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House Training

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Happy, healthy puppies and adult dogs do not generally have in appropriate toileting problems.

Checklist

  1. Puppies and adult dogs of both sexes can suffer from kidney / bladder / urinary-tract infections which will most certainly affect the puppy/dog’s ability to have Jumping castles for sale good control over when and were to pass urine. There may also be more serious problems affecting the dog’s ability to control his/her bladder. Puppies/dogs may also suffer from digestive problems again affecting their ability to control their bowels properly, infections, incorrect feeding and food allergies may well be the cause. If you are having difficulty toilet training your dog you should always have a vet check to be on the safe side.
  2. Stomach upsets will cause temporary lose of toilet training. Do not make a fuss or stress the dog about it and things will return to normal with the dogs return to health.
  3. Behavioural problems may cause inappropriate toileting. Separation anxiety is generally the main cause; a simple desensitisation program will correct this problem. Other symptoms of separation anxiety are distress every time you leave the room or house, the dog constantly following you every where never letting you out of sight, destructive behaviour, barking / whining when left alone.
  4. Lack of correct training.
  5. Confusion about where and when to go to the toilet.
  6. Punishment for house soiling.
  7. Bitches coming into season/heat and during their season/heat have an increased need to urinate. This type of urinating is generally due to the marking of her territory, notifying all male dogs in the area of her condition and would normally take place outside. It may be the cause of inappropriate toileting.
  8. Putting the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn can be the cause of sudden lose of toilet training and will correct its self if you do not make a fuss or stress the dog about accidents. Allow 2 weeks.

Ways to improve house training

  1. Before you bring your puppy/dog home decide were the dogs toileting area is going to be in the garden, and what word you are going to use to command the puppy/dog to perform. If you want your puppy/dog to only use one area in the garden it is a good idea to erect a temporary fence to stop the puppy/dog from going any-where else to do his/her business or always have the puppy/dog on a long lead. The command words could be some thing like toilet, be quick, hurry up or anything else you have no objection to saying in public should the need arise. All dogs should be trained to do their toileting on your property were you are able to clean up and disinfect the area properly. Going for walks is a time for fun and games not a toileting time. Please make sure that you always carry poop scoop bags with you when out walking your dog and make sure that you always clear up after your dog no matter were you are.
  2. On arrival home take the puppy/dog straight to the toileting area in the garden, regardless of the weather conditions and wait with the puppy/dog until the dog has been to the toilet, giving lots of praise. This establishes the puppy/dog’s toileting place before any bad habits start.
  3. Restrict the puppy/dog to one room in the house that has an easy to clean floor covering, until it is reliable house trained. The use of baby gates are a good way of restricting the puppy/dogs movements around the house but please make sure that the puppy cannot get its head stuck in the bars, you may need to put some wire mesh around the gate until the puppy grows. The use of indoor kennels/crates are ideal ways to house train young puppies, put newspaper at the back of the crate and the dogs bed at the front near the door, in this way the puppy will not have to walk through any thing unpleasant to get to you. Put the water bowl in a ring attached to the side of the crate or use a no spill water bowl.
  4. Clean up any accidents the puppy/dog has with a solution of biological soap powder or use a disinfectant from the pet shop or vets for this purpose. Most house hold disinfectants contain ammonia which puts back the smell that you are trying to get rid of there by encouraging the puppy/dog to constantly go back to the same place to toilet.
  5. You need to establish the puppy/dogs toileting routine. Take the puppy/dog outside every time he/she wakes up, after meals and at any time the puppy/dog looks agitated, sniffs at the floor a lot or starts circling. Always take the puppy/dog outside in a calm matter of fact way not a mad panic or dash, as that will unnerve the puppy/dog. When puppy is playing take him/her outside every 20/30 minutes to empty, allow 5 minutes for them to go to the toilet, if the puppy does not perform, take him/her back inside and restrict the puppy to his bed and try again 5/10 minutes later. For older dogs take them out every hour to start with and restrict them to their bed if they do not go to the toilet, allow them more freedom when they have been to the toilet. When you have established the puppy/dogs toileting needs slowly extend the time between visits to the toilet area to encourage the puppy/dog to control its bladder and bowels better.
  6. When toilet training always stay outside with your dog puppy no matter what the weather conditions are, until the puppy/dog has performed and reward outside instantly. Do not take the dog inside for his/her reward.
  7. Never punish a dog for making mistakes or having accidents you will only confuse and distress the puppy/dog the result will be a puppy/dog that only goes to the toilet when you are not looking, not there or one that goes and hides behind the furniture to go to the toilet. If your puppy/dog as an accident that is your fault for not watching him/her properly so learn to be more vigilant. Punishing puppy/dog’s for toilet accidents can make them so insecure that they will not go to the toilet when you are present outside ether in the garden or out on walks. You may end up with a dog that comes home and hides to go to the toilet even after a 3 hour walk!
  8. Allow re-homed and rescue puppies/dogs time to get used to your routine. With the best will in the world your routine will differ from the pups/dogs original one and it may take several weeks for this new puppy/dog to settle in.