“Adult elimination problems represent a significant source of distress for both owners and dogs. …incomplete house training is the leading cause given by dog owners for relinquishing their dogs to the uncertain fate of the animal shelter…underscoring the importance of preventing and resolving house-training problems”
Tag: housebreaking
Housetraining, using a signal indicating need to eliminate
Unsuccessful housetraining is a leading cause why dogs end up in shelters. House training is not an individual process, all dogs benefit from the same housetraining strategies. However, dogs may independently learn, depending on breed, size, early exposure to acceptable substrates and beginning at the breeding location. I am discussing training a new puppy, not training an adult dog with incomplete housetraining. However, the same strategies apply. If you have potty trained a child, you know, you need to be there during the early stages. Sometimes we are there to encourage, teach the location, patience and perhaps even model the behavior. During this process, the child had to learn to hold it or wait, at some point during the potty training.
House Training
One of the leading causes for giving up our dogs to the uncertain fate of an animal shelter is incomplete house training. According to several studies, elimination problems are the second most common behavioral complaint made to behavior consultants with aggression leading the list. There are several problem behaviors associated with eliminative behavior that requires a careful diagnostic review and should only be done by a qualified behavior consultant or board certified veterinarian behaviorist. House training problems can be easily prevented by following basic house training guidelines and using effective management especially when applied to puppies at an early age. It should be noted when encountering incomplete, improper or unlearned house training with adult dogs the best course of treatment would be to follow the same general guidelines for training puppies.