Comments on: what is the best way of potty training a dog?

By: Sarah B

Sarah B — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:45:59 +0000

I agree- don’t use potty pads unless you want a big hound peeing in your house forever 8-{

You need to stop your puppy from making the mistakes- not punish her after she has already made the mistake. I recommend "umbilical cord training"- basically, you attach the dog to you all the time with a leash:

http://www.thehousebreakingbible.com/training/umbilical-cord-training.htm

Most dogs won’t pee when they are so close to you, but if she does, tell her "no!" and use the leash to run her out the door. Take her out every hour or so to give her a chance to pee in the right place and praise her like crazy if she does

When she is not directly supervised, keep her in a crate where she will not potty or out in the yard where she is allowed to potty. Don’t let her make any mistakes!!!

After a day or two you should start to notice when she needs to go. If you start taking her out when she whines or paces or stares at you, she will start to learn how to tell you she needs to go. Once she gets good at this, she won’t be likely to make any mistakes, as she’ll be able to tell you to take her out.

Good Luck!
References :
http://www.thehousebreakingbible.com/index.htm

By: ~? Shih Tzu lover ?~

~? Shih Tzu lover ?~ — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:11:59 +0000

I wouldn’t advise using puppy pads – just make the training more complicated.
All you need is patience and consistency. Our puppy is 4 months old too and he was potty trained in no time at all.
I’ve found that taking a pup out regularly, lots of praise and word association has worked for us. He goes outside 15-20 minutes after drinking/eating, before bed, as soon as he wakes up and regular intervals in between. We use the word ‘outside’ and he goes straight to the door. If we say ‘Do you want to go outside?’ and he doesn’t go to the door he doesn’t need to go. Oh and we use a crate too.
A poster above suggested showing the pup her business – i wouldn’t do this and also don’t use a crate as a form of punishment, it’s supposed to be a place a dog feels safe not a prison.
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By: xxbamagirl27xx

xxbamagirl27xx — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:06:59 +0000

ive had the best luck with crate training. I would definately use a crate from now on with my puppies, it is less complicated than having to use puppy pads or newspapers. Get her a crate that will be big enough for her as an adult, and put a divider in it to leave just enough room for her to lay down and turn around. Leave her in the crate everytime you go out, and at night to sleep.
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By: Enceladus

Enceladus — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:41:59 +0000

I hope you mean housebreaking, not potty training. Anyway, this is what we did for my dog when he was a puppy. Whenever he peed or pooped in the house, we showed it to him immediately after he did it, and put him outside. We were stern with him. We put him in his crate for the night and when we went out, so he wouldn't make a mess in the house. We watched him carefully when he was outside, and if he peed or pooped outside, we gave him praise. Eventually, he learned that peeing and pooping outside was good and doing it inside was bad. He would then cry if he needed to poop or pee.
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By: petdrksu2000

petdrksu2000 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:20:59 +0000

The best and fastest way to housebreak a dog is this: she is either in her crate or on her leash with you in the house. If you don’t have time to trail a leash, you don’t have time to watch her so she doesn’t make a mistake. When she is on the leash, you will be able to see when her body language changes and she will learn to tell you that she needs to go outside. It is a win/win situation.

Puppy pads just train you dog to go in the house. If you don’t want the problem to continue, don’t use these.
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