Sit Means Sit Hawaii's Secret Steps to Housebreaking Your

Sit Means Sit Hawaii’s Secret Steps to Housebreaking Your Dog By Ashton Fitzgerald Sit Means Sit Master Trainer What this report covers: ✓ Developing and using a management system ✓ Considerations for feeding and watering ✓ The role the dog owner plays in success ✓ Establishing a solid routine to enable success ✓ Using patterning to take the guesswork out of housebreaking ✓ Getting your dog to use a specific spot outside ✓ To cage or not to cage ✓ What to do in the event of an accident ✓ Your dog’s nose knows. How to properly clean up accidents ✓ Get your dog to eliminate ON COMMAND! ✓ Scheduling template lays out exactly what to do on a daily basis ✓ Convenient housebreaking tracking charts are included Plus, we discuss dealing with problems beyond just basic housebreaking cases such as: ✓ Fixing problems with adult and rescue dogs ✓ Considerations for pet store and puppy mill dogs ✓ Territorial marking in males ✓ Regression and possible emotional triggers ✓ Housebreaking a puppy or dog is a straightforward but often challenging prospect for pet owners. Housebreaking ranks as one of the most common dog problems pet owners experience along with controlling barking and leash pulling. There are a number of considerations when it comes time to tackle a housebreaking problem, including: ✓ Your dog’s age ✓ Your dog’s health ✓ The expectations placed on the dog Some problems that appear to be housebreaking issues aren’t truly housebreaking problems. Sometimes the dog can be experiencing health-related issues such as a bladder infection that causes them to urinate frequently and in small quantities. In cases such as this, it’s best to consult with your veterinarian to address potential health-related issues and administer treatment where necessary. If you have an adult dog who normally is quite continent but is having accidents, this could be an indicator of a health problem. Some dogs also take to marking behaviors, which is less of a housebreaking problem and more of a behavioral issue. We briefly address issues such as these in this report. However, a more involved behavioral training program may be necessary to resolve problems of this nature. First, let’s figure out what you’re dealing with. How old is the dog? If he’s under 6 months of age, then it’s probably a standard case of puppy-potty training. Older than 6 months, and it may be just housebreaking that your dog needs (maybe he’s a rescue dog who has never lived inside a home before). Younger dogs often require more frequent feedings, which will affect your housebreaking schedule. When do the accidents occur? When he wakes up? When he’s playing? After eating or drinking? At night or when you’re at work? You get the idea... Using the tracking logs at the end of this report, keep a log of his accidents right down to the actual time it happened. In many cases, keeping a log will allow you to see trends. This is a huge step forward in anticipating accidents. Where do the accidents occur? In his kennel/crate? In a spare room? In the same corner? Behind the couch? Again, use our convenient tracking charts to keep a log of his accidents not just when, but where and even how. To Control What Comes Out, We Must Control What Goes In One of the first things to evaluate is your current feeding and watering schedule. Remember that your dog is a closed system, and when something goes in one end, it’s likely to push something else out the other end. It’s because of this hydraulic system of digestion that professionals recommend a schedule for food and water. If you can control when something goes into your dog’s system, you have a better chance of controlling when it comes out. Food is digested (for the most part) at the same rate, so if your dog regularly eats at the same time each day, he’s more likely to eliminate at the same time each day. Free feeding can work, but remember if your dog is eating dozens of small meals throughout the day, he’s likely to leave dozens of Easter eggs lying around throughout the day. Controlling water intake can also help get control over tougher housebreaking problems. Note that we’re talking about CONTROL, not RESTRICTION. The key here is to provide enough clean and fresh water to your dog to satisfy its needs, but during windows that you dictate. Providing unlimited water access for 15 minutes, twice a day (mealtime) and during exercise is typically adequate for the average dog. If your dog is active, it’s advisable to offer water every 15 minutes or so depending on weather. Remember, though, as long as your dog is drinking, it’s filling up the reservoir. If your dog drinks a quart of water during exercise and has yet to urinate, prepare for several elimination events within an hour of drinking. If your dog is an outdoor dog, then continuous access to fresh liquid water during outdoor periods is crucial to help them stay safe and comfortable. It advisable to time your puppy or dog’s last watering about 3-4 hours before you retire to bed for the night (perhaps with his evening meal). The activity and time before his last potty break before the longer night stretches will help to set him up for success as he sleeps. Imagine yourself drinking an entire Big Gulp right before laying down to sleep. You’d probably be waking up rather frequently to let it out. Likely Accident Times Puppies will likely have accidents after eating, drinking, playing, sleeping or pretty much any other time of the day. A good rule of thumb with puppies is to provide potty opportunities every fifteen to twenty minutes. The more active your dog is, the more often he will have to urinate. In general, food will be passed twelve to sixteen hours after consuming, but you can expect one to two movements for each meal your puppy eats. Three meals a day can mean a symphony of excrement. Be ready. Adult dogs tend to follow the 1:2 ratio of meals to colonic events as well. Like their human counterparts, you can expect an adult dog to have to urinate first thing in the morning and typically every hour afterwards. During times of activity or exercise, usually every 20-30 minutes is common. As far as daily constitutionals go, this depends on your dog. Most dogs will require some activity to “loosen things up” so to speak. They may not produce anything until their first playtime session of the day. Remember that these likely accident times are just guidelines, which is why we recommend you keep a log of ALL events (both #1 and #2). This will allow you to look back and see the trends develop. Developing a Management System All good business owners and managers know that having a strong management system in place is key to developing trustworthy employees and ultimately a business that is efficient and “hands-off”. So, too, do good dog owners. It’s crucial to realize that until your puppy or dog is trustworthy and capable of either properly acting on their ‘instinct’ or holding in their business, they need a manager or management system to keep them from making mistakes. Simply put, a management system is a system that enables your dog to have success on a near-constant basis, even if you’re not around. Examples of tools to bring into your management system are: ✓ Kennels or dog crates ✓ Doggie doors ✓ Potty pads ✓ Potty Patch ✓ Baby gates The purpose of these tools is either to provide an appropriate outlet for your dog to go potty (doggie doors, potty patch or potty pads) or to prevent your dog from having freedom to have accidents outside of a confined area. Dogs and puppies instinctively have a knack for wanting to be clean. Some dogs have this to a higher degree than others. (I have memories of a certain shepherd mix that would finger-paint with his ‘creations’). There is, however, hope in that even so-called “dirty dogs” can learn to enjoy being clean. Providing your dog with ample opportunities to experience the contrast between being clean and dirty makes the simple matter of “it takes time” move more quickly. We can tap into this instinctive cleanliness using confinement such as baby gates, dog kennels/crates, or exercise pens. The key is to size the area of confinement properly to your dog’s body. In general, a pen should be sized large enough that your dog can turn around without strain, but not so large that they can defecate in one end then curl up clean and dry in the other end. For crates, a good rule of thumb is to take the length of your dog from snout to the base of their tail, and add about five inches. This should be the length of your dog’s crate. The standard “width times length” of dog crates are usually gauged by the manufacturers fairly accurately. Your dog may try to bury accidents in their bedding. If this is an issue for your dog, then try using in a single layer of terry cloth or flannel material instead of bedding or removing the bedding entirely. Obviously if you have a puppy who likes to chew and destroy bedding, remove the bedding for safety. Also, a terry- cloth towel is much easier to toss in the washing machine than dismantling and cleaning a larger dog bed.

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