How many pups have we raised and housetrained over the years? I can’t even begin to guess since we often keep youngsters to see how they develop, later placing them on co-ownerships, as show dogs, or in pet homes. We’ve also placed adult dogs that we were done showing and had no plans to breed. Combined with all the dogs we've raised and kept over the past 40+ years, that’s a lot of puppies, and a lot of puppy raising experience.
I’ve never found Dals to be difficult to housetrain and most
of them have not been particularly destructive. Pups are all different of course, and some
catch on to housetraining more quickly, or develop good bladder and bowel
control sooner than others. Some pups
seem to play only with their own toys, while others are continually tempted by
household items that look like fun and are hard to resist.
One thing I know from raising all those puppies is the
importance of supervision. Puppies are
not born knowing they shouldn’t pee on the carpet, pull the drapes off the
wall, shred the sofa pillows, or eat books and magazines. It’s our job as responsible owners to keep a
close eye on each puppy, get him outdoors at appropriate times, and prevent him
from getting into mischief.
Puppy buyers often ask when it will be OK for the puppy to
sleep out (of his crate) at night, or have the run of the house during the day
while they are at work. The answer in
all cases is LET HIM EARN IT. Appropriate
and consistent supervision will result in a puppy that knows the rules of the
house and is trustworthy much sooner than a puppy that is given too much
freedom too soon.
My last litter of pups went to experienced dogs owners,
people who had all raised pups in the past, though in several cases not for
many years. I always emphasize
supervision – keeping a close eye on the puppy so it does not develop bad
habits. When the pups were about 6
months old I found out that one of the puppies was still having regular
accidents in the house both day and night.
Turns out she was being given the same freedom as the adult dog in the
household – left uncrated at night and loose in the house for several hours at
a time when no one was home. Of COURSE
the puppy was having accidents. She
truly didn’t know, and was not receiving proper supervision. She had never earned the freedom she was
being given.
My puppy Max is doing well, but he still sleeps in a crate
at night and goes back in his crate if we will be gone for an hour or two. Not because he is a bad dog, but because he
is a puppy! He easily waits all night
when crated and has done it for a long time, but if he had the run of the house
at night it’s very likely he would have to pee, and it would be on the
floor. His house manners are very good,
and he asks at the door if he has to go out – but if no one was there to let him
out, he would certainly go on the floor.
Not his fault.
Max is an active, mischievous pup who assumes that
everything is a toy. He’s normally good
at playing with dog toys, but if something catches his attention and it looks
like FUN, he will pick it up and play with it – and possibly destroy it. The same is true with counters. He knows he is not supposed to put his feet
up and take things off the counters, but if something looks or smells particularly
interesting, he just might decide to check it out. If he is successful at this a few times, it’s
suddenly become a habit and MUCH more difficult to resolve. If he’s never allowed to do it, or is caught
and corrected when he does, it never becomes a habit.
Fern will turn a year old on Saturday and is a very good
dog. She only plays with dog toys, and
never steals. Her house manners are
excellent and she has very good control.
Next week we’ll try leaving her uncrated at night – I think she’s earned
it. If she does get into any kind of
mischief she'll go back in her crate for a bit longer. Because she’s been very trustworthy when loose
in the house, she’s getting increasing amounts of freedom during the day, and if
we’re gone for an hour or two we know she will behave. Soon we’ll try some half days, but if she
gets into mischief she’ll lose that privilege for awhile longer. I presume by
the end of the summer she’ll have earned full house privileges. We probably could do that now, but I don’t
want her making mistakes and learning bad habit.
I’m not sure that Max will be trustworthy by the time he is
a year old. He’s such a mischievous,
playful, fun loving pup, and everything is a toy. We’ll see.
But hee’s very like his father Argus who rarely got into mischief and could
probably have had the run of the house at a very early age. We’ll see how Max progresses over the next
few months.
To repeat, the dogs have to earn the privilege of being
house dogs, and if they screw up then it’s back to crating and increased supervision
for awhile. The goal is a dog that does
not REQUIRE crating, but is comfortable being crated while eating, traveling,
or just to have a few less dogs underfoot.
I try to give each of the dogs some “only dog time”, crating the others
so each dog has some special time for petting, training or just snuggling,
without having to compete, and I don't want the crated dogs fussing about this. Being crated is just part of everyone's routine.
Works for me.
