Adventures Outdoors'
In Wisconsin
House Breaking
By Rick Spoerl
The best case scenario is that the puppy never gets a chance to relieve himself in the house. But that simply won’t happen. You can however minimize the times it happens by taking the pup outside at certain times. Like after they eat, when they wake up from a nap, after their let out of the crate, after a car trip and after you’re done playing a game with him.
Repetition in comfort (praise) for relieving himself outside as well as discomfort (punishment) for reliving himself on your carpet is what house breaking is all about.
Dogs relate to "the place" things are happening first. While being punished for relieving himself on the carpet may not keep him from doing it in the kitchen or bedroom.
Don’t be too hard on them when they are young and dumb. They haven’t been properly trained yet and you want this dog’s respect without fear. When you catch them simply grab them saying "no, no, no" than take them immediately outside and wait until they go again. This may take some time but it’s to your benefit to wait it out. After they finally go you have to praise highly, lots of praise and maybe a treat.
Every time the pup goes outside I repeat the command "Hi-On". This will teach the dog to go when commanded. It’s a word that’s not in our dictionary preventing accidental commands. It keeps dogs from screwing around looking for that special spot. It’s great to use when it’s cold out or before you run a hunt test and a slew of other scenarios. Then I praise them and give them a treat. After they understand at an older age I stop the treats but continue praise.
After several times along with you taking them out a lot at the appropriate time they should get the idea within a month or so. Some learn quickly while others take more time. This could depend on how clean their whelping box was kept by the breeder or possibly other reasons like for example if you have another pet that’s relieving itself in the house. For example, a cat going in a litter box. The puppy may smell this and be a tad confused. No matter what, he will learn in time.
Paper training puppies is something I rarely do. I think it just trains the pup to relieve himself in the house and prolongs the house breaking process. You can do it but be prepared of the consequences.