Dog Potty Training

There are several ways to go about puppy or dog potty training, sometimes called �house training� or �housebreaking.� Here are two methods.

#1. Crate Training A Puppy (part of dog potty training)

Pick up a wire mesh or plastic crate about the size of your puppy as it will be when full grown. The crate is the easiest solution to solving one of the potty training problems. Put a blanket or some towels inside and arrange them to be comfortable and inviting. Add several chew toys and a small water dish.

Introduce the dog to the crate by tossing in some tasty treats to entice her to enter the crate. THIS IS NOT A PRISON. This is a training tool. You are simply crate training a puppy and nothing more. Crate training a puppy is not complicated.

Get her to go in on her own power and close the door. Never force her. If she objects to the door being closed, leave her alone for a couple minutes and see if she settles down. You might need to give her a few treats through the door to let her see the crate means good things.

Leave the puppy or dog in the crate with chew toys and water while you go about your business in her presence. She should not be left to feel alone at this stage.

Crate training a puppy is a most common way toward dog potty training. It requires close timing for the sake of the dog. This method utilizes the back yard for the dog potty training and confines the dog to the crate between times.

(At this point you are in the process of dog potty training.)

We have found the best product on the market for urine and other dog stains and smells on carpet is called NATURES MIRACLE. You can�t beat it. It was made for dog potty training problems. PetSmart sells it at a fair price. We always keep it on hand. Even our eleven year old pooch has an accident now and then. You never know. She certainly is �dog potty trained� but infrequently she has a problem which we ignore and clean up.

As your puppy grows a bit, she will no longer need the close supervision and frequent outings. Dog potty training will become much easier and potty training problems will lessen too. You can get by with letting her out four or five times a day just like any other dog. Or, if you have a secure, fenced yard, maybe you could install a �doggie door� and let her do in sand out.

#2. Paper Training (as part of dog potty training)

You can use paper training in place of crate training and solve one of the dog potty training problems, but it is a bit more work and odoriferous. The puppy will be going potty inside the house and you have to keep replacing the soiled newspapers.

Paper training is a useful alternative to crate training. With paper training, the puppy is taught to go potty on ordinary newspapers in a designated area in the house instead of going outdoors. Paper training has several advantages:

A. For permanent indoor training:

Note that in each case I specified �small� dog, as you would need a lot of newspaper for a large or even mid-size dog. Paper training is not suited to big dogs. Also, this doesn’t work too well for MALE dogs, as the tend to pee on the walls.

B. As a temporary measure during puppy potty training.

Block off a small area of your house such as a laundry room. Cover the floor with several layers of newspaper. Place the dog�s bedding in one corner or end of the closed-off area. Or, you can put the dog’s crate in the corner.

Pet stores now have litter boxes for dogs. Look into those if you need to keep your dog on an indoors-only routine. Some smaller dogs adapt fairly well. Your vet might have some ideas. Pet stores also sell reusable, washable mats for the puppy to potty on instead of newspaper. The pee pads are not so much for dog potty training as they are for long term use.

A Word About Pee Pads

Pee pads are a great substitute for newspapers. They are usually made of washable, reusable plastic and after a day or two, stink! Pee pads are usually about 3 or 4 feet square, large enough for an average dog to do his business on. They must be cleaned daily and they still smell.

These pads, under different names, are not suggested for long term use with dogs, as they allow the dog to become 100% indoor UN-TRAINED. Your dog will never be able to roam the house because the pee pad gives him no clue as to where he is supposed to go potty.

The pee pad IS suggested for shut-ins and invalids or any person who is confined to the indoors who wants to enjoy the love and companionship of a beloved dog but can�t take it outdoors. I presume someone is coming over to exercise the dog and clean the pad each day.

Potty Training Problems

Dog potty training is one of the areas of dog ownership that is most subject to misunderstanding, confusion and dread and potty training problems do arise. Here are two of the most frequent problems:

What is Submissive Urination?

A submissive urinator is a dog that urinates on the floor and himself and sometimes on you in situations of extreme excitement or stress, such as when you return home after being gone all day.

Why does this happen?

Puppies are the usual candidates for submissive/excited, urination but it�s not uncommon to see adult dogs with the problem too. Usually these are highly sensitive and timid dogs and ones with a history of abuse, ones with a history of potty training problems.

Situations when an excited/fearful puppy or dog is likely to urinate:

What can I do about it?

It�s not difficult to remedy but sometimes dog potty training is not quite enough:

If your dog urinates out of fear when scolding him for another offense, take the stress to a lesser level. Take the anger out of your voice. Be firm and authoritative but not angry. You�re causing harm. You are dealing with a small, sensitive dog.

If you get angry the problem will only worsen.

What Is Scent marking?

Scent marking is not a potty training problem. It is where a dog marks his or her territory with urine. This it technically not a dog training problem since it is based on issues of dominance rather than insufficient dog potty training. Since this is one of the most widespread problems dog owners facer, it is included with some practical advice:

Scent marking and house training; how to differentiate between the two�

What do you do?

First, spay or neuter your dogs asap. If you do this early enough, like at 6 months old, this often stops marking altogether. However, if the dog has been marking for a long time, he/she may continue to do it out of habit since a pattern has been established.

It�s important to spay/neuter at an early age, (6 months) as you can see!

Clean wet areas immediately. Use a non-ammonia based cleaner that doesn�t smell like pee. Don�t use vinegar for the same reason. Oxi-Clean mixed with warm water is quite effective. There are other commercial cleaners designed to lift pet stains and odors on the market.

It is very important to get the ODOR out. A dog will go back to where the odor was.

Dogs tend to re-mark the same places they have used in the past, based on odor. You will want to �redefine� the places that you know he has marked to prevent repeat offending. This can be accomplished several ways:

Feed him next to or on the spot where he’s already “marked” or messed but has been cleaned up.

This means that all you have to do to stop the tension is pay attention to which dog seems to be more dominant than the other and reinforce this position to assist the dog potty training effort.