House Training Tips for Dogs: Simple Step-by-Step Guide
A lot of dog owners will struggle with the initial stages of house training when they first get a dog, but if you follow a few simple methods it will go much more smoothly for everyone involved.
According to the American Kennel Club and other pet training professionals, the success of house training a dog is dependent on a combination of three primary components; timing, observation, and positive reinforcement instead of using punishment. The way dogs are best trained to do things is when they feel safe and understand the expectations that are being placed on them.
This guide will show you a few basic and easy things that you can do with your puppy or dog to successfully house train.
Understand How Dogs Naturally Behave
Before you begin building a good routine to house train your dog it is very important that you understand how a dog naturally behaves. Dogs have a natural instinct to not soil their sleeping area and their eating area, and if you utilize this natural instinct properly, the training process will go smoothly.
Understanding your dog’s instincts when it comes to house training will help you direct your dog in the right way and will eliminate confusion. Puppies have a much lower level of bladder control than older dogs, and therefore need to be let out to go to the bathroom fairly often.
Learn the Signals of Your Dog
Dogs are not alike in the way they communicate; however, there are many common signals that indicate that your dog is ready to relieve himself.
Why Timing is Everything
Certain times of day and after specific activities are always good examples. After waking up, after eating, after playing and just before bed are all important times to take your dog outside to relieve itself.
By taking your dog outside consistently throughout the day at the proper times will create a consistent routine that will assist in your dog’s learning as to where he should be relieving himself.
Simple Daily Schedule Plan
To train your dog successfully requires only a simple daily routine that is also consistent. This type of training requires much less work in terms of maintaining it on a long-term basis.
- Wsaking Up in the Morning; walking your dog Immmideately
- After Every Meal; taking your dog outside to use the bathroom
- Every Few Hours; taking your dog outside for a quick break
- Before Bedtime; take your dog outside for the last bathroom break of the night
Benefits Of Following a Normal Routine
A normal routine provides your dog with the ability to develop good behaviors at a quicker rate.
Organizations such as ASPCA recommend the use of praise, treats or dog playing together as part of the rewards. After your dog has gone outside to potty, immediately reward them in order to create a positive association with the action.
Consistency in your method of providing rewards is very important. If you reward your dog for showing good behavior but you don’t always follow through with the reward the next time, your proper location.
Avoid Punishment Methods
If you punish your dog for having accidents it’s very possible you will create fear and anxiety within your dog which will only make it more difficult to train and can destroy your relationship with your pet.
Instead of using punishment focus on teaching proper behavior to your dog by using positive reinforcement. Training using positive reinforcement builds trust and will help you to have a better long-term solution to your dog’s toilet habits.
Use Crate Training Effectively
Choosing the Correct Crate Size
Best Practises for Training with Crates
Dealing With Accidents
No matter how cautious we are during this period, almost all of our dogs will experience some errors in judgment during training. An important thing to remember when you have one of these “accidents”, is to remain calm and look at the incident as a learning opportunity versus reacting with anger or aggression.
Dogs do not understand punishment in any way after the fact. If you scold them for a prior accident, all you will do is confuse or scare your dog. Experts recommend that you use your energy to aid in the prevention and guidance of a dog instead of scolding, in order to produce optimal training results.
Cleaning and Odour Removal
If you find an accident afterwards, calmly clean it up without reacting to it is nonverbal, keeping both you and your dog calm and resulting in a positive learning environment.
Using Regular Cleaners: Regular cleaners will not properly remove all odours from the place where an accident occurred, because dogs have such a heightened level of olfactory ability, that even a trace amount of odour will attract them back to that location.
Use an enzyme-based cleaner to completely eliminate any odour from the site of the accident.
Gradual Freedom Indoors
As your pet develops better habits with house training, it will be time to begin providing your pet more freedom indoors. If you give your pet too much freedom too quickly, there may be an increased likelihood of accidents, and thus the opportunity for the development of good habits will be missed if too much space is given too early.
Controlled freedom helps to reinforce good behaviours. Careful progression allows your pet to conform to the rules established by the house training process.
Steps to Create Freedom for Your Dog Indoors
- Start With A Small Controlled Space
- Supervise Your Dog While They Are Free
- Expand Freedom Only After You Have Been Consistently Successful
- Use Baby Gates Or Barriers If Necessary
Why Gradual Training Works
Sometimes everything will be going along nicely, only to eventually run into a snag; that is perfectly normal. To help your dog have what they need to know, you must remain consistent in your daily life and all of your own actions.
When you constantly change things it will create confusion for your dog, which will delay them from being able to understand the concept of house training.
Develop A Regular Eating and Drinking Schedule
PetMD states the best way to feed dogs is by feeding them the same time every day, this allows the dog to better digest their food and learn when it is time to go out.
Water intake is critical at all times, and especially at night. Limiting the amount of excess water before bedtime can reduce the amount of accidents that occur at night.
Build a Safe and Comfortable Environment
All of the different components of this training will aid in and have an effect on how quickly your dog will learn, and create an environment that is safe and comfortable for your dog.
According to an article from RSPCA, being kind and consistent are the two most important things when training. When a dog feels secure, and knows what you expect them to do, they respond better to your training efforts.
Make House Training as Simple and Consistent as Possible
Having a simple plan and setting clear expectations for you and your dog, will make the house training process easier for both you and your dog.
Although there are many complicated ways to accomplish house training, all you really need to use is some consistency in what you do with your dog and your patience.
Over time, your dog will begin to know your plan and only require a small amount of supervision by you, making day to day life much easier for both you and your dog.
Training Helps Build a Strong Bond
House training is about teaching your dog the right things to do but it is also about building a bond of trust and communication between you and your dog.