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Housetraining Your New Dog (Continued)

Supervise Your Puppy
A new puppy must be supervised constantly. Puppies who are allowed to wander off into rooms by themselves or who are left alone, free in the house, for any amount of time will get into trouble. Always be sure you know where your puppy is. Encourage him to stay in the same room with you or another family member. You can either “tether” him to you or a sturdy piece of furniture with a leash, or use baby gates to keep him in the same room you are. Closing doors to unoccupied rooms is also a good idea. When a puppy must be left alone for relatively long time periods, it should be confined to a small area or a crate.

Never Punish After the Fact
If you’re not diligent about supervising your puppy, it will eventually have an accident in the house. Expect this. If you don’t want your pup to have accidents, don’t give him the opportunity to make mistakes. If – and only if – you do catch your puppy in the act of soiling, do something that startles him, that he perceives as coming from the environment, not from you. Make a loud noise (a whistle, smack your hands together, or drop something). DO NOT RUB YOUR PUPPY’S NOSE IN THE MESS, HIT HIM, OR YELL AT HIM. This will only teach your puppy to be afraid of you and afraid to eliminate in your presence. You don’t want him to be afraid to go to the bathroom in front of you outside. If you find a soiled area, but don’t catch your puppy soiling, do nothing but clean it up. Animals do not understand punishment after the fact – even if it’s only seconds. Do not misinterpret your pet’s seemingly “guilty” behavior when you punish him. This behavior is simply submission and he would show the same behavior if you yelled at him for absolutely no reason. He is reacting to the fact that you’re punishing him, not to the fact that he had an accident in the house. Punishment should punish the behavior, not the animal. This cannot happen unless the puppy is caught in the act. But again, the puppy shouldn’t be allowed to have the opportunity to make mistakes.

Use Enzymatic Cleaners
The best cleaning agents to use for soiled areas are the enzymatic type made specifically for pet stains and available at many pet stores. The enzymes break up the organic material that produces the odor. Do not clean with ammonia, as this smells similar to urine. Resolve carpet cleaner pet stain formula works well also. If your puppy has picked a favorite spot to soil, not only should it be thoroughly cleaned, it can also be made less appealing by changing the texture of the footing in that area. You can do this by covering it with an upside-down plastic carpet runner, or tape which is sticky on both sides. However, you must also make sure that you are following all the rest of the basic housetraining procedures.

Provide More Freedom Gradually
As your puppy matures and begins to show you that it understands going outside to eliminate is what you expect, you can gradually increase his freedom. If you wish, you can leave him free in the house for short time periods, initially. Very gradually increase the amount of freedom you give him. If he does have an accident, go back to keeping him confined for at least one week. Don’t expect him to make the transition from being confined to being left completely free in the house in a single step.

Retraining Adult Dogs
Many adult dogs adopted from previous owners were housetrained in their previous homes. However, this does not guarantee that this will be the case in their new homes. Kennel housing at an animal shelter tends to weaken housetraining habits. When first in a new environment, a dog may not yet realize that this is now his den. Scents and odors from other pets may also stimulate urine marking, especially if they are not spayed or neutered, but sometimes even if they are. For the first few days and weeks, you should assume that your new dog is not housetrained. Treat him just as you would a puppy, using the housetraining program outlined above. Progress is often much faster than with a puppy, especially if the dog was previously housetrained.

Housetraining Problems
If you have consistently followed basic housetraining procedures and your dog continues to eliminate in the house, the cause of the behavior must be determined before it can be changed. There are other reasons why dogs house soil other than a lack of housetraining. Some examples: medical problems such as urinary tract infection or irritated bowel, territorial urine marking, separation anxiety, fears or phobias, or submissive or excitement urination. The techniques to correct a house-soiling problem depend on the cause. If you need additional help with a house-soiling problem, contact your veterinarian to rule out physical problems, or a professional animal behavior specialist.

This article modified from “Housetraining puppies and re-training adult dogs” by Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D.

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