The Best Way to Housetrain your Dog
Article written by Nancy Settecasi
Learning to housetrain your dog is often the most difficult task in regards to dog care. Indoor housetraining is often used on small dogs, such as yorkies or malteses. Because a yorkie's excretions are so small, it is easier just to lay down newspaper, a wee-wee pad or use a doggy litter box (which isn't as messy) and have them relieve themselves in the house. It's a convenient way to housetrain your dog without the hassle.
You have the option to housetrain your dog on newspaper (what a mess!), wee-wee pads (the old-fashioned way) or the Wiz Dog mat. We highly recommend the Wiz Dog for 3 reasons: it is easy to clean, easy to use and best of all, NO WET PAWS tracking the house. I found none of the other housetraining options to be as effective. I own 2 cocker spaniels and from my own personal experience, I found that the ink on the newspaper turns your dog's paws black, not to mention that the dog will shred the paper to pieces. The wee-wee pads, although they were locked into a holder, my dog managed to dig at the paper until he tore a hole in it and shredded it to pieces. Of course, he shredded it only after it was soiled. This, in turn, would get him soiled with urine and feces. Needless to say, I dealt with months and months of coming home to a room full of shredded, soiled wee-wee pads.
Being a dog owner most of my life and having dealt with housetraining dogs, the experience compelled me to purchase the Wiz Dog mat, which is a great product that eliminates the problems involved when it comes time to housetrain your dog.
Regardless how you choose to housetrain your dog, it should be done in conjunction with crate training. When you housetrain your dog in a crate, you basically let the dog out of the crate after meals and after naps. These are usually the times when a dog feels the need to relieve himself. He may also feel the need to go after a play session. You basically direct him to the Wiz Dog mat, newspaper or wee-wee pad and give him a command like “"go potty"” and watch him. If he relieves himself on the paper, you praise him immediately and give him a small treat. If he tries to walk away, pick him up and put him back on the paper until he goes, then praise and reward. You may want to repeat the command a few times so he learns to associate the command to the action. If he doesn't get the hint that he should go on the paper, you can try buying doggie urine drops and apply 2 drops to the newspaper every time you put a clean set down. This should lure him to that spot.
If your puppy is still too young to be taken out on a leash, you can housetrain your dog to go indoors during the first few months. Once he's old enough to go outside (each dog differs; some small breeds should never be taken outdoors to relieve themselves), then you can move him into leash training.
Some dogs respond quickly to housetraining and some take a little more time to learn. Be patient and don't get frustrated.