Housebreaking Your New Dog

When you decide to bring in a new puppy or dog into your home, you expected there to be a housebreaking learning curve. As a general rule, puppies can only be expected to hold their bladder for about four hours. The number of hours you can expect you dog to hold it increases as the puppy gets older and grows bigger. If you find that your dog has frequent accidents during the day, you may want to look at this problem behavior to see what steps you can take to help your dog along in the housebreaking process.

Decide how you would like to approach facing problem behavior head-on and devise a training plan. Next is acquiring the tools necessary for housebreaking your puppy. The best decision you can make is to crate train your dog. This helps in the puppy training process because a dog typically will not defecate where he sleeps, and this also becomes a safe haven for your home. Your goal is to make this a happy place so your pet feels secure while inside the crate. Providing water, toys, and giving a treat to your puppy everytime they respond to the command to go to the crate are necessary to help your pet feel comforted.

Do remember that a puppy can only be expected to hold it for a limited time so to ensure the success in the housebreaking process, look to hire a dog walker to let your puppy out midday. This way you don't force your pet to defecate in his crate or worse result in a urinary tract infection for holding it for too long a period. Know even if you get an older puppy or dog that you need to ensure he or she is housebroken and you might need to treat them as if they are a younger puppy for at least the first couple of days.

Unwanted urination can happen if you don't pay particular attention to the signs. Always remember to take your dog out after they drink a lot. Expect to take your dog out more often in the summer since they have a tendency to drink more in hotter temperatures. Even if your dog just went out, be sure to take them out if they do ask to be taken out again. If your dog seems to be going more than usual or worse having inappropriate urination in the house, a visit to the vet might be in order. It could be that your dog has developed a urinary tract infection or other illness that might be the reason for accidents in the home.

The key to housebreaking is patience. Some dogs might have several accidents over the course of a day while others might have several accidents in the course of a few hours. If you have children, have them help with the training process but don't make them solely responsible for it. If you notice your dog continues to have accidents in the same spot, take steps to get rid of the odor to avoid inappropriate urination. You might consider sealing off that certain area until the problem behavior has been overcome. Remember to remain patient and calm and you will achieve the results you want.