We know: being a perfect dog human is hard work. The task is complicated if, suppose, your dog starts peeing inside the house. You clean it thoroughly. But it happens again; and after a few days it happens again. And if you want to test your nerves, adopt a puppy: it is more than likely that the child uses the carpet in the room to release his kidneys no matter how hard you try to go out to the park with him every half hour.
In these situations, some people enraged and shouted at their dog friend. Others even try to use physical punishment, and whip their furry partner. And we have all heard that you have to scrub the dog’s snout in the pee. Well, don’t do it. The latest science of animal behavior has taught us that dogs do not struggle to dominate at home.
Yelling at the dog only makes things worse
Beyond breathing calmly doing things differently, and kindly, it turns out that punishing a dog only makes the problem worse. If we look at the situation from the point of view of our furry companion: what does Lucas learn if he pees and suddenly his favorite human begins to scream?
The chances of Lucas understanding why we are screaming are slim, especially if some time has passed between the accident and the moment you discover it. Unfortunately, the safest thing is that our four-legged partner learns how much he should not urinate in front of us, so he will hide to do so. And, even worse: he will start to be afraid of us.
No, your dog doesn’t want to bother you
Although we believe we know our dog very well, there is evidence that, however, we do not always interpret the emotions of animals as well as we believe; a process that is called humanizing and that, in this case, translates into the tendency to attribute to dogs emotions or motives that do not necessarily exist.
Thus, when our dog friend pees on the carpet of the newly purchased lounge or in our favorite shoes, he is not being spiteful, stubborn or angry. If we think like a dog, surely the shoes smell funny or simply were too close to the door and he was looking forward to leaving home to break free.
The secret of educating a puppy not to pee in the house
No one is born learned: neither are puppies. And although we live in a culture in which it seems easier to underline mistakes than to congratulate the successes, it is not about pointing out what the dog does wrong: in this case, the most effective thing is directly to ignore it. Instead, let’s try to capture what our partner is doing well, and reward him as he deserves.
In short: the trick to teach your puppy not to pee in the house and do his needs outside is very simple: go outside frequently and reward him immediately after he pees or releases his intestine. Although simple, it requires patience: you have to keep the awards for three weeks in a row without domestic accidents. And we need to go out with the dog very often.
For younger puppies, it may mean leaving every half hour during the first few days; so make sure you have your friend’s coat, boots and belt always at hand. What prizes do we use? Today, food, toys or anything else that your dog friend loves is the best tool to reinforce good behavior. And, even more important: those rich prizes will make your friend suddenly pay close attention. And they will make learning by your side become a beautiful, and tasty, doggy adventure.