SETTING THE TOILET HABIT - 48 HOURS WINDOW

I have been in Dog Training Business from the early seventies. Initially I was a part timer pursuing this as a hobby. I became a full time professional dog trainer from 1988 onwards when I converted this hobby into a profession . So for nearly 35 years I have been in this business and one major issue most of the clients came to me for consultation is about setting the toilet habit for their dogs.Most of the owners found it extremely difficult to handle this particular problem. The general complaint is ‘ my dog pees and poops wherever he wants inside the house’. Most of them will add to it by saying that they take their dogs for regular walks and while the dogs do not do the job outside but the moment they come into the house they mess up inside the house. This will include places like carpet,couch,bed room and it is a long list. Many a times the owners are extremely frustrated with their dogs and some of them take out all the frustrated anger on their dogs.

Let us take a few steps back and try to understand this problem as to how it started and developed this way. This takes us back to the first day of the pup’s arrival at home. When the new pup arrived everyone at home was excited and I am sure the pup was pampered. For the pup it was a new environment new people and in the process of settling down it must have started peeing and pooping whenever and wherever it wanted to inside the home. The new owners probably did not mind it then and cleaned it up with much less fuss.But as the days progressed this was becoming a major issue because the pup which was growing fast is still using the inside of the home for its toilet needs. Dogs grow up quite fast and in less than a year most of them attain full growth and become adult dogs. During this period the dogs pick up plenty of habits good as well as bad. But you can relate every one of them to their human owners/handlers. Dogs’ behaviour are direct reflections of what their human owners did with them or did not do with them.

So any solution for this problem naturally should start from the owners/handlers. Here is the SOLUTION for this major problem - " TOILET HABITS" - which can be effectively followed for a young pup. Follow step by step this sure shot formula which I call "48 HOURS WINDOW" and enjoy the benefits for the life time of your dog.

Prevention is better than cure – This is apt for many situations in this world and it is perfect for our dogs too. We will try and prevent the dogs from using the areas which they are not supposed to use for peeing and pooping. So this brings our focus to have a designated place where you think that the dog can do the job.Once this is identified and in place, our Program of 48 hours window starts. Why this 48 hours ? The first 48 hours after the pup’s arrival is not only crucial but it is the best time to set rules and boundaries for the new arrival. On arrival you will notice the pup trying to smell all the surrounding areas in your home and probably moving all over your home.While doing this there is a possibility that the pup may pee on the floor. When this happens your work begins then.

• Bring a large bloating paper or a old newspaper sheet and just place it on top of the pee and allow it to soak for a couple of minutes.
• Then remove this paper and place it in a location where you think the pup can do the job. Place the paper there and keep some stones on top of it so that it remains in that place.
• You have to supervise the pup with great care and make sure the pup does not relieve again inside the house.
• Clean place where the pup peed earlier thoroughly with vinegar which can remove the odour.
• Now once in two hours you physically carry the pup and put him down near the soaked paper. Let the pup smell the paper and mostly he will relieve himself.
• Once he does that praise him nicely like saying ‘ that’s a good boy ‘ . Then pick him and take him inside the home.
• Apart from the two hours slot please remember to bring him to this area after every meal,after he gets up from sleep and also when you notice him vigorously smelling the floor.

Here are some rules to be followed when you reach the location.

• The pup may be kept on a loose leash so that he does not run away from that area.
• Once you put him down then you have to stand there like a tree. NO EYE CONTACT, NO TALKING AND NO BODY LANGUAGE . Any of the 3 will distract him and our purpose will be lost.
• You have to wait patiently until the pup do the job.
• Once it happens then it is Rewards time. You really have to praise the dog and pamper him with your love and then bring him inside home.

By this time the pup will associate the place for peeing and pooping and probably will start looking for the location when the need comes .Please note there could be a couple of accidents in the night time when everyone is sleeping. It is part of this program and it could be eradicated later. Make sure the time between the last nature's call outing in the night and the first one in the morning is narrow.

In the 48 hours,you could almost master this program if you have followed up with whatever I have mentioned above. This could be continued for some more days also if you have had some accidents. May be you can increase the number of visits. The dog once learnt this way will easily stay away from soiling your home. As the pup grows it will also get into better bladder control and so the number of visits to the location could be reduced. This is a sure shot method. I have trained hundreds of dogs by this method and never had a problem later in their lives.

J. RANGARAJAN (RANGA)
WOODSTOCK DOG TRAINING SCHOOL