Dog Potty Training: Helpful Tips to Potty Train Your Dog
The White House created several buzz in 2009 on the arrival of US President Barrack Obama’s Portuguese water dog named Bo. Who wouldn’t recognize this presidential dog, with photos of him running with the president in the halls and on the lawn just outside the White House? However, don’t think just because Bo was a presidential dog, it meant he no longer need some toilet training. Most probably when Bo left his first home for that top secret trip to Washington DC, he underwent some dog potty training before eventually meeting up with the presidential family.
Obviously the rest of the White House staff does not want any dog potty training problems to arise once the dog started to acquaint himself with the presidential rooms and hallways. Even if there’s no certainty he have his own bathroom, we cannot tell if he would be disciplined enough to go on his own on the right place. In addition, the secret service doesn’t want to face dog health issues (from lack of urination), behavioral problems, and stained floors because of lack of potty training.
In reality, dog potty training is the same for most puppies and it doesn’t matter if they are the dog of the US President or just the dog of an ordinary citizen. Training principles and techniques are the same in most instances.
Indoor training
Dog owners who live in apartments and condominiums always have problems with regards to indoor dog potty training. The challenge lies on finding the perfect area for their pooch. Another issue is that they have no dog instinct to go to the bathroom. The best way to teach your dog to relieve them selves on the proper place is by using dog potty training pads.
Also, you can lead them with a leash to the bathroom when you recognize some signs they have to go. Bring your puppy to the spot and wait until their finished and then clean the area afterwards. If your dog does not want to go with this method, you can confine them on an area with their dog potty training pad and bed. Your dog will usually go to the potty pad since they would not want to wet their bed.
Training bells
Most dogs can actually be taught a smart way, for you to know if they would ever “go to the toilet”. Some dog owners started to use a dog potty training bell for their pooch. This can be done by hanging some bells on a cord, in a place like a door knob, just nose-high for your dog to routinely ring the bell if they feel its potty time.
When you approach the cord, ring the bell and then say “here, let’s go potty”. You can put some cheese spread, jam or peanut butter so dog would lick the bell. When they do, the bells will ring and they will soon associate the trick on going outside to potty or for them to go to the proper spot. This is an effective method they can learn on a very short period of time and it was mainly influenced from the famous classical conditioning experiment of Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.
Adult dogs
Any type of training for canines begins when they are still a puppy, but problems arise when you start to train adult dogs. These types of dogs usually made more mistakes in the past and they require special attention for them to adapt to new potty commands.
Older dog potty training requires you to be stricter because adult dogs had developed bad habits and they are more prone to break potty rules. An important aspect of adult dog potty training is to keep a journal of the progress. You can write down the time you feed and give them water, and then monitor the hours that they can hold. Also you may have to confine them in a crate or an area with dog pee pads for their bathroom break.
Small dogs
Small dogs like Chihuahuas are popular these days, who can forget Paris Hilton’s Tinkerbelle which the hotel heiress always brings along in her public appearances. However, there’s a problem with little dogs, they have small bladders. Though little fido can go every six hours, a small dog potty training is still necessary to teach them the routine.
Most small dogs would scratch the floor or ground, sniff intensely or walk around in circles when they need to go. When a male small dog started sniffing furniture and lifted his leg, he will mark this with urine, so it’s important to recognize this behavior and just lead him to the bathroom.
Give some reward of food and praise your pooch verbally, like “great dog” or “good dog” whenever they perform the correct actions or they go to the proper spot. Small dogs mostly need to go to the toilet after 30 minutes after eating, after they played vigorously, after waking up in sleep or after they go in a long vehicle ride.
Important reminder
Dog owners always have a hard time solving their dog potty training problems. They don’t want their dogs to suffer any health problem, but they just don’t know what to do. Still, they only want to give their pet the best level of convenience and comfort for on potty time.
The most important thing to remember on any dog potty training is to avoid punishment, and instead give positive reinforcement. Helpful and affirmative guidance would make them perform in a situation with the correct behavior, something they can successfully link with the right potty rules.