen or room should be small enough for your pet to do all of the above, but not too much space that your can eliminate in the far end of the enclosure and still utolize the rest of the space for playing or sleeping
Set up a successful housetraining system:
- Set up a system that works with you and not against you
- Have a saf, puppy-proofed area where the dog can be when you cannot supervise the dog, like a crate, play pen, or area like a small laundry room
- Make sure that their crate, playpen or area is not too big. If they have enough room to eliminate in one side and live in the other, it is too big. For the playpen or small room, make sure there is space for a bed, water, food, toys and no more. As the dog no longer has accidents in this area, slowly make the space larger
- Reward with 3 treats (builds motivation) all elimination when it is where it should be. This means that you will need to go outside or wherever their spot is to make sure they eliminate there. Make sure the reward is given within 2-3 seconds after elimination
- No freedom in house without 100% supervision - preferably the dog is on leash attached to you
- Take the dog out about every 1-2 hours, depending on age, making sure that you are taking the exact route the dog will eventually taking on its own. The dog must practice how to get to the door by walking through the route with you
- Have food on a schedule (no free feeding) so you know when they need to eliminate
- Clean any accident up with an enzymatic cleaner, which you can get at the pet store to remove all smell
- Take up all food and water 2 hours before bedtime
- If your dog seems to be urinating frequently or not completely, talk to your veterinarian about the possibility of a urinary tract infection
- Slowly give your dog access to new rooms, one at a time, with 100% supervision. Pay particular attention to spending time with the dog in rooms that are not used often, like the formal dining room or guest rooms. These are the rooms that a dog sees as potty areas because it appears to them that no one lives there
|
|
480-510-1148