How To Housebreak A Dog
Okay, so we’ve already discussed the importance of confinement and time monitoring in the last article and you may have realized that these two techniques, if implemented properly, can really give some great results. However, if you want to master the subject of potty training and become really good at it, I’ve got a few more tips on how to housebreak a dog that will make you a true master in this field ????
Part 1 – Show Him The Toilet!
I’ve already told you about limiting your dog’s movements to a single location so that he can’t wander around and urinate all over the house. I have also explained how you can monitor his behavior and, based on the signals he sends you, forestall the events. But at this stage you may be asking yourself: ‘Is there anything else I need to know on how to housebreak a dog? Taking him outside doesn’t seem like a complicated task. Is there anything in this part of the plan that I could improve upon?’ Yes! I’m glad that you’ve asked ????
A great tip on how to housebreak a dog that complements the previous two I mentioned in the last article is focused around designating a toilet area somewhere outside. I want you to decide on one place where you will regularly take your pet when he needs to eliminate.
It is important that you don’t use any other location over the duration of the house training process. Why? Because your dog needs to associate this area with the act of urinating/defecating. That way he will automatically head to that place every time he feels the urge to eliminate. Not only will this result in less ‘accidents’ but also make the potty training process much faster.
To limit your dog movements so that he stays in the chosen area you can use a leash and attach it to the tree. Remember to keep this place clean as your pet may avoid it, if it becomes too stinky and cruddy.
Part 2 – How To Housebreak A Dog Using Rewards
If you want to speed up the house training process, reward your dog every time he eliminates outside. You can either praise him cheerfully, give him a snack or let him run around the yard for a couple of minutes. Don’t take him back home immediately after he’s done his job or he may start to think that the pleasure of staying on the fresh air ends as soon as he empties his bladder. If that happens, he will stop eliminating outside and may hold everything until he gets back home.
Part 3 – Consistency
Dog housebreaking training, as any other type of dog training is all about patience and consistency. That is why you need to make sure that you use the same commands on a consistent basis. You can’t tell your dog to ‘go outside’ on one occasion and ‘go poop’ on another. This will make him really confused and less willing to cooperate. The key to having a dog that does what you want him to do, is to use the same commands over and over again until they become linked in his head to the desired activities.
In the case of potty training you can simply say ‘go potty’ every time your pet is sniffing and circling. He will quickly understand what you expect of him when you use this phrase, and in the future he will respond to it automatically. At some stage you’ll be able to use this keyword to trigger the elimination process.
How To Housebreak A Dog – Conclusion
This concludes our look into the subject of dog housebreaking training. If you want to learn more on how to housebreak a dog, I encourage you to read Sit Stay Fetch that covers a wide variety of dog related subjects, including a number of potty training methods that guarantee success (providing that you take consistent action and implement them properly).
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