Household Training Overview
Household problems are very common and very important to eliminate early. Most dogs spend most of their time at home, unsupervised, so if they don’t learn how to occupy that time appropriately, they’re guaranteed to get into trouble.
Problems like house soiling, destructive chewing, and excessive barking can make life miserable for the family, and neighbors, and, as a result, they are a depressingly common cause of dog abandonment.
These problems can seem particularly difficult to resolve because they occur when the dog is alone and unsupervised. How can you train a dog when you’re not there?
There are two main elements to housetraining: First, you have to prevent your dog from getting into trouble. Don’t give them any opportunities to make house soiling or destructive chewing mistakes. Second, you have to teach your dog how to behave appropriately in your home whether you are there or not.
You’ll need to teach your dog three main things: where to pee and poop, what to chew, and how to settle down calmly and quietly when left alone.
The key to training all three of these lessons is temporary confinement while you teach your dog how to behave in your home. By confining your dog to a crate or a playpen for much of the day, you can be sure they won’t get into any trouble. You may not like the idea of confining your dog but it is actually the best way to maximize their freedom over the course of their entire life.
Many owners make the mistake of giving their dogs too much freedom, too soon, before the dog has learned household rules. Left unsupervised these dogs quickly develop bad habits, and then the poor dogs lose their freedom later on, and never get it back.
No, it’s far better to use confinement now to teach your dog reliable household manners, so that your dog can go on to enjoy more and more freedom as they continue to learn how to behave appropriately in a human home.
That’s why the best time to house train your dog is the moment they enter your home. Don’t give your dog a single opportunity to make a house training mistake. Make the rules of the house clear from the beginning. If that ship has sailed, the best time to housetrain your dog is NOW!
If you do find that your dog has soiled your house or chewed on some valuable item while you weren’t paying attention, get a newspaper, roll it up and whack yourself on the head. Why would you let an un-housetrained dog roam around unsupervised in your home?
Many people become angry because they think their dog knows better, but that's probably not true, and it's definitely irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, the only way a punishment will have any impact on an unwanted behavior is if the punishment occurs during, or immediately after the behavior. The best sort of "punishment" would also be instructive, and inform the dog how we actually want them to behave.
But there’s simply no way you can effectively punish your dog for a house training mistake they made while you were not paying attention. Any effort to punish your dog in that situation will be counter-productive. The only thing your dog will learn is to fear you, especially when you return home from being out of the house.
Fortunately, in this section, I’m going to teach you how to make sure your dog doesn’t make any house soiling or destructie chewing mistakes in the first place.