Dog Talk with Uncle Matty: One Wrong Doesn't Make a Right, Either
By Matthew “Uncle Matty” Margolis It is a well-known mathematical fact that two wrongs don't equal a right. Lesser known is the surprising notion that one doesn't, either. The following letter from a reader culminates with the explosive assertion of a single disturbing wrong:
"I just got this dog from the pound. She eats well and sleeps with me, and she's very intelligent. But she keeps leaving me little poops and puddles in the house. I leave the door open and she still poops in the house, right by an open door. She is 4 years old or so, and the pound has no history on her. I have not beaten her yet, but I am about to."
Brute force is never an effective teaching tool. Most people, if told their child's eye had been blackened not by a bully but by his English teacher because of his inability to spell, would run to the nearest happy hour full of ACLU lawyers and scream "civil rights violation!" And the teacher's defense would be embarrassingly lackluster: "No, I never taught him how to spell, but I left the dictionary right there on his desk."
Dogs are not born housebroken. It is not a matter of better breeding, bad genes or big bucks. To date, with all that modern technology affords we humans and our canine counterparts, no breeder has been able to deliver into the world an inherently potty-trained dog. Or child.
If you want your dog to perform his bodily functions out of doors, you have to let him know that. This is done through training. Training is essentially the creation of a shared, albeit limited, language between man and beast.
The good news is that housebreaking is easy to achieve and takes less than a week to accomplish. The bad news is that a lot of people would prefer not to make even that minimal effort. Unfortunately, the headache that results packs enough of a wallop to lead a person down the wrong path -- toward abuse, squalor and abandonment.
The basics of housebreaking boil down to the regulation of three components: food, water and walks.
If you and your pooch are steadfast in your adherence to what I call the Feed-Water-Walk regimen, he'll catch on remarkably fast: He eats and drinks at the same times every day, and he relieves himself outside immediately after.
Your role? You provide the food and water at the same times every day, and you take him outside immediately after -- simply leaving the door open is not good enough.
To help matters along:
-- Lay down no paper or puppy pads on the floor in any part of your house, as this will only confuse your pup.
-- Confine the dog to one area of the house when you are not home.
-- Allow no buffet-style eating or drinking until the dog is successfully housebroken.
Should an accident occur along the way, proceed in one of two ways:
-- If you catch your pup in the act, interrupt him with a verbal correction, take him outside immediately and praise him when you get there. Then go inside and clean the soiled floor with an odor neutralizer.
-- If you stumble upon an accident, clean it up and forget about it. Accidents should be infrequent if you are upholding your end of the deal.
Consistent repetition is the key to successful training, and housebreaking is no exception. Beating a dog, on the other hand, will get you nowhere -- except the courthouse or the clink.
For detailed information on the Feed-Water-Walk housebreaking regimen and additional training techniques, check out "Good Dog, Bad Dog," "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things" and "I Just Got a Puppy. What Do I Do?" You'll find these books and more in your local bookstore, public library or at www.unclematty.com.
Woof!
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Dog trainer Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis is co-author of 18 books about dogs, a behaviorist, a popular radio and television guest, and host of the PBS series "WOOF! It's a Dog's Life!" Read all of Uncle Matty's columns at the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com, and visit him at www.unclematty.com. Send your questions to dearuncle.gazette@unclematty.com or by mail to Uncle Matty at P.O. Box 3300, Diamond Springs, CA 95619.
Copyright 2010 Creators Syndicate Inc.
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