Potty Training Dogs

Archive for October, 2006

Question: Once house trained dogs having frequent accidents, help?

I recently moved, which in the past two years happened 3 times. I have two dogs, both house trained. But with my last move in early August, they have used the bathroom in the house at least once a week. I don’t know what to do. They were fine until recently. They are 5 years and years and I thought putting them in a crate all of a sudden would freak them out. They usually do this at night, so I wake up to a surprise. I let them out at least 3 times a day, sometimes more. Any suggestions?

Answer: Even if dogs are house trained, moving to a new house can throw them off sometimes. Since this is a new house for them, I would just be more attentive and instead of taking them out only 3 times a day, try taking them out every 3 or 4 hours. The more chances they have to go and empty out outside, the less likely they are to have an accident inside. Also, if you notice they primarily have accidents during the night, I would recommend a few things. Take the Water away a couple of hours before bedtime. So let’s say I usually go to bed around 10 o’clock, I might take the Water away around 7pm and make sure my dogs go do their business before I go to bed. And if not that, you may have to wake up earlier to take them out to go potty. If they were house trained before, they should pick it up again very quickly.

As some people pointed out already, it could also be a medical problem. If your dog(s) are peeing frequently but only little bits at a time (not marking) then it could be a bladder infection. If this is the case, please take your dogs to the vet as soon as possible.

With that said, that also brings up they could be potentially marking this new house. Are they male or female? Are they neutered? If your male is un-neutered and appears to be marking, what’s going on is that when you do take him out to go potty, he’s basically keeping some of his urine stored so that he can mark later on. So when you take him outside, he’s not emptying out. If this is the case, make sure you take him out again about a half an hour to an hour later and make sure he empties out.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

How to House Train a Dog : Have Reasonable Expectations for Housebreaking a Dog: Part 1

Dog Training: Dancing Shih tzu puppy FurFur 踴る犬

Question: Potty Training Free-Fed Dog?

My dogs are free-fed – and I firmly believe in it, and my dogs are very healthy and not at all over weight.

I will be getting a new puppy next month, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for potty training a free fed dog – as most tips are just for dogs on a feeding schedule.

Answer: Truthfully, you might want to schedule feed, until the house-breaking is completed. Once you are finished with the house-breaking, you can switch over to the free feeding.

Puppy Training & Care : How to Potty-Train a Puppy