A housetraining checklist, {In A Nut Shell}

In the old days, dog owners "housebroke" their dogs, pushed their noses in mistakes, and screamed in rage when the pooch made a mistake on the rug again. Today we're more enlightened. Here are some hints for house training your dog:

1. Buy a puppy from a breeder who has already started housetraining by putting the puppies outside every morning and after meals and praising when they relieve themselves.

2. Crate Training. Puppies raised in wire cages in commercial kennels and shipped to pet stores have nowhere to relieve themselves except their living quarters, a habit that is difficult to overcome. Buy a crate and a baby gate or two to keep the puppy confined when you cannot watch him. If the puppy is kept in the kitchen, he can't pee on the rug in the living room, a simple fact that escapes many pet owners.

3. Feed a dry food, preferably the brand used by the breeder. Get about 10 pounds from the breeder and avoid canned food during housetraining. The high water content puts extra pressure on the bladder and the color enhancer sodium nitrite can act as a diuretic, increasing the frequency of urination. Iron oxide, another color enhancer in canned foods, can stain the carpet if the pup has an accident.

4. Confine the puppy to rooms with tile or other washable flooring so mistakes don't ruin carpets.

5. Feed on a schedule and take the puppy outside to the appropriate relief spot immediately after eating. Don't play with the pup until he relieves himself. If he doesn't urinate and defecate within 10 minutes, bring him inside and place him in his crate for 10-15 minutes, then try again. Continue this routine until he is successful, and then praise him as if he just won a blue ribbon.

6. Take him out on a leash to his bathroom spot so he learns to relieve himself under your control. Puppies do not soil the house because they're stupid, they soil the house because they have not been taught to do otherwise. If the puppy does urinate or defecate inside, he should immediately be taken outside to the appropriate spot.

7. Keep a leash near each door to the house for easy accesses just in case.

8. Keep the bathroom spot clean by picking up feces every day. Cleanliness prevents worms and spread of intestinal viruses and infections and cuts down on smell that might bother the neighbors.

9. Realize that a puppy should have a schedule that he should be taken to his outside relief spot last thing at night and first thing in the morning as well as after meals and naps, and that he should be praised when he does his duty. When taking the puppy to his outdoor spot, don't play with him or allow the children to do so. First things first. If the pup does not relieve himself, put him in the crate for a few minutes, then try again. Most puppies will not soil in their crates if they can possibly help it.

10. Failures in housetraining are human mistakes, not puppy errors. The puppy does not understand that carpets are for walking, not bowel relief. If eight-year-old child is told to take puppy outside after the pup finishes his dinner and child is busy watching television and says "in a minute" or ignores the request altogether, and if the puppy then dumps on the floor, it is not the puppy's fault. It is also not the child's fault. Mom or Dad tried a shortcut by making the child responsible for the dog's behavior and that never works.

11. Never punish for mistakes. Once you're fairly confident that the puppy understands where to relieve himself, scold him for mistakes, but don't spank, scream, or push his nose in the mess. The spot should be cleaned up, preferably with an enzyme odor eliminator.
(If the odor is left untended, the dog will find it again, even if people cannot detect any smell.)

12. If you don't have the time or patience for the task of housetraining, buy, rescue or adopt a dog from a shelter that is already housetrained. Most puppies learn fairly quickly (especially when compared to children who can take two years or more to graduate from diapers to underwear) to whine or scratch at the door when they need to go out.

13. Easy-to-train pups can be reliable in the house at around four to six months of age; difficult pups may take a month or two longer. If a puppy reaches six months of age and is still having regular accidents in the house, make sure he does not have a bladder infection, intestinal parasites, or other medical reason for his failure to signal that he needs to go outside. Then redouble the efforts to teach him what you want him to know.

Preventing "accidents" instead of waiting for accidents to happen.

This method of housetraining is focused on preventing "accidents" instead of waiting for accidents to happen. The goal is to make it easy for the puppy to do the right thing in the first place. Training in this way is faster and more effective than punishing the dog for mistakes. YOU play the most important part in the success or failure of this method - you must be patient, determined and reliable for it to work. If you already own an adult dog with housetraining problems, you can use this method to start fresh just as you would with a puppy.

This method also requires the use of a dog crate or at least, a small, confined area for the pup to stay in when he can't be supervised. A crate isn't cruel! It's your dog's own private room where he can rest and stay safe, secure and out of trouble. Just like a small child, your puppy needs to be protected from hurting himself and destroying your furniture. A crate will make the job so much easier!

The first few weeks of owning a puppy are some of the hardest and most important. Spending extra time and effort now will pay off in a big way. Don't blame the puppy if you're lazy!

Before you start, here are some essential housetraining facts:

: Adult dogs can be housebroken in the same way as puppies.
: Puppies have limited bladder control.
: Dogs & puppies like to be clean and to sleep in a clean area.
: All dogs do best when kept to a routine schedule.
: Dogs have to go potty when,
1. They wake up in the morning or after a nap
2. Within 1/2 hour after eating
3. Before they go to sleep

If a dog and especially a puppy are not allowed to relieve itself at those times, it will most likely have an accident. Don't wait for the dog to "Tell You" that it has to go out.
Just assume that he does and put him outside.