One of our loyal followers on twitter had a question about house training her dog – and we responded, check out the article below…
Q. @a_animalclinic we have a 16 month old basset hound and he STILL is having problems w/ house training! Ugh! Help plz! I’m at a loss…
A. I’d love to answer this for you @di_nichon. In America, well over 90% of our pets live inside and you are going to have to go through the housebreaking process with your Basset Hound if you want to live a “poop & pee free” lifestyle with your puppy. It does not have to take a long time – that’s if you commit to being totally engaged during the process – and you’ll see that the time you invest will shorten the time span it takes to train him/her.
Housetraining Rules to Play by:
- is the Most Important Rule: If you don’t catch him doing it – then don’t punish him for it! If you don’t catch him in the act, he won’t have the slightest idea of what the scolding is for especially if he did it more than 45 seconds ago. Here’s a good relation: Puppies are like our teenagers. Unless an event was really fun, and a repetitious act like going to the bathroom does not count, they aren’t even thinking about what they did in the past! At this stage of a puppy’s life, their memory is very poor.
- Give him praise when he does the right thing. It’s so easy to get into the habit of yelling “No, No, No!” when he is caught in the midst of using the wrong area that we often forget to love on them for doing the right thing. Show him that he’s a good boy!
Housetraining Methods
- Indoor training – This method is useful if you live in a home or apartment that does not have access to a yard area. I caution you that this method will encourage him to potty inside when your overall goal is to get him to go outside. If you have to use this alternative method then get some pre-treated pads and put down; these pads are scented with a chemical that attracts your puppy to potty in this area. Anytime your puppy goes into his “pre-potty sniffing pattern,” calmly pick him up without saying anything to him and carry him over to the pad – the energy you bring to your puppy when going to pick him up needs to be calm but assertive because your “freaking out” energy will make him potty out of nervousness. Praise him after he goes in the right area.Remember, I don’t recommend this method unless you live in a high-rise apartment or home that makes it difficult to get your puppy to a grassy area to potty.
- The all-time favorite “Crate Training”: The first thing you need to do is buy a cage that’s large enough for a bed and for him to lie down. Anything larger than this will allow him to pee or poop in the corner of the cage which totally defeats the purpose of crate training. This is such a powerful method because dogs do not like peeing/pooping in an area where they have to sleep, such as their bed, because they would be forced to lay in the mess – Yucky for them!
During house training, anytime your puppy is inside your home and can’t be monitored, put him in his crate i.e. taking care of the kids, cooking dinner, at work, or while working from home. The first thing you do when you take your puppy out of his cage or before putting him in his cage is take him outside to potty.
Be Patient when taking him outside to potty before retuning him to his cage, he’ll sniff around for a while but he’s simply looking for his favorite spot. I have a friend that owns a Rat Terrier that loves peeing on his chili pepper plant – that’s his preference, LOL J. No food and water goes in the crate only a blanket and chew toy to keep him occupied. Put him in his crate overnight and as your trust in him grows, leave him out for longer periods of time.
Valuable tips:
- Buy the right size cage – He only needs enough space for a bed and to lie down so he doesn’t make a habit of peeing/pooping in his cage.
- Use scented pads to attract your puppy to the same area to potty if you live in an area where there’s no access to a grassy area. As your puppy gets used to using the pad, move it closer and closer to an outside area.
- Crate training teaches your puppy more than not to potty in the house – it teaches them self-control and that they can hold it until the right time comes.
- Purchase a cage that will allow you to modify it as the puppy grows so that you can avoid buying another cage when he gets bigger – there are models that have dividers that can be inserted to modify the cage size.
- When taking your pup outside to potty, don’t play with him. The trip outside has a specific reason – to potty – and bring him back in immediately.
- Use verbal cues when he shows pre-potty signs like, “Potty? Want to go potty?” or “Outside?” – this teaches him that his “pre-potty behavior” is associated with “Potty or Outside?”. He’ll most likely dance and prance near the back door when you use these verbal cues.
- Remember to praise him/her with “Good boy or Good girl!!” when he/she finishes
- Put your puppy on a consistent feeding schedule so you can predict when he/she will need to potty. They almost always go right after waking up and shortly after eating.
Once again the key here is to be patient and stay calm. Your energy affects your dog – Cesar Milan is famous for stating that. If you find this helpful, please tweet, post to facebook, and share with others!
