When you bring a new puppy home one of the first things you should be
thinking about is housebreaking. I think every dog owner, new or
experienced understands the importance here. None of us want a dog that
is going to poop and pee in our homes! You are sure to find thousands
of housebreaking methods on the internet and many of them are tried and
true and many of them are complete nonsense. 3 very important words to
keep in mind when housebreaking your puppy are:
Schedule
Consistency
Supervision
Whenever
I'm housebreaking a puppy I always have set schedules for feeding,
watering, walks and playtime. Each of these schedules stay the same
throughout the housebreaking process and generally throughout the
puppies life since I have used the same one for so long. Most of my
clients are very receptive to scheduling and integrate the puppy's
schedule into their own. Some however cannot understand only feeding
and watering at certain times rather than leaving it down all day long
for a loose puppy. I can tell you these owners quickly learn the hard
way that there is a sure reason for scheduling. It will not help you to
try to conform to a schedule that is completely off balance from your
personal schedule, but I would hope if you are a first time owner
bringing your new puppy home that you expect to be up early, stay up a
little later and even have to get up once or twice in the middle of the
night.
Instead of giving you a sample schedule with times I will give you 3 rules to follow that you can mold into your schedule.
Rule
#1: Your puppy needs to go out FIRST thing in the morning. That means
as soon as he comes out of his crate/gated area/or wherever he stays at
night.
Rule #2: Your puppy will have to go out after each
meal/drink. Young puppies should eat 3 times per day. In the morning,
afternoon and evening. After your puppy finishes eating take him/her
directly outside. If you are going to leave water our throughout the
day you will need to keep a close watch on when and how much your puppy
is drinking. I generally place water down every 2 hours so that I know
when my puppy is drinking and can take them directly outside
afterwards. (You can choose either way to water your puppy and should NEVER withhold water to avoid accidents.)
Your puppy should not have access to water 2 hours prior to bedtime to
help avoid accidents in the middle of the night. You should choose one
spot that you want your puppy to potty and a good rule of thumb when
taking your puppy outside to potty is planning to be outside for at
least 15 minutes. Take your puppy directly to your chosen potty spot to
prevent unnecessary dilly dallying.
Rule #3: Your puppy should
only be loose in the house only when you can keep watch him. If he
starts sniffing and circling this is generally a good sign that he needs
to go out. You will learn your puppy's signs for needing to go out.
Pay close attention and try to pick up on these quickly, they will make
knowing when your pup needs to go out much easier. Puppies that are
unsupervised can and WILL get into trouble, whether it is an accident or
chewing a favorite toy or personal item. So supervision will prevent a
whole variety of "accidents.
It helps to write down your puppy's
new schedule, especially if there will be multiple people involved with
his/her life. This way everyone will know the schedule and there will
be less chance of different people doing different things while your pup
is learning. Once you have your puppy's schedule down be consistent
and stick with it.
Following these 3 rules will help you get on
the right track to housebreaking your puppy pretty quickly. For
individual questions/concerns regarding housebreaking please leave a
comment or contact me privately.
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