Dog House Training, Part Two
In our last post, we talked about setting up a training area for your dog. Now we’re ready to take the next step toward house training your dog.
Setting Up The Toilet Area
The second part of your dog’s house training is to establish his toilet area. Your dog must have access to this place every time he or she needs to eliminate. It’s also important for you to accompany your dog each time he does his business until he’s in the habit of eliminating in the toilet area. This will help ensure that your dog uses only the established area.
Hand in hand with this, a regular feeding schedule will help create a regular schedule for your dog’s toilet habits. Once you understand his typical elimination times, then it becomes much easier to give him the opportunity to do his business in the designated area.
Once your dog is familiar with his toilet area and using it on a regular basis, you’ll want to make sure not to confine him without access to the area for extended periods of time. If he accidentally eliminates in his training area because he can’t hold it, then the entire housetraining process will be set back and become that much more difficult.
Continuing The House Training Process
Once your dog is consistently using his toilet area, it’ll be time to extend his confined training area to the rest of the house. This process should be done slowly, starting with one room at a time, and should only be extended once you’re sure of your dog’s ability to control his bladder and bowels. Allow your dog to eat, play and sleep in the new room only when supervised. If you’re unable to supervise him, place him back in the original training area.
Speeding Up The Process
If this process is too lengthy for your needs, it can be shortened if you proceed cautiously. Remember, though, it’s easier to take your time up front than to have to retrain a problem dog later. With that in mind, there are a couple of ways to speed up the process of house training your dog. First, use lots of praise and rewards when your dog does his business in the established toilet area. And second, don’t punish him for his mistakes. Punishment will only confuse him and slow down the house training process.
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