Dog house training is by far the concern expressed most often by new dog owners.
House training is one of the areas of dog ownership thats most subject to misunderstanding, confusion, and just plain dread!
Dog house training is simple when you know what to communicate with your dog. Dog house training is about teaching your dog a set of house rules that you want her to follow, for example, your bed and sofa is off limit to her, begging for food is not allow, barking is not allow when someone is at the door.
Firstly, the paper method of dog house training is perfect if you live in a very small area like an apartment that has limited outside training areas. Another great reason for using the paper method is if you are away from the home often. The goal with the paper method is to teach the puppy to relieve itself indoors on any type of paper, like a newspaper for example.
Anyone who has ever had a dog will tell you that dog house training is one of the most difficult aspects about owning a dog. The first thing you should get for dog house training is a kennel. If dog house training isnt working, it is likely not the fault of the dog but your fault. But if there’s some good reason for not using a crate in your situation, dog house training is possible without one.
All successful dog training is based on the concept of rewarding and reinforcing desired behaviors, and dog house training is no different. As you may have figured out by now, the process of dog house training is anticipating when your dog is about to go to the bathroom.
The biggest tip when dog house training is to be consistent. Dog owners do not want the dog to poop just when it feels like it needs to, it should do it outside or on a paper and that is what dog house training is all about. It’s sounds simple and it is if you are consistent and don’t forget your ultimate goal: a perfectly behaved dog.
Another useful tool for dog house training is a litter box instead of a piece of paper.
Training a dog is not easy, however, it takes time and patience. Training your best friend doesn’t have to be a time consuming chore, it should be easy and fun for both of you.
House training your dog to “sit” is probably the first thing you will train your puppy to do. Will discuss the two most efficient ways to learn dog house training for your puppy. By this point you should already know that you must start dog house training the instant that you obtain your new dog. Once home and ready to start your puppy with his dog house training, you must first decide whether to paper train or house train him.
Dogs, especially puppies, have small bladders and will likely have to use the bathroom after drinking or eating. Dogs and puppies crave training and direction from the person that cares for them, they need it. Keep in mind that if house training doesn’t work it has to do more with you than with your puppy. Dogs don’t know any better unless you teach them.
Now, lets talk about two of the most common house training “issues”:
1: Submissive / excited urination
A submissive urinator is a dog that urinates on the floor and himself in situations of extreme excitement or stress - like when you return home at the end of the day, or when hes being told off.
Puppies are the usual candidates for submissive/excited urination, but its not uncommon to see adult dogs with the problem as well: usually, these are highly sensitive and timid dogs, and/or ones from a shelter/with a history of abuse.
Situations when an excited/fearful dog is likely to urinate:
- Greeting time after a prolonged absence
- Play time
- The arrival of guests
- Stressful situations at home, eg arguments
- During a correction (youre telling him off)
- Sudden loud noises (thunder, fireworks)
The good thing is that its not difficult to cure your dog of his submissive/excited urination.
First of all, you should take him to the vet to make sure theres no medical reason for the issue.
Once you know that there is nothing wrong with him from the medical stand point limit his intake of water to help him control his bladder more effectively.
Dont restrict his water intake over a prolonged period of time, but if you know theres a situation coming which would normally result in urination take his water bowl away for a period of time (maybe half an hour to an hour) before the event.
When greeting your dog, keep it calm and mellow. The more excited he is, the harder it is for him to control his bladder, so dont encourage him to get worked up: ignore him for the first few moments, or give him a neutral hello, a quick pat, and then go about making yourself at home.
Its important that you DO NOT punish or harshly correct your dog for this behavior. Its not something that he can easily control, and hes certainly not doing it on purpose. When you catch him in the act, you can interrupt him (a firm No! followed by praise when he stops should suffice) but dont punish him. Keep your cool.
If he urinates out of fear (submissiveness) when scolding him for another offense, try to take the stress levels down by keeping a firm, authoritative, but not angry tone. Remember, youre dealing with a sensitive, highly-strung dog: if you get angry or worry him further, the problem will worsen.
2: Scent marking
Scent marking - where a dog marks his or her territory with urine is technically not actually a house training problem, since its based on issues of dominance and territoriality rather than insufficient house training (a dog can be perfectly house trained but still mark inside the house.)
However, because since the problem centers around the unwanted presence of urine in the house it seems logical, in a way, to link this problem with house training: and since this is one of the most widespread problems among dog owners, we thought it worthwhile to include some practical advice.
Scent marking and lack of house training: how to differentiate between the two
Your dogs probably scent marking, rather than genuinely relieving himself, if:
The amount of urine produced is relatively small, and tends to be directed against vertical surfaces (walls, doors, etc)
Hes male, unneutered, and at least five or six months old. Unneutered dogs are much more territorial than neutered ones if you have an unneutered dog in the house, you can pretty much expect a certain amount of scent marking. (Unspayed females also mark, but its less common; spayed and neutered dogs can also exhibit marking behavior, but its relatively infrequent)
It makes little difference how often hes taken outside for a toilet break
He frequently targets items that are new to the house: new possessions, guest clothing/footwear, etc
You live in a multi-dog household and there is conflict between two or more of the dogs
There are other, unneutered or unspayed pets in the house
First things first: spay or neuter your dog(s) as soon as you possibly can. If you can do this early enough ideally, at six months of age - this often halts marking altogether; but if your dogs been marking for a prolonged period of time, he or she may continue to do so after being spayed or neutered, since a pattern of behavior will have been established.
Clean soiled areas thoroughly. Use a non-ammonia based cleaner and stay away from vinegar too (it smells similar to pee.) Oxi-Clean mixed with warm water is particularly effective.
Because dogs tend to re-mark the same places, youll need to redefine the places that you know hes marked to prevent repeat offending. Aha, those repeat offenders don’t know we are smart enough to catch them on their game.
Feed him next to or on top of the spot
Play with him there
Groom him there
Put his bed over or next to it
Spend time there yourself: hang out with a book or sit down and work (this one may not sound like a good idea to you but it works)
If there is rivalry between dogs in the household, youll need to take steps to resolve it. Any conflict is likely to be hierarchical in nature (a power struggle), which means that all you have to do to stop the tension is pay attention to which dog seems to be more dominant than the other one (which one eats first, gets the toys he/she wants, stares down another dog), and reinforce this position.
Feed the dominant dog first. Pet him/her first. Give him/her a toy before anyone else gets one. This makes it clear to all dogs in the house which one really is the dominant dog and when this hierarchys been recognizably established, territorial/dominant behaviors like scent marking often vanish overnight.
As you can see there’s a lot to deal with when it comes to house training your dog, but with large doses of love and perseverance you and your four-legged wonder will have a long lasting and loving relationship.
We’ll talk about more dog house training issues on my next article.
To your ultimate success and a perfectly behaved dog.
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