| Housebreaking your puppy does not have to be a nightmare. In fact, it can be very easy when you understand and accept the responsibility that YOU have as a dog owner to do your part. It has been said that the steps to follow when housetraining a dogs are: #1. Get a newspaper or magazine, roll it tightly and secure with a rubber band #2. Place it on the coffee table, counter, or other easily accessible place where you can get to it quickly. #3. Wait for the puppy to do his business in the house #4. RUN for the newspaper...BEAT yourself HARD with it over the head while SCREAMING "WHY didn't I watch the @#$%*&# PUPPY?!?!?!" While we all get the joke here, really this is how many of us approach the process of housetraining. We wait for the dog to make a mistake so that we can show him why it is wrong, and then correct him. This is hardly proactive, and ultimately leads to more problems...for you and the dog. Often said and more often forgotten is that puppies eat several small meals and drink frequently throughout the day. They also apparently have bladders and colons the size of fleas...so they need more opportunities to go outside. Plain and simple. Your puppy should be brought out to his "spot" every 1/2 hour-45 minutes and after EVERY meal or session of hard play until you get a feel for his specific needs. It is likely that he will at need to go out every hour. OF COURSE THIS IS DEMANDING!! and impossible for all but the most dedicated to accomplish...which is why you will likely need to implement some sort of confinement whenever the puppy is out of your SIGHT...even for a minute!! Now before I continue, I will say that I believe that crate training is BY FAR the best method to use here. There are those who disagree, and to them I say I know where you can get a GREAT deal on a Regina Steemer for your carpets. Seriously, crate training can be done right, and it can be done wrong, and it is an all around good method when done properly. I will have a page up just for techniques of crate training soon. Regardless, confining the puppy is CRUCIAL whenever he cannot be supervised. and by confining I do not mean the laundry room...I mean confined. As in he has just enough room to lie down and stand up comfortably, turn around, and perhaps have a water bowl (which I do not recommend either unless he is to be confined for some time....which he should not be). If his confinement is too roomy, he will be able to soil one end of it and sleep on the other, and he will learn nothing at all from this experience. |