1. Did you know that you can train your puppy to just do his business in one corner of your garden, for example? It's true. When you begin the training, always put your puppy on lead to take him out, and always take him to the same spot. Wait for him to go, give the action a command ("Have a wee/have a poo/get busy") and then give praise and treats when he does his thing in the right place.
2. Having said that, be very careful to make sure you train your puppy to happily go on many different surfaces. Without giving it much thought, I took Neka out to the grassy park next door to do all her wees when she was a puppy. Everyday there was always plenty of grass in the places where we walked. What I didn't realize was that I was teaching her to wee and poo only on grass. One night when we were in a city with not a blade of grass to be found, my poor frantic and bursting 6-month-old puppy was desperately searching for somewhere suitable to have a wee. Eventually she gave in and did it on a pile of leaves. After that night I made a point of teaching her to go on lots of different surfaces. Now she will wee on pavement, gravel, mud, whatever. But her favourite surface is still grass.
3. Remember to catch your puppy before he has a chance to get it wrong and show him how to get it right. Always praise your puppy for getting it right but never scold him for getting it wrong.
4. Finally, one thing you need to know that everyone always forgets, is that dogs don't generalise well. In terms of house training, this means that while they might be perfectly clean and trained at home, they won't necessarily equate that with being clean and trained in someone else's home. So when you go to visit the mother-in-law you will definitely need to keep an eagle eye on that 12-month-old puppy who has been reliably house trained for more than 7 months. Treat it like starting all over again and catch him before he has a chance to do anything. Don't say I didn't warn you...
So, what happens when an adult dog starts to soil inside the house for no apparent reason? Take him to the vet. In my experience, this only happens when a dog or cat is ill and needs to get your attention about it.
Sometimes, of course, there is a perfectly apparent reason, although you might not spot it straightaway. For example, the pair of year-old brothers who both (separately, in their separate homes) wee'd on their owners beds after coming home from their first stays in a kennel.
Today, here is a row of sweet little tails and an illustration of how the holding box (where the puppies go while I'm cleaning out their box) won't be big enough for very long.
Row of tiny tails
Gonna be needing a new box very soon...
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