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The
most immediate concern of new dog owners is that of
housebreaking the pet. In order to accomplish this
task, the essential principle that the owner must
recognize is that it is always the desire of the dog
to please its master. Nothing can give the dog greater
pleasure than to know that its actions have met with
approval; nothing can cause the dog greater displeasure
than to know that its behaviour has caused disapproval.
When the dog performs its functions
properly, it should be rewarded by a profusion of
endearing words, by petting, or even with a tidbit.
When the dog performs its functions improperly, it
should be grasped by the scruff of the neck, told
briskly and in no uncertain terms that it has done
the wrong thing, shown what it has done, and then
put back on its paper.
It must also be remembered that these
expressions of approval or disapproval must be made
immediately after the animal performs or is about
to perform. If there is a delay of even a moment,
the animal simply will not associate the praise or
punishment with its natural functions, and will be
at a complete loss to understand the favourable or
unfavourable outbursts on the part of the owner. In
any case, the owner must be rigidly consistent in
his rewards and punishments in the housebreaking routine.
For the speed with which housebreaking will be accomplished
depends on the owner's diligence in maintaining that
consistency.
It must further be borne in mind that a dog does not
have a human mentality; so a reasonable amount of
patience in training will be required. In a variable
amount of time—anywhere from a week to three weeks—the
dog will become conditioned to the fact that when
it does not perform its functions properly, it is
punished. When it does perform its functions properly,
it is praised. Soon the dog will always perform its
duty as required, not because it recognizes a sanitary
code, but simply because of the desire to meet with
approval and avoid displeasure.
Very young puppies, say between the ages of six weeks
to two months, are usually first broken to paper indoors.
This is commonly accomplished by lifting the animal
and placing it on paper as soon as any "danger signals"
are noticed. This is combined with punishment for
mistakes and reward for correct conduct. After any
mistake the dog should be put back on its paper. The
paper should be placed in one specific area. Usually,
after a few days, the animal will be noted to make
a beeline for the paper whenever it has to "go."
When
the animal becomes strong enough and if the weather
is agreeable, the animal is broken to the outside.
With older pups, or with pups acquired during the
warm seasons, it will save time to break the animal
directly to the outside. It has often been suggested
that the most effective way to housebreak a dog is
to rub the animal's face in the excretory matter whenever
it has made a mistake. While the effectiveness of
this procedure can hardly be denied, it is at best
a barbarous, unclean, and unnecessary practice.
Consistently good results will be obtained by the
painless method described above. For the proper maintenance
of a dog's health it is most advisable to walk the
dog four times a day: morning, noon, early evening,
and bedtime, though many dogs will get along very
well when walked three times—or even, on occasion,
twice—a day. The dog that is not yet housebroken should
be walked somewhat more often until housebreaking
is accomplished.
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