I adopted Monty from another family – he had a host of behavioural issues, but my main concern was he wasn’t housebroken. He peed and pooped on a mat in the basement for the first 5 years of his life, how is that for conditioned? He housebroke overnight – yes, he was barking at the door the first morning to get out and pee – to get out and be a dog for the first time in his life. Monty didn’t know how to be “dog”, he never learned.
My dog Monty housebroke overnight. I know every dog is different, but this is how it happened. I will tell you straight up – had I followed the typical advice for housebreaking? I would still be fighting him peeing in the home. How does one housebreak a dog? Treat it like a dog, let it be a dog – let the dog learn through social cognition. But trainers have you standing in the back yard with a treat trying to housebreak the puppy like you would a human child.
When dogs smell poop – they aren’t smelling the poop itself, they are smelling the anal gland scent of the other dog. Every scent is different, think of it like a dogs finger print. So when a dog smells poop – then smells the dogs butt that pooped? Yeah, they can link it up. This is the reason that dogs smell poop and ass. This is dog behaviour – smelling another dogs bum or privates. It shocks and amazes how many owners don’t know to let their dog sniff another dogs butt – or simply won’t. That’s the basics of socialization.
I see so many posts in various venues about house breaking the dog, people are having such a hard time with it. Unfortunately, people are trying to teach a dog to pee and poop from a human perspective. You teach your young child that a toilet anywhere is where you go to the bathroom, but many try to teach a dog to pee on command in one spot. Then it’s all excitement and treats? Someone please explain to me how this is supposed to work?
When a “house broken” dog is rehomed, and it starts peeing in the house? It’s highly likely that the only toilet it knew – back yard – is now gone. The dog doesn’t understand the concept that anywhere outside is a toilet. But now it’s punish the dog for not understanding? Lock it in a crate etc.
If the dog isn’t home, they can’t pee in the house. Dog doesn’t want to pee outside in the back yard? You spend enough time outside the home, the dog is going to pee and poop. Get the dog outside as much as you can starting out, not just in the back yard. Let them explore, start the socialization process. They will get used to peeing outside, and throw away the treats, they are not needed. Peeing and pooping shouldn’t be a moment of excitement, chill out, let the dog do its thing. Everything should be calm, but you’re being told to create excitement – everywhere.
Monty was dropped off to me by his former owners at around 6 pm – and from the moment the owners left, we spent probably 6 hours outside the condo just focusing on him learning how to be dog for the first time in his life. We went to pet stores for some trust building and getting to know each other. I took him for long walks and encouraged him to be dog, to sniff, to find where other dogs peed and pooped – and to mark. Monty didn’t even know to lift his leg – until he watched another dog in a dog park.
If I smell a fire hydrant, I’ll likely smell pee. Monty’s nose can differentiate every dog that has peed on that hydrant. He’s meeting the local dogs without actually meeting them and Monty would mark the hydrant too. Now, after that – when he physically meets the dogs that peed on the hydrant, he knows the scent, he’s already met them in a sense. We got back at around 2 am, his bladder was empty. The next morning – yes, he was barking at the door to get out and pee. He simply wanted to be a dog and that is what he is today.
The next morning, we were off for the day — gone all day. Dog parks, pet stores, other commercial stores that allowed dogs, long walks. The first time at a dog park, Monty watched another male dog lift his leg to pee – and it was hilarious watching him lift his leg for the first time. He near fell over, but he learned through “social cognition”. He needs to learn dog from other dogs – I can’t teach him that.
It takes “dog” to teach dogs how to “dog”. Humans cannot teach a dog how to be “dog”, you can only teach “human” – they are failing miserably, and it shows through all the different dog training venues online.