As a professional dog trainer I am called upon often to help people housebreak their dogs. Sometimes I work with puppies of 8 weeks old and other times it is adult dogs of 8 years old. Regardless of the age, the method is the same for house training a dog. If you can follow, to the letter, the following steps you will be able to potty train your pet.
The following are the four steps for potty training success:
1- Prevention- In the beginning stages of potty training prevention is the most critical. What that means is supervision. You've got to prevent your pet from going to the bathroom in the house.
In the beginning of your dog trainer efforts keep him or her on a leash in the house. If you aren't home, are sleeping, or can't watch the dog then use a crate or a kennel to keep him safe and secure.
2- Encourage good behavior- Encourage your pet to go to the bathroom outside. Use lots of praise and encouragement when your dog does his business in the yard. It is even appropriate to use treats for this type of training. Basically, you want to make him believe that going potty in the yard is one of the best things he or she has ever done.
3- Correct mistakes- When you catch your dog going potty in the house you must immediately correct that behavior. Use the leash and give a few firm corrections while you rush the dog outside. Don't listen to a trainer that says you can't correct the dog for indoor mistakes. You can, and should, but you must make sure that your timing is appropriate. You can only correct in the moment and never after.
4- Keep your dog on a basic schedule. A schedule includes keeping your dog on a food routine rather than allowing the dog to eat whenever he or she wants, monitoring water intake, and keeping your dog on a general bathroom schedule. Dogs thrive when they have structure and schedules and not providing this makes it more difficult to housebreak your dog. I have found that a great deal of house training problems with adult dogs stem from routine issues. Many people can just work on this step and find success.
Following these steps is a sure thing when it comes to house training a dog. If you can follow these steps your days of cleaning up dog waste in your house are over.