82.What do you do if your puppy has an accident? Be calm. (Yelling or otherwise startling or scaring the puppy may teach him not to eliminate in front of you.) Walk quickly over to your puppy and say “NO”firmly.Pick up the puppy and immediately take him to the desired elimination area.
83.Do not rub your puppy’s nose in her accident. This will cause her to lose trust in you for doing such a distasteful act to her.She may also think that you are displeased with the act rather than the location of it.That may cause her to not want to eliminate in front of you. This could lead to her sneaking off and hiding to eliminate, eliminating in her crate, or eating her own stool.
84.Thoroughly clean the accident area with an odor neutralizer. Common cleaners may take the smell from our noses but not your puppy’s. If the scent remains, the puppy will assume this area is appropriate for elimination.
Special Considerations of Housebreaking
85.Should people with jobs own dogs? Sure, but remember that housebreaking a young puppy without a midday elimination break is more difficult on the both the puppy and owner alike. The owner must allow (and provide space for) more frequent accidents and an overall longer process.
86.Hiring a dog-walking service to aid in this developmental period is also a good idea to help avoid long crating periods while your puppy is young.This period in a dog’s life goes by quickly and some allowances made early on can yield an opportunity for better learning and a wonderful relationship with your dog later.
87.At first, absorbent bedding will keep accidents away from your puppy when they are simply too young to “hold it”for extended periods of time. Keeping them clean now will stimulate their own ability to be clean later. Keep a good schedule to aid in this cleanliness process.
88.In later stages of housebreaking (three months on), avoid absorbent bedding. If your puppy can eliminate and have the offending material absorbed, he can push it off to one side. Removal of bedding at this point will require your puppy to really try to remain clean in between scheduled potty breaks.
89.Avoid tethering your puppy outside.Natural instincts will tell the puppy not to soil an area they spend extended amounts of time in.This may cause the puppy not to eliminate outside or start eliminating inside the crate.
90.Not all puppies give obvious signals when they need to eliminate,but they do give signs. Watch your puppy carefully and note some of the more common signals: waking up, sudden sniffing, circling, moving to a remote area, or just a puzzled look.Act quickly to get your puppy to the elimination area as quickly as possible.
91.When activity level changes,your puppy could have an accident. This applies to sleeping and waking, playing then stopping, after a car ride, after a meal, etc.
92.Your puppy’s accidents will catch him as much by surprise as they do you! Your puppy can be playing, drinking, walking, or chewing a bone and may just spontaneously urinate. This is completely without intent and is certainly not “out of spite.” Her bladder simply became full and her body released it. Until her body development catches up, this is quite common.
IN EQUALS OUT! What goes in must come out, and this applies to both treats and water. Limit treat volume. Frequent treats are okay, but offer small bits instead of big bones. Watch the water intake as well. The rule of thumb is to make sure your puppy has plenty of water to clean his system. But offer the water in small parcels, relevant to your dog’s size. This will keep a good flow of water moving through his system, but in predictable time periods so you can structure his “output” and keep accidents to a minimum.
93.Quality food is highly digestible. What this means to the housebreaking process is the more readily digestible the food,the less the puppy must eliminate. A bargain foodstore brand has plenty of fillers. For every one hundred pounds of food your puppy eats, he may eliminate fifty to sixty pounds in the yard! One hundred pounds of a higher-quality pet-store brand may only yield thirty-five to forty pounds in the yard. The more frequently the puppy must eliminate, the harder the housebreaking process.
94.The firmer the stool, the easier it is for the puppy to “hold it.” If your puppy’s stool is consistently soft, consider switching foods.Check the protein source on the bag you are currently feeding your puppy (e.g., chicken, beef, lamb, or some other meat). Switch the protein source and see if the stool changes.Always switch foods slowly over at least a week interval to avoid diarrhea.
95.Unless you are teaching your puppy to eliminate inside the house (if you live in a big city and have a small dog), it is best to use paper and wee-wee pads only as an “accident catcher.” It is not wise to encourage the puppy to eliminate on the paper as a habit. Encouraging paper elimination leads the puppy to understand that,under the correct circumstances,it is okay to eliminate in the house.
96.If your puppy is having trouble understanding where to eliminate, place a soiled paper or pad outside in the area reserved for elimination. During the next scheduled bathroom break, take the puppy out to the desired area and show him the pad.Repeat your cue word encouragingly and praise for success.
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