Housebreaking a puppy!
We’re housebreaking a puppy! And loving it! Seriously! It’s Christian’s first puppy of his own. He’s 10 weeks old now. And since it’s his, we let him choose his method of training. He has chosen not to crate train. We are also free feeding him. That’s just because I’m a doting mother, and I can’t stand the thought of a baby not getting food when he is hungry. Plus it’s my southern mother’s influence on me. Feed people constantly, and feed them alot!
Here’s the perfect formula for housebreaking, that we happened upon:
1. Lay the ground work - When the kid wants a puppy, paint the worst case scenarios for a long period of time, maybe months (for Christian it was years, as we still had 2 geriatric dogs living). Tell him that he will have to watch the puppy constantly, that it’s a full time job, which is entirely his. He can’t go and do things with friends, as he will have a baby to take care of. But friends can come over. And you will only babysit if you have time, and if he asks in advance. It’s like having a baby and having to find a babysitter. Go into gross graphic detail about picking up their “mess” in the house, and that it could happen 6 times a day or worse if the puppy is sick, and can go on for 6 months or more day in and day out, etc. Then, if they still want a puppy, and you do agree to get them a puppy, they know what’s expected of them.
2. Timing - Bring the puppy home the first day of summer vacation, so the kid is home to watch him. Christian knows he does not have a summer for himself. This summer is dedicated to raising, training, housebreaking, and loving his puppy.
2. Get more help - Have 2 more college age kids living with you for the summer too, if possible (My son Joe and his wife Heather, are here for the summer). They are constantly playing with him, training him, and taking him out to potty. If you don’t know any college students, put an ad in the paper, “Free room and board. Must help with puppy”. Just kidding. But maybe not a bad idea.
3. Tire out the puppy - Let your kid have lots of friends over every day to keep the puppy occupied and tire him out, so he will sleep through the night.
4. Explain the “puppy schedule” to your kid: They eat, poo, nap, pee, play, nap, pee… eat, poo, nap, pee, play, nap, pee, etc. And in that order. And let them know that if they don’t pay attention to that schedule, chances are pretty good that there will be poo or pee to clean up after eating or napping.
I told Christian, everytime he eats, take him out to poo. Every time he wakes up from a nap, be right there, because the first thing he will do, is to step out of his bed and go right over and pee on the carpet.
Christian sleeps with Marley in his dog bed, on top of Christian’s bed, right next to Christian. The first few nights, Christian slept with his arm across Marley, so that if he stirred, Christian would feel it, and take him out in the night.
Also, Greg and I work from home. I will admit, I have gotten very little work done. This puppy is just SO adorable. I just want to be with him! Same thing with Greg, Joe and Heather. So I leave my office, and find Christian playing video games with Marley lazing on his lap. I ask if he’s been out lately. If Christian says he could go out, I gladly take him. And he does his business. I play with him a little, and bring him back to his Daddy.
Before I tell you what Marley’s “score” is on housebreaking, I have to let you know this… Since we have coyotes and bobcats in our area, and small dogs do get eaten in our neighborhood, Marley can never go outside alone. So, he is an inside dog, except for when we take him out to play fetch in the yard (yes, at 10 weeks, he is learning fetch, I’m sure he’s a genius dog). Now, we’re on our 7th day, and (drumroll, please) he has not poo-ed in the house at all! No poo! He has only pee-ed twice on the wood floor when he was on his way out to the back door to go pee after a nap, and someone stopped him to greet him. And when he accidently pee-ed those 2 times, he yelped, as he knew it just wasn’t right! And since it wasn’t his fault that we interrupted his mission to go outside to pee, those 2 pees don’t count. So his score is… 100% He gets an A+! Wow!
Christian also has done 100% and gets an A+! He does not take his eyes off of this dog. He stands there and watches him eat, sits nearby while he naps, etc. And takes him right out. Last night, he asked if we would babysit for him so that he could go out with his friends. Gladly! Trevor’s mom came to pick him up, and I was telling her about our housebreaking phenomenon. I teased Christian, “I think you are just mortified at the idea of having to pick up poo!” He just laughed and agreed. Whatever it is, it works!
