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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Joy has been teaching dog obedience for twenty years. A graduate of the University of Texas in Austin with a BS in education, Joy taught and trained Canine Good Citizen classes at Exmoor Kennel in Austin for 5 years and currently teaches basic obedience at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. Her teaching methods are described as gentle with positive motivation. Joy believes that dogs who have basic obedience training are less troublesome, their owners are happier, and the dogs are more content.
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Joy Parker
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4/18/2005
Breed: Lhasa Apso/Shih Tzu cross. Age: five months. Gender: Male.
Our puppy is generally well behaved, although a bit mischevious at times.
He has learned to sit, lay down, roll over, stand up, etc. For some reason,
he continues to urinate in the house. He only does so when we are not
watching him, and will even go and hide to do so. When we are watching
him, he'll go outside, so we know that he knows where he's supposed to
go, but for some reason will not do so unless being monitered.
Why is this and what can we do about it? (angelic_sage, British Columbia)
Your puppy sounds like he likes to please you, that is why he has responded to so many commands.
Now you will be teaching him another:"Go Potty", or whatever words you want to use for the command.
Intelligent use of a crate will improve your success. If your puppy considers his crate his bed,
he will be more reluctant to soil it. Articles, books, and many websites have free information on crate training.
Successful housetraining is really a management issue. Until your puppy is trained it is your responsibility to
make sure that he is never left unattended in an area in which you do not want him to eliminate.
Your puppy is going to eliminate...it is up to you to teach him where to go. That means you need to be
absolutely aware of where your puppy is at all times.
Don't punish your puppy for "accidents" if you're not paying attention.
Here are some simple guidelines:
- Take your puppy to the desired area frequently during the day, and tell him "Go Potty" or whatever words you decide to use.
Take him out after each meal, a nap, after playing, and especially when you see him sniffing around. Do not carry him, try to
make him walk to the sam
e door.
- Reward and praise your puppy every time he eliminates where you want him to. This is very important, and that
is why you need to be in the area with your puppy so that you can reward him immediately.
-
If and only if you catch your puppy squatting in the house, stop him by making a loud sound, clap your hands,
slap a wall or table top, (do not yell), and take him outside to the area you want, and encourage him to finish.
Make sure it is the same area every time. Once he has finished, praise him verbally and with treats. If he doesn't go, after
about 10 minutes, take him into the house and put him in his crate for about 30 minutes and then take him out again.
If he goes, reward him and play with him for a few minutes. If he does not "go potty", put him back in the crate for another 30 minutes.
- Anytime you are not able to keep your eyes on your puppy, he should be in his crate. This will keep the puppy from having accidents
in the house. If you allow your puppy to roam all around the house unattended, he will eliminate all over the house.
- Keeping your puppy on a schedule will also speed up the process. Feed and water and exercise your puppy at the same time
every day, and he will go potty the same time every day.
- Prevent accidents....This is the most important key, and why you must pay complete attention to your puppy, because you need to be there when your puppy needs to "go potty".
If you can't pay attention, put him in his crate.
Be patient and diligent until he gets the idea. Do not alter the schedule on weekends. Use high quality dog food, and do not change it as sudden dietary changes can cause tummy upsets, and ruin training efforts.
GOOD LUCK!
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