Millie is 100% housebroken and I can say that it was several things that got her that way. My husband and I work, so it is possible to housebreak (at 100%) even though you work. But it is tough, hard work and can last up to 4-5 months. Never once did I let up. It was the only priority in my life for those 4-5 months.
1. I never (not once) introduced her to a peepad. She was strictly taught to go outside.
2. We crated her while we were at work. (we were lucky, she never did go in the crate)
3. She never ever ever had free range of the house.
4. When she was out of the crate, I absolutely never took my eyes off her. Not for a second, not for a moment, not to turn around for something, not to answer the phone, to pick something up or any other number of reasons people on this forum give. Not to watch t.v. When she was out of the crate, I either was playing with her, had her in my lap or was watching her.
5. When we were home, I took her out every hour on the hour. Rain, shine, cold weather, snowing or any other kind of inclement weather. This was rough, but I did it.
6. Kept her in the crate at night to sleep and would wake up in the middle of the night to take her out when she whined, sometimes it was once a night, sometimes it was twice a night. And took her out first thing in the morning when we woke up.
7. When we got home from work, she went out for a walk. She and I did not come in until she had peed 2-3 times and pooped once.
8. Once she was clicker trained I would "click and treat" every time she squated to pee or hunched to poo. This really reinforced the connection of what our expectation was when we took her out.
9. I did not free feed her. She was fed 2 x a day. that way we were able to control her bowel movements.
10. NO water after 8pm.
11. If she squatted in the house, I would give a firm NO! Pick her up and take her outside and gave her plenty of time to pee out there. (I never really had problems with her going poo in the house)
12. I never ever relied on her to tell me she had to go. (This came much much much later in the training).
13. Once she was reliably housebroken for one room, I introduced her to another room. I never never never assumed that if she was housebroken in one room, that she would be for the rest of the house. With each room she was introduced to, we started from square one. (This included other peoples houses too. Just because she became housebroken in my house did not mean she was house broken in other's homes. So I operated on basic training when in stranger's homes).
14. At some point, when I knew I could trust her (and we did this in baby steps) I expanded her crate into an x-pen to give her more room. But I kept the crate in there, with her food and water (so she would know that it was her den) and toys and a bed. There was no floor space for her to go pee in. We would move the crate/x-pen from room to room and be there with her, so that she could get used to other rooms.
There were many times, that I thought getting a dog was not a good Idea. I had at one point (for about a week, only) considered giving her up. (Thank goodness my husband had that stick-to-it-ness when I needed it). Because now she is absolutely the light of our lives. She has free run of the house and other homes we visit. We long gave up the crate and x-pen. She goes in and out at will thru a doggie door. She has never once messed in the house once she was house broken, not even when she has been horribly ill with diareaha and pancreatitis. Pottying in the house is not even an issue that we have to deal with AT ALL. So for the short time (4 -5 months) that I was invested in the training and all the time it took, coming home and being tired and having to deal with the whole potty issue thing when I did not feel like it, my weekends consumed with it and revolving around the puppy, was so worth it! Just think: 4-5 months to deal with the potty issue or the rest of her life of dealing with potty issues? I am so glad I picked the 4-5 months.
Of course the training did not abruptly end at the end of the 4-5 months, but with each month, it lessened and lessend. With each passing month we were able to relax more and enjoy her more. As time went on, she got more and more privileges as she matured and earned them. She now sleeps with us, but she was over 1 1/2 years old before she got that privilege. She has free run of the house and goes every where with us. She is such a good girl! |