Accidents In The House

Unfortunately for us, cleaning up an accident in the house is an inevitable part of life for a puppy owner. But there are many things we can do to guide our dogs towards the right direction and to guard against it happening unnecessarily.

What to Look For:

Puppies usually need to go outside 15 minutes after eating. Look for signs such as sniffing our spinning.

Stay dry all night!

First of all, dogs don't like to wet their bed. This is very uncomfortable for them, and they tend to wait until someone can take them elsewhere. If your dog is in his kennel, he/she will let you know in the middle of the night that it needs to go out by barking...and barking...and barking.

The smart thing to do is to not go to see about your dog when it barks at night. If you do, your dog will learn to bark in the middle of every night. Try to go all night without taking the dog out, and see if the kennel is dry in the morning. It is most likely that it will be. If it isn't, clean it up and start over. When you wake up with your dog barking, wait until it is quiet and then go take the dog outside. Wait 15 minutes longer the next night, then 30 minutes the next night, and so on. In week or two, your dog will be sleeping through the night without having to get up.

Ring the Bell

This is how to teach your dog to ring the bell when he/she needs to go outside: Tie a large jingle bell to your doorknob. Ring the bell yourself whenever you take him/her out. Do this for several days, until he/she will realize that the door "magically" opens when the bell rings.

Park!

This term means to eliminate on command. This is very useful on cold windy days, or dark sleepy nights. This simple one-syllable word will trigger the important behavior to eliminate, so you can go back inside. Here's how you do it: Get your clicker and treats handy and take him out. Wait until after he does the job to click and treat his behavior (be careful - it is important that you do not click/treat too soon, because he will not be finished and will feel like stopping the behavior to get his treat. Likewise, clicking and treating too late will not enforce the behavior you want.) Do this for several days until he understands what Park means. As soon as you say, "Park," you should see your dog sniffing around.

Tips on cleaning up your dog's messes

There is a four step process to effectively clean up a mess. This can be applied for other types of messes in the house as well as messes made by Fido. This process goes as follows:

Eliminate

Pick up any solid pieces of garbage first. It is a good idea to buy some latex rubber gloves, and while wearing those, turn a trash-bag inside out to scoop up the mess. That way, you and any clothes, garments, etc. will not come into contact with the mess.

Saturate

Using a degreaser, completely saturate the affected area with a liberal amount of fluid. A good type of degreaser would be 409 or an equivalent. Make sure you use a anti-bacterial agent if there isn't one already in your cleaner solution.

Dissolve

Now, wait for your degreaser fluid to work its magic. Normally you will only have to wait a minute or so for the solution to effectively run its course.

Remove

Using paper towels, wipe up the cleaner solution until no trace can be found, repeat if necessary. If you feel like using a mop and bucket after that, be my guest.

For A Carpet:

Use the same method mentioned above, but I highly suggest using a Bissel Little-green, or some form of wet vac. Carpet is easily stained, and there's nothing worse than a urine stained carpet.

Tips:

Take your dog to the same spot each time you take him outside. This can be behind the shed, in the woods, or in a leaf pile. Just let him know that when he's there, it's time to park.
Reward if he parks quickly by giving Jackpots.
If you have taken your dog out recently and he/she is ringing the bell, he/she may only want to go out to play. Dogs can wait at least an hour before going again.
If your dog is throwing up, or is experiencing diarrhea, chances are it will usually go away in a day or two. But if it persists, talk to your dog's veterinarian and seek help.
Try not to get frustrated with your dog if he won't park. Dogs can sense your frustration and get frustrated themselves - not knowing what to do.
Rain, Snow, and other forms of precipitation may interfere with your dog's ability to find its "spot," so allow some extra time in taking him out.

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