Smart Dog

Housetraining: There's Light at the End of the Tunnel

Caysun is 11 weeks old and has been with us for two weeks now. I've been keeping a housetraining journal here on the Smart Dog Blog. You've seen how the crate helps with housetraining a pup, you've seen a typical housetraining schedule.

Finally, after two weeks, I'm seeing progress! 

Late yesterday evening, Caysun was gated in my office with me. She walked over to the gate and started to paw at it and whine a little bit. It was a delayed reaction, but I finally got with the program: Caysun had to go to the bathroom and she was trying to get to the back door! Yahoo!

I jumped out of my desk chair, ran to the gate, and then ran outside with her. The instant her little paws hit the grass, she was peeing. I slathered on the praise and told her what a good girl she was. She seemed proud, I think. Or maybe that was just relief, who knows. 

Later that evening, when we were in the family room where she had direct access to the "bathroom door" (the door she always goes out to get to the outside), she went to the door and scratched. If I hadn't been in the room with her, I wouldn't have known she was scratching at the door - she has the tiniest paws - but that rule of "don't ever let the pup out of your sight" served me well here. Again, I jumped up and ran outside with her, another party was had after she did her business. 

Whew. It's quite a chore, housetraining a pup. But, MAN!, is it worth it. And it's comforting to know that all this scheduling, crating, and watching is beginning to pay off! We're not done, not by a long shot. We've got at least a month of watching-her-like-a-hawk and 100% management ahead of us. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And that's comforting for this bleary-eyed puppy raiser.

Housetraining 101: A Day in the Life of a Puppy

Housetraining a puppy is pretty simple. Simple, yes. But not necessarily easy. Here's the simple part: get the puppy outside frequently, limit her house freedom to only the room you are in, watch her like a hawk, and make liberal use of the crate when you can't watch her. 

Here's Caysun's (almost 11 week old, Labrador pup) daily schedule:

5:30a Up and outside for a long pee. 

5:35a Back in the crate for a snooze.

7:15a Back up and outside for a quick pee.

7:30a Breakfast time. (Fed in the crate while I shower).

7:45a Outside for pee and poop. 

7:50a Play hard with Ike, running, jumping and wrestling. In the same room as me, where I can watch her. 

8:10a After 20 minutes of play, time for another pee break. 

8:15a Kitchen time with me and the other dogs while I drink tea and eat breakfast.

8:45a Another pee/poop break. 

8:50a More play time with Ike in my office, where I can watch her. 

9:30a Naptime!

11:00a Outside for a pee and poop break. If you're keeping track, this is the 6th time outside this morning! Every pee/poop session has been productive. And better yet: no accidents inside! Yay!

12:00p Lunch fed to Caysun in her crate. Then naptime!

2:30p Awake and ready to go! Outside for pee/poop break. 

2:35p Play time in my office with Ike. 

3:00p Pee break!

3:15p Play, play, play!

4:00p Pee/poop break outside.

5:00p Dinner in her crate. Naptime in her crate while I prepare dinner. 

6:30p Out of her crate and outside to pee/poop. 

7:15p Pee/poop break outside. Then Play! Where we can watch her. 

8:00p Pee/poop break outside. Then more play time. 

9:30p Last trip outside to pee and poop, then down for the night, in her crate. 

2:00a Sleepy trip outside to pee (she wakes me by whining in her crate).

That's 14 trips outside for pee breaks. Some days I'm out of the office more, and then she's crated while I'm gone. She's been ok for 4-hour stretches, as long as she's crated. 

The moral of this story: get your puppy outside a lot! As much as possible for structured pee/poop sessions. What's a structured session? You take your pup on leash to the bathroom area of your lawn. Stand there and wait for him to go. Don't wander the yard with him. Don't take him on a neighborhood walk. Stand there and simply give him about a six foot radius. When he goes, praise him and have a little puppy potty party! Then play with him outside. Celebrate your success!

New Puppy = Everyone's On the Same Page...Or Else

Ever want to peek behind the curtain of life with a dog trainer? Here's your chance. Complements of my (really wonderful) husband (despite the story I'm about to tell, in which he's the villain.)

So. I'm working really hard to get Caysun's Crate Love going. I'm crating her at different times of the day. For varying amounts of time. With me in the room sometimes, and sometimes not. 

She's doing a great job. On the left you can see Caysun with her "big brother" Ike. She looks perfectly happy, doesn't she? 

All day today, I'm working with Caysun, fiddling with different criteria of Crate Love. In between, I still have a real job to do -- dog training and all the administrative tasks that go along with the job. The admin work is a job all unto itself, but I digress... 

For me, crating is the ultimate "safety net" for both me and for the dog. I can work without worry or wonder. House training stays on track. There are no chewed shoes. It's great. 

So. After working all day in my office (and with Caysun), off I go, merrily on my way to actually train some dogs (go figure), and I leave the Crate Love task to that really wonderful husband I mentioned earlier. The dogs are in his care for about 5 hours. 

I come home and say to him "It smells like poop in here." (Hey, you wanted to peek behind the curtain, I'm not covering anything up - this is the real deal here.)

He says, "Yeah, the puppy pooped." 

"Yeah, no kidding," I'm thinking, but I'm smart enough to keep that in my head. I ask innocently: "Was she in her crate?"

"No, I was in the shower."

"In the shower?! IN THE SHOWER?! You can't leave a 9.5 week old puppy unattended to TAKE A SHOWER!" Again, these are my thoughts, not my words. (Ok, so now I'm editing a little bit. There was some cursing in my thoughts. Four letter words. That start with F.)

What I actually said: "You can crate her while you're in the shower. That's actually a really good time to crate her." (Doesn't that sound better than a lot of F words?)

I swallowed a lot more bad words and went about my business. It was difficult - I worked all day today (and yesterday, and the day before) on getting Caysun comfortable in her crate. Crating her while he was in the shower would have been perfect practice for her. (And clearly, for him, too!)

So while I'm going about my business, I find another pile of poop! This one's in the dog bed! In the dog bed! And I was wondering why none of the dogs wanted to sleep in the bed...I had just found my answer. 

I couldn't resist a see-I-told-you-so smart aleck remark about the value of crating, but I did limit it to just one. 

I come out to the living room to move the crate into the bedroom, where Caysun sleeps in her crate - happily, I might add! - each night, and what do I run into? A big puddle of puppy pee. 

I'm at work for 5 hours and there are (at least) three puddles or piles when I return. Really?!

Clearly, I need to spend a little more time working with my husband than I do the puppy. Clearly, the pup's got the Crate Love thing down pat. Just wished the husband did, too. 

Crate Love

Crates and puppies go hand-in-hand. There's no easier way to keep a pup out of trouble than a crate. The crate is also essential for speedy housetraining.

When Teddy came to us, he'd only spent one night in the crate. Needless to say, that first night with us was a little rough - he cried for awhile in the crate that night, and woke up frequently.

It's crucial for Teddy (and all dogs, really) to be able to relax in the crate for several reasons:

1. As I mentioned earlier, the crate provides the pup with a safe place. It's really hard for the pup to get in trouble or get hurt while he's in the crate.
2. Housetraining is a breeze if the pup is crate trained. Generally, a pup doesn't like to pee or poop where he'll be sleeping (smart pup!), so he'll hold it, vocalize to alert you to the fact that he's gotta go, and then you take him immediately outside to do his business. Easy peasy!
3. At some point in a dog's life, he'll be at the veterinarian for a procedure that will involve crating. It may be something routine such as a spay or neuter, or it could be something long-term like an injury requiring strict crate rest. If your injured dog has never been in a crate and suddenly finds himself locked away, it's going to be a long recovery process -- for you and the dog!
4. If you plan to do dog-sports with your dog like agility, lure coursing, nose work, tracking, Rally obedience (just to name a few), it's a pretty good bet that your dog will need to be crated. If your dog isn't comfortable in the crate, it's going to be a lot harder - and not nearly as fun - to participate.

How can you teach your dog to like the crate? Easy: feed your pup every meal in the crate. Keep the door open the first four or five feedings, then close (but don't latch) the door. Let him push the door open when he's done.  Let him push the door open and exit the crate after his meals for another few days. Then begin to close (and latch) the door while he's eating. Have some really tasty morsels of chicken ready. When the pup is done with his meal, give him a piece of chicken. Wait a few seconds and give him another morsel of chicken. Continue to feed him chicken at four- or five-second intervals. Then you can open the crate door and let him out.

How can you ruin the crate experience for your dog? Using the crate as punishment is a sure-fire way to make the crate a drag for your pup. Also, don't bang on the crate to try to quiet your pup if he's barking. (A client told me their shelter adoption-coordinator gave her this advice as she was preparing to take her puppy home!) Don't put your pup in the crate ONLY when you're leaving the house. Get your pup used to being in the crate: when you're home and in another room, at home and in the same room, when there's activity going on, when it's quiet, when you're leaving the house...in short: get your pup used to being in the crate any time, any where, and for any reason.

What if your pup cries in the crate? That first night, Teddy cried quite a bit. I completely ignored him when he was making noise. When he quieted to take a breath, I very calmly said "Good boy, Teddy" in my most soothing, sing-song, calm voice. The instant he started to make noise, I shut up. He quieted, I talked. He barked, I got silent. Within five minutes, he was quieter already. I kept that up for about 10 minutes. Gradually there was much more of me talking and a whole lot less of Teddy talking!

Teddy's crate behavior has improved dramatically over the past few days. The first night he cried quite a bit, the second night he cried for only a minute or two, and last night he cried only briefly. I put him in his crate after his mid-day feeding and he whimpered once and went right to sleep. We're on the right track!

The Joys of Housetraining

Ahh, housetraining. There's nothing better than a pup heading to the door to let you know he's gotta go. The first couple of weeks with the puppy is tough - you have to be on top of where he is and what he's doing all the time. You've got to make sure he's not getting in trouble, eating an electric cord, being eaten by the cat, or pooping in the house. It's not easy!

From Day One, we've been vigilant in teaching Talos that poops and pees are best done outdoors. Crazy humans that we are, we much prefer that kind of thing to be done outside, as much as we can appreciate the convenience of doing it indoors.

We made good use of the crate (see above) which helps a lot. We've also taken him in and out the same door every time. He doesn't get a choice of which door. Nope, he's got one option (which technically, isn't even an option). It makes it a lot easier for him - just head to The Door, and magically a person appears and invites him outdoors. Once out, that same person acts as a cheerleader, telling him what a fabulous puppy he is when he pees or poops. What a life.

This morning, all our hard work paid off. Talos ate his breakfast and went immediately to the door. Hurray! He'd done this before, but I thought it was just chance. Nope, he's really got it. Will he still make mistakes? Sure, if I'm not on my game and don't notice his signals. Thankfully, he's got feet that weigh 100 pounds each and you can't help but hear where he is in our all-hardwood-floor house. So if you're in the middle of housetraining, take heart. Just remain vigilant, use the crate, and use the Same Door every time. Your pup will get it. And then life is good. 

Talos Likes His Crate

Teaching a puppy to love it's crate is an important task. Regardless of whether you want to crate your dog at home, at some point your dog will probably be crated somewhere: the vet, groomer, or if you travel. So why not teach your pup to love the crate from Day 1.

I start by feeding all meals in the crate. The door is open, so the puppy is free to leave whenever he wants. Also, I throw a handful of his food in the crate every now and then. The puppy begins to think the crate is almost magical - that's where all the good stuff originates: his dinner, snacks, and unpredictable good rewards!

So far in Talos' training, I've not had to shut him in the crate and leave. However, tomorrow I'll have to do just that, so today I'll begin teaching Talos how to be alone in the crate for a few minutes at a time. To teach your pup (or older dog) this, start by gathering some of the most delicious food you've got. I recommend leftover chicken or steak. While your pup is watching, toss a treat into the crate (toward the back). When he's eating that goodie, quietly close the door. Toss him another goodie into the crate. And another, and another. You're teaching your pup that even better stuff comes when the crate door is closed. After about 45 seconds of this, open the door and allow the pup to leave. If he doesn't want to leave the crate, don't force him. Simply walk away. In about 30 seconds, repeat the entire process. As your pup improves and can stay in the crate longer (with you still there, tossing tasty treats), you're ready for the next step.

This time, after you've tossed the goodie into the crate to get your pup to go in, you're going to walk out of sight for just two seconds - no longer. Return and immediately drop a few treats in the crate for your pup. Repeat the process several times, ensuring the pup isn't in distress while you're out of sight for two seconds. If he's doing just fine, you can now increase the time you're out of sight. Keep this easy for the pup - increase your time in one- to two-second increments at a time. Don't jump from two seconds to ten seconds right away. You're teaching your puppy that good things happen when you're gone for a few seconds.

Gradually, you'll increase the time you're out of sight until you get up to five minutes or so. Once I reach that milestone, I usually begin giving the pup a peanut-butter filled food toy as I walk away. This gives the pup something else to focus on, and will keep him busy, too.

Spending time on this skill is well worth the effort. A dog who hasn't had good crate experiences isn't likely to enjoy the crate. He may begin to refuse to go into the crate or associate the crate with punishment. Make sure you start on this skill as soon as you bring your pup home.