Comments on: Dog Housetraining Tips – What 3 Vets Say

By: Cam

Cam — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:30:36 +0000

This really solved my problem, thank you!

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:20:37 +0000

Good old-fashioned hard work is the answer. Keep an eye on your dog, take him out when necessary, praise for doing the right thing, calmly correct mistakes, and you will get the results you want. Many people seem to think puppies can be trusted unsupervised for a few minutes, but that’s all it takes for them to go in the house and then start to wonder what is and isn’t allowed.

By: Pets Adviser

Pets Adviser — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:01:23 +0000

@Beth: No, please do not let them rub the puppy’s face in the feces! Simply clean it up without making a big deal. It’s a minor setback, and with focused training the puppy will learn eventually. Reward good behavior.

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:12:57 +0000

We have a 16 week old pug. We have had him for a month. My dad and my husband seem to think that rubbing his nose in his feces will teach him not to poo in the house. They are both around the same age, 55 and 60. would it be wrong to rub their face in their feces when they become in continent?

By: PetsAdviser.com

PetsAdviser.com — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:49:24 +0000

@Natalie, not feeding your dog for a day is cruel. We certainly don’t recommend punishing your pet this way.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:34:27 +0000

I have an old dog now, but he has been with me since I was 7. What I found, is that my my dog tend to be more obedient if you reward it when it listens to you, but keep it at moderation. You also have to punish it if it does something stupid. Like once before my dog peed on the duvet during a cold winter day. I hardy was able to wash it, because it was weekend and the laundry service nearby all closed down. So I got really frustrated and decided not too feed my dog for a day for the bad behavior. I know I might be harsh, but since then, he never peed on any of our furniture!

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:40:17 +0000

This is always a tricky area when it comes to training your puppy and I agree that in my experience dogs normally respond better to positive reward that to negativity. They tend to get that hang dog expression when you tell them off, which makes you feel bad and the dog feel worse!

By: Gio

Gio — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 04:05:50 +0000

Good article, though @ Dorothy, there are easier ways to train ones puppy and I would adopt the method of using training bells from the first few months as these are recommended by trainers also.

By: Dorothy UK

Dorothy UK — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:57:31 +0000

Please do not be tempted to train your puppy to eliminate in the house. It must be taken into your garden/yard every hour, after it eats or drinks and when it wakes up after a nap. You should also take it out just before you go to bed, every time you see it eliminate you must praise your puppy. I use a catch phrase when my puppy has a pee, I say “get one” while it is urinating and “big job” when it passes faeces. If you do this your dog will pee on command when it is older. (Unless it’s bladder is empty)

You should set your alarm and try to take your puppy out about twice during the night. If like me you are a heavy sleeper and you don’t trust yourself to wake up, take the lazy way out. My puppy’s sleep in the laundry room until they are toilet trained, during the day I dip newspapers into the urine which it has passed in the garden and put these on top of a thick pad of newspaper at night, they are drawn to this because of the smell and they will pee on this during the night. Nevertheless I go to bed very late and get up very early when I have a puppy.