If you work all day and already HAVE a puppy
3. Put him in his crate for a 15-minute Time Out
The Time Out will give you a chance to . . . 4. Clean up the mess.
Soap and water are not enough. Detergents will clean the stain, but they won’t get rid of the microscopic odor particles that will attract your dog back to the soiled area.
Ammonia-based household cleaners are the worst of all.
Urine contains ammonia, so your dog is attracted to ammonia products. That’s not what you want!
White vinegar mixed with water does a decent job of
neutralizing odors, but the best type of cleaner is an enzymatic cleaner that actually breaks down (eats) microscopic odor particles. My favorite enzymatic cleaner is Nature’s Miracle, which you can find at PetsMart and other pet supply stores.
How long it takes to housebreak a dog
Some dogs catch on to the concept in a week. Some dogs take several weeks. Some dogs don’t get it for many months.
Just keep in mind that understanding the concept of housebreaking is only the first step to actual,
honest-to-goodness housebreaking. The second step is for your dog to be able to do it.
Up until four to six months old, puppies can’t last longer than two to four hours during the day without eliminating. Their bladder and digestive system are simply not developed enough to “hold it” longer than that.
In other words, if you acquire a eight-week-old puppy, you’re going to need to be patient for several MONTHS while your infant’s internal organs develop.
Adult dogs over a year old may be able to go eight hours during the day without eliminating. However, many perfectly normal adults can only go about six hours. You have to learn and accept the limitations of your own individual dog.
But let me ask you this:
How long are YOU comfortable holding it? Don’t you usually visit the bathroom at least once during the day?
Well, your dog should be granted the same courtesy!
Even if he can physically hold it for eight hours during the day, he shouldn’t have to – day after day. It’s cruel.
In fact, some breeds are prone to developing urinary infections and kidney stones when they’re forced to retain their urine all day.
Night time is different. At night your dog’s metabolism, including his digestive system, slows down. Most adult dogs (and many puppies) can sleep eight hours through the night, without needing to go.
The hardest breeds to housebreak
Here are some of the hardest breeds to housebreak (listed in alphabetical order, not order of difficulty!):
Affenpinscher
Toy dogs dominate the list because owners often buy them for the express purpose of “spoiling” and so they’re reluctant to crate them. (“Little Snookums would be so unhappy!”)
The problem is, when a toy dog is loose in the house, he finds it so easy to sneak behind a chair or under the coffee table, where it takes only a few seconds for the deed to be done. The result is hard to see and often goes undiscovered for weeks. By then the bad habit is entrenched.
But even when properly crate-trained, toy breeds often take much longer to housebreak. The reality is that tiny dogs are not natural creatures and that artificially manipulating their genes to shrink their structure may also affect the integrity of their internal organs.
So expect more problems with tiny dogs.
Be extra-vigilant about confining them – some toys are not ready for freedom in the house until eight or ten months old!
When to let your dog loose in the house
Gradually. Your dog needs hundreds of experiences “going” in the correct bathroom spot in order to build the right habit.
If you grant freedom too soon, a sudden string of accidents can set housebreaking back in a hurry.
If you’ve been working on housebreaking for at least a month AND your dog seems to have the hang of it AND he is at least five or six months old....
during a time when you’re reading a book or working on your computer...
when you normally would have had your dog in his crate...
let him loose in the room with you.
But take precautions:
! Close the door so he can’t wander elsewhere.
! While you’re working, look up frequently to see how he’s doing.
After an hour, take him outside. If he goes to the bathroom when you take him out, praise him lavishly and give him another period of freedom in the same room. Whereas if he doesn’t go, put him in his crate for awhile, then try him outside again. Once he’s successfully gone outside, give him another period of freedom in the room with you.
As you can see, you don’t throw your house open to him all at once. One room at a time. One hour at a time. And if he has an accident when you’re giving him more freedom, go back to crating for awhile.
Problem: soiling the crate
If your dog is going to the bathroom inside his crate, re-read the section on crate training. Be sure you’re following the step-by-step instructions.
! Make sure the crate is small enough that your dog can’t sleep in one end and go to the bathroom in the other. Use a smaller crate, or put in a divider.
! Make sure you’re not crating your dog longer than he can physically hold it. He should not be crated for more than four hours during the day. (A puppy can’t hold it for more than TWO hours.)
! Make sure he has had a chance to go to the bathroom before you put him in the crate.
! Make sure he hasn’t drunk a lot of water just before being crated. And there should be NO food or water in the crate.
! Make sure the bedding material is not TOO soft and plush, else it will absorb urine and allow him to sleep in comfort after he pees. If he does “go” in his crate, you want him to be a little uncomfortable!
! If your dog is urinating in the crate multiple times a day, have your vet test for a urinary infection.
! Make sure you have worked out a reasonable eating and elimination schedule.
For example, my dog Buffy goes outside to the bathroom at 7 a.m.. She eats breakfast at 9 a.m. and goes outside through her doggy door at various times during the day. She eats supper at 9:30 p.m., goes out for the last time around 10 p.m., then sleeps all night.
You and your dog will need to work out your own best schedule – but there does need to be one.
If your puppy is having difficulty making it through the night, move the crate into your bedroom. If he cries in the night, take him outside. His need to go out at night should diminish as he gets older.
Problem: excessive leg-lifting
Most male dogs lift their leg to urinate, but some do it too much. Excessive marking is more of a dominance issue than a housebreaking issue.
A male dog lifts his leg to spray his urine as high as possible, thereby marking his territory. He’s saying, “I was here! I’m one big bad dude and I claim this territory!”
Unneutered males are the worst offenders. But some neutered males do it – and some dominant females (whether spayed or not) do it, too.
Some breeds are worse than others in their compulsiveness to mark territory. Toy dogs, for example, can be obsessed with marking. Some toy dogs dash around like little wind-up toys, lifting their leg busily on every vertical object larger than a blade of grass. Terriers, with their feisty personalities, can be compulsive markers, too.
Here’s what to do about excessive marking
Neuter your dog. Testosterone increases dominance problems. Neutering will decrease (but not completely
eliminate) your dog’s testosterone levels so that he doesn’t feel so compelled to be in charge.
Absolutely do not breed your dog. A male dog who has been bred is more likely to lift his leg everywhere,
including inside your house. Just what you need, right?
Confine your dog. A dog who is marking in the house should not be allowed freedom in the house. Until his marking is under control, he should be out of his crate or pen only when you’re interacting with him – walking him, feeding or
grooming him, training him, and so on.
If you want to have him out while you’re puttering around the house, tie his leash to your waist.
Now he must follow you around. Both physically and psychologically, this helps establish you as the leader and him as the follower.
Clean marked areas thoroughly. Use an enzymatic cleaner.
Soap and detergents don’t get out the microscopic odor particles that attract your dog back to the same area. My favorite enzymatic cleaner is Nature’s Miracle.
Work hard on this 100 Words program. It will increase your dog’s respect for you and make him less likely to mark
After you’ve taught him all of the obedience words, practice a quick succession of them, for five minutes straight, several times a day. “Heel. Sit. Stay. Come. Sit.
Down.” Again, this is the leader-follower scenario where you are giving commands and he is following them.
Always good for building respect!
Problem: excitable/submissive urination
Urinating when excited or nervous is NOT a housebreaking problem.
Excitable urination
An excited dog, especially a young one, isn’t always able to maintain control of his bladder. If he is very happy to see
someone, his bladder may accidentally let go when the person reaches toward him.
Submissive urination
In the wild, a submissive canine, upon meeting a more dominant canine, crouches and releases a little urine, which is an instinctive canine signal that says to the dominant dog, “I mean no harm. I accept your superiority.”
A submissive dog may do the same thing when a PERSON bends over him, or reaches toward him, or raises their voice at him. Submissive urination is most common in gentle, soft-tempered dogs such as spaniels.