What is housebroken or housetrained?
That means that your dog can remain inside your house for a reasonable amount of time (such as eight hours) without eliminating in it. Your dog simply "holds it" until you let him outside to do his business. If your dog is physically healthy and physically mature (meaning he is at least eight to twelve months of age) but he has more than one accident every couple of months, then he is NOT housebroken.
How long will it take for me to housebreak my puppy?
To teach your dog WHERE to eliminate takes only a couple of weeks. But for a young dog or puppy to actually BE RELIABLE requires that the dog be mature enough physically to hold off eliminating until the appropriate time or until he can motor himself to the "outhouse." A dog can not be called reliable or housebroken until he is at least eight to twelve months of age, AND has not had any accidents in the house for at least six weeks running.
How long will it take me to housebreak my adult dog?
For an older dog with bad potty habits or one who has never been housebroken, you can expect to spend about six to eight weeks, following a strict housebreaking plan, before a new behavior pattern is established.
If you have an older dog who is starting to make mistakes in the house when he was fine for years before, either he has a physical problem that prevents him from holding it (please have your dog checked with your veterinarian first before going on a strict housebreaking program) or he did not fully understand that he is NEVER to eliminate in the house.
What is papertraining? I heard that it is the easiest way to train him.
Papertraining means that you teach your dog to eliminate on papers placed INSIDE your house. By papertraining a dog you teach him it is OK to number one, eliminate in the house, and number two, it is OK to go on objects in the house. That means the unread Sunday paper you left down on the floor is fair game, and the coat you haven't hung up yet is also fair game. The idea of housebreaking is again, to teach your dog NEVER to eliminate in the house.
It is NOT the easiest way to train him. Papertraining a dog in the house and then trying to teach him to go outside only confuses him and takes him much longer to achieve reliability.
If you live in a condo or townhouse, you probably have a small porch or balcony. Teach your dog to eliminate in a large pan (like an oil drip pan used in garages; some pet stores actually carry large dog potty pans just for this purpose) that has cat litter in it, which is placed outside. That way you have provided him with a place to potty that is outside your house but is still very easy to clean up.
OK, since papertraining is out, what about teaching him to use a doggie door?
Allowing your puppy or unhousebroken dog the use of a doggie door does nothing except undermine your housetraining for several reasons.
Number one, you never really know if the dog did his business or not because you were not there to see it.
Number two; your dog will not eliminate in the target area on his own since you were not there to show him where it is.
Doggie doors are fine to use AFTER your dog is completely reliable. Please note that if you are having any type of aggression or destructive behavior, a doggie door is not recommended as it gives your dog too much freedom.
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