I'm gonna brag here (don't you hate parents like that?) but my 7-year-old girl has been 100% house broken since she was a puppy (I'm not counting the excitement dribble). The housebreaking process lasted about 3 months. That's faster than any dog I've ever had in my life. (She's Brilliant!)
As for the excitement peeing, I started ignoring her when I first came home (you know, when they're in that hyper, jumping around stage) because as soon as I'd say hi or reach down to pet her, she'd pee. Once I started ignoring her, she calmed down very quickly. As soon as she calmed down, I'd quietly say hello to her and if she was still calm, I'd reach down and pet her gently, not saying anything while I did. If I'd been gone for more than a couple of hours, I'd walk her onto the grass (still not talking to her or reaching for her) until she peed. Then I could start to say hello. I was amazed at how successful this approach was. I also have "trained" my family and guests to not say hello to her immediately (unless they want their shoes dribbled on. They don't). LOL!
When she was a puppy, I trained her like this: We lived in Germany at the time and German houses have very wide door frames, at least 12 inches wide. I placed two baby gates parallel to each other in the same kitchen doorway. This left about 7-8 inches of space between the two gates. It should be close enough so that the dog can fit but not turn around. When I'd find a mess in the house (wet or dirty), I'd clean it up with paper towels, place the paper towels on the floor between the gates, and then go find the puppy. Without any fanfare or yelling or anger, I'd simply pick her up and put her in between the gates also. Since it was so narrow, she really didn't have space to turn around and was basically forced to sit near the messy paper towels. I'd then walk away without saying anything. After one minute, I'd walk by and say firmly, "No."
I didn't touch her or make loud noises or shove her nose in the mess. I simply said no firmly. Two minutes later, I'd say it again. After about 5 minutes, I'd calmly pick her up and take her outside where I would then tell her what a good girl she was if she so much as sniffed the grass. If she did her business outside she was praised. As the weeks went by, I increased the time but never longer than 10 minutes. Base the time on the maturity of the puppy.
I based this on the crating theory that dogs do not like to be contained with their messes. And everytime I put her in the gates, she'd push the paper towels to the far end and then back up to the other end and sit there. Looking a little forlorn, I might add. This process also removed me as the "bad guy" and eliminated the confusion yelling at them sometimes causes. I also didn't have to be present when the accident occurred. No "catching in the act" needed. She was three months old when I got her and started this process and was trained by the time she was 6-7 months old.
By the way, the excitement training came later - at about 3 or 4 years old - when I realized I was part of the problem by returning her excitement when I'd come home. It worked within a week or two. But since then, if I forget to stay calm and I accidentally match her excitement ... dribble dribble dribble. Oh, and once she's calmed down and I've been home for 5 -10 minutes, we usually have a mild "hello" session on the couch - dribble free!
I don't know if this will work for anyone - just wanted to share my experience.
Julesb2000
(Mindy's Mom) |