Housebreaking

I am under the personal opinion that more dogs are turned back into the pound because of housebreaking issues than any other. Again, my opinion, but I think lack of available exercise is the second reason. Misconceptions about how a dog 'really' behaves is the third. People idolize 'Old Shep' who never did wrong, never jumped, only barked at bad guys, and never ever ever peed in the house. Mostly he just walked calmly beside them, and then slept twenty-three hours a day. Amazing animal, Old Shep.


Our tiny babies are often more challenging to housebreak than our bigger guys, mostly because they simply get away with it more. Easier to see lab pee than yorkie pee on your carpet. Easier to make shepherd puppy walk outside to his designated spot than to trot out chihuahua pup. Sometimes our bigger puppies wish to please us just a bit more than our teeny tinies.

Crate, tether and eyeball. Those are my three big Magic Wand things for housebreaking. Most - stress the most - puppies will not pee in their crate if they can help it. Some will on purpose, and some don't care if they do or not. Most housebreaking books ignore those quite major issues with the cute phrase "dogs won't pee where they sleep". Sigh. Not true for all.

However, I say, Most won't pee on your shoe - or if they do more than once, its kinda sorta your fault. So tethering - tying the leash to your waistband is a good option. Eyeballing - if I'm in the same room with puppy and not distracted and can see when he squats, this works too.

Keep an eye out for this header. I'll be chatting more about housebreaking soon.