One of the very first coaching exercises you may wish to work on with a new dog is house training. Housetraining is a real real test of your patience, but it is one of the first opportunities that you and your dog will have to bond.
Housebreaking a new puppy is a lot of tough work, but it’s necessary. You’ll need to have lots of patience-and perhaps even a sense of humor-as you train your dog. But don’t worry, after all of your difficult work, you’ll have a dog that is well-behaved and obedient.
When it comes to housebreaking a new puppy, every dog succeeds at a different pace. It takes some puppies only a few weeks to learn, where it might take other dogs several months.
Here is perhaps the most critical thing to know about housebreaking a new puppy: the rate at which the dog succeeds is decided by the amount of consistent coaching that you as the master give him. Top quality dog training resources can help you to make this process much easier.
You should begin to housetrain your puppy as fast as he arrives home, which is generally around seven or eight weeks. It’s vital to realise that he does not have full sphincter muscle control, so puppies are not ready to hold their bladder and bowel movements for very long times of time.
If you are bringing an older dog into your home which has not yet been housetrained, it could be more of a challenge. Older dogs already have developed their habits, so it’ll take a little time to retrain him.
All of the lessons below can be applied to both the younger and older dog. It may take longer with the older dog, so be patient.
Additionally, older dogs eliminate fewer times than puppies during the day, so you have fewer opportunities in the day to coach him.
Before you start housetraining with your dog, there are some basics that you must know.
Where Dogs won’t Eliminate
Dogs develop natural preferences for where they want to eliminate. As an example, dogs usually don’t need to dump where they eat, sleep, and spend their time.
You may be wondering ‘So why does my dog eliminate on the rug?’ The reason is perhaps as he was expected to “hold it” too long and wasn’t let outside. Or, he may have gotten excessively worked up about something.
Physical Capacity to ‘Hold It’
Young puppies will need to eliminate every one to two hours during the day when they are active. If your pup has been eating, drinking, playing, or exercising a lot, he might need to go even more. They might or might not be ready to hold it throughout the night. Generally, the younger the little puppy is, the less he will hold it.
Older dogs that are healthy have the power to hold it for six to eight hours during the day and eight to ten hours over night.
Then, once you see a pattern, let him out 10-15 minutes before that booked time. Of course, he might need to go out more if he has been eating, drinking, playing, or exercising more frequently.
If the situation appears when you want to leave your dog for a longer time than which he will hold it, don’t keep him in his crate. Rather, put him in a small room like a washing room or bathroom where he can eliminate in an area on paper if he needs to, and still keep his sleeping and food area separate.
