Know Your Bully: Housebreaking

Let’s face it. Having a dog in your house that isn’t housebroken can be extremely frustrating, make your home life miserable, cause bonding/training issues and even lead to a dog being surrendered to a shelter. After all, who wants to be consumed with cleaning up pee and poo, replacing carpets and furniture and having a home that smells like a sewer. For those that work with shelter and rescued dogs, housebreaking is almost second nature. It comes down to a few simple steps and is all about consistency.

Housebreaking is one of those things I can do in my sleep, literally, since I sometimes end up outside walking a dog when I would normally be sleeping. There are several links below for detailed information on housebreaking including schedule differences for puppies vs. adult dogs and training your dog to signal when it needs to go out. For me, these 3 simple rules have worked quickly and flawlessly through countless dogs and puppies over the years:

1) NEVER let a dog out of your sight in your home until it is solidly housebroken. If you cannot supervise, confine – crates are perfect. I actually keep a leash on (adult) dogs during housebreaking and within ‘leash-radius’.

2) Quick verbal correction as soon as they start to have an accident and immediately head outside to the same designated potty area. If you already had the leash on them, this part happens quickly. In my house, the ‘verbal correction’ is usually just me going [GASP!] because that’s my first reaction to my brand new rug getting 'watered' and it is enough to startle them which is all that needs to happen. NEVER correct if you didn’t witness the accident which, by the way, could not happen if they were in your sight at all times.

3) Praise them when they potty in the correct place. You can only do this if you are outside with them so, no, you can’t just throw them outside in the backyard while you clean up the accident. You have to walk them out to the potty area. Even in the rain. Even in the snow. Even when it’s dark. Even when it’s frigid cold. Even when they wake you up in the middle of the night and it’s raining, and cold and you don’t feel like getting dressed. It’ll all be worth it. I promise. The more consistent you are, the quicker you will see results.
 
Links for more information:
http://www.thehousebreakingbible.com/
Bell Training
http://www.ehow.com/how_2191827_teach-dog-bathroom.html
http://www.raisingspot.com/training/housebreaking-dog
http://www.cal.net/~pamgreen/adult_housebreak.html