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Ideally you would start housebreaking a dog when it is a 6-8 week old puppy that you have just adopted, but these techniques can be used on a more grown up dog that you might acquire that is not already housebroken.
In most dogs, eating stimulates the bowels to move. Therefore, your puppy or adult dog will likely need to go outside to defecate after eating a meal. For some dogs this may be 5 minutes, for others it may be 45 minutes; you will have to walk your dog after its meal and time how long it takes until the dog feels the urge to “go”. Learn the dog’s schedule so that you can ensure the dog is taken outside at the appropriate time to avoid accidents in the house or discomfort to the dog from trying to hold it too long.
We recommend feeding dogs 2-3 times a day, depending on the age and breed. It is not as good for their metabolism to be fed only once a day. Feedings should be timed; in general, do not leave the food down all day for the dog to nibble on while you are gone at work. Put the appropriate quantity and quality of food down for 10-20 minutes and let the dog eat what is wants; at the end of 20 minutes remove any remaining food and take the dog outside for a walk. Praise the dog when it both urinates and defecates; make a big deal like when potty training a child. Keep treats in your pocket to reward the dog for “going”. In order for this to most effectively succeed, you need to be with the dog. Having a fenced in yard is the most ideal environment for a dog, but if you just put the puppy or newly adopted dog in the yard and are not there to provide immediate praise the task of housebreaking will be much more difficult or impossible for some. If you do not have a confined area please do not leave your dog unattended outside; this is how dogs get into fights and get hit by cars and run away.
A common mistake clients report is that after putting their dog outside unattended that when the dog comes to the back door (either when called or on its own) to be let back in after supposedly “going”. The owners give the dog a treat for coming to the back door with the mistaken impression that the dog will see the reward for doing its “business” but the dog associates the treat with being at the back door! What the dog learns is not to go outside to do its “business” to get rewarded, but learns just to keep asking to go outside many times during the day and then asking to come back in the house since it has been trained that it will get a treat. The owners have unintentionally rewarded the wrong behavior. We want to reward the dog for doing its “business”, not just asking to come back in the house. This is one of the reasons it is important to stay with your new dog during the training process, even it is raining or at 2AM.
To help keep your yard and neighborhood sanitary and stop the transmission and spread of intestinal worms, please pooper scoop behind your dog every day, whether it is in your yard or you walk your dog and it defecates in your neighbors’ yards. Plastic grocery store bags do a great job when put over your hand inside out, the poop is picked up and the bag is turned over and a knot tied and the bog tossed in the trash can outside.
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