Housebreaking our dog

We also had to deal with housebreaking. Casey came from a shelter and had never been trained or housebroken, so we started right away. Crate training was recommended by the shelter and other dog owners that I had talked to. We went out and bought a crate that was large enough (hopefully!) for her when she is full grown. For now, we divided it in half with a piece of cardboard (with a box behind the cardboard to prevent her from pushing it back). It gives her just enough room to lie down comfortably. We were told that if her crate was too large, she would go potty in the corner and sleep in another area. If it was just the right size, she would be encouraged to keep her area clean as dogs do not like to mess in their space. This will help her to learn to control her bladder and make housebreaking easier.

The first night we put her in her crate, we expected quite a bit of crying. We had been warned that she would NOT be happy. First, I took her outside and tried to get her to go potty. I kept saying “Potty, Casey. Go potty.” I did not pet or interact with her in any other way so she did not think it was playtime. Still, she walked, sniffed and held her business. No luck. Eventually, we came back inside and I put her in the crate. It was about 10 pm. I gave her a treat through the bars and left. She started to whine and cry. I returned to verbally reassured her a couple times without her seeing me and then left for good. She cried for only about 10 minutes and then became silent for the rest of the night.

At about 5:45 the next morning, I returned to find that she had peed and pooped in her crate. What a mess, but I took her out immediately. Again, she did not go potty outside despite my verbal encouragement and lack of play. (She did not need to go again most likely!) I returned with her and cleaned the crate. We had several more accidents in the house that second day but she did go a few times outside and for this, was rewarded with a treat and praise.

The second night, she cried a bit less, but still messed in her crate. We now decided (based upon advice) to remove her water after dinner to help curb accidents. She had more accidents in the house but she also went more regularly outside and she made the connection between “potty” and treats. She also really began to understand what I wanted from her when I said “Potty, Casey”. She would immediately start sniffing around.

The third night marked a huge advancement in housebreaking. There was no crying at bedtime and she woke with a clean crate. Yay, what a good puppy!! I took her outside and she peed and pooped immediately. She got her treats and we came inside. What a breakthrough! She has never had an accident in her crate since. The accidents in the house have gotten fewer and fewer as well since she realizes that she is not rewarded for them. We even went two days (day 10 & 11) without ANY accidents in the house at all. Hopefully this continues! It looks like she is well on her way to being fully housebroken. She is getting better at holding it and letting us know she needs to go and we are getting better at anticipating her needs. I suppose you could say we are being trained almost as much as she is!