Terrier Lover

Paper or No Paper…That is the Question!

Tired of “messes” when you get home from work, and it’s way too late to tell your dog it’s BAD!

Answer this one question:

1. Is my dog by itself most of the day without me?

If you answered Yes, then Paper is your answer.

If you answered No, you have a few options – read “Our Story” near the end of this post.

Yes, I Must Leave My Dog Alone Most of the Day:

Unless you have a 6th sense, you can’t predict when and where your dog is going to go to the bathroom, especially if you’re not with them all the time to learn their habits and mannerisms. That’s why dog toilet training is necessary. Dogs need to learn to “hold it” and go where they are supposed to as they don’t know any different. In the wild, dogs can go when and where they please, but this is not the wild and they need to be taught the difference.

Dog toilet training can be something of a difficult task. Every day needs to be the same, and you need to give him constant attention when you can; this will make the toilet training procedure a lot easier. The training process will take longer if you are working out of the house quite often, as your dog will need to go and the house is the only place that they can.

When you start out dog toilet training, you need to give your dog a place of his own, maybe a corner of your back room. That should be where you put his food, his bed and his toys, and cover the whole floor in newspaper. When you leave the house, make sure he is in that room and can’t get out.

When you are gone he will obviously need the toilet and will go where he is standing, but over time he will pick a place and start to do his business in that one place. When he starts to do that, you can then start to remove the paper from the area furthest away from his chosen spot. Gradually continue this until it is only a small space that is available for him to go. If he misses the paper, then you are moving a little bit too quickly for them, and need to go back 1-2 steps until you get to as little paper as possible. When your dog gets older, they’ll be able to control their bladder and bowel movements a lot easier.

When you are at home, spend as much time with your dog as possible to ensure toilet training goes as easy as possible., Every 45 minutes or so take your dog outside and whenever they go pee pee or poo poo outside, make sure you praise them in an excited and happy manner with lots of enthusiasm. Do this everytime they “go” outside. Your pooch will realize that this is where he needs to go to the toilet and when they can control their bladder a little better, your dog will want to wait until you come to let them out. This system requires a lot of time and patience.

Never scold your dog for doing the toilet in the house, as he does not know any better. We, as humans, went to the bathroom in our diapers until we were potty trained because there was nothing else we could do about it. When we needed to go, we went, and dogs are the same. No dog is properly toilet trained until he is about 6 months old. So, it is a lengthy procedure but a great one when the end results start to show!

We have never personally used the paper training method, as we are with our dogs all day, but if you go to work outside of the home all day, it is essential, and is basically your only option. Many people use this method and are completely satisfied and happy with their results!

No, My Terrier is With Me Most of the Day:

Our Story:
When we adopted Kaptain, he was almost 3 months old, and he was our only dog. He got a ton of attention. We spent nearly every waking minute with him, as we had our own business and took him everywhere with us. In all honesty, he only made a mess in the house maybe 3 times in all his puppiness. He just understood that he needed to go outside, and it was more fun to go outside, as he was praised, than inside when we would slightly scold him and ignore him for a while after.

A dog’s main motivation is to be a part of the “pack”. When they feel as though they are not part of the pack, it just crushes them. He would go into “time out”, where he had to stay in the corner for only about 5 min. He DID NOT like that at all, and would do anything to not be in trouble.

When we adopted our girls, we already had Kappy, who was about 2 yrs old. They were about 2.5 mos, and were not toilet trained whatsoever. Not only were we contending with that, but there were 2 of them…”the bad news bears”. It took longer to train them, as they were splitting our time and attention with each other, and Kappy. The girls were much more difficult to train when they were together.

It was difficult to scold one, as the other felt they were in trouble too, and didn’t know what for. Also, we were living in Canada, in the winter time, when they were puppies in training. They did not like going outside, as it was too cold for them, so they decided they would rather go inside. In fact, it wasn’t that they didn’t know that they should or shouldn’t go…They definitely knew they were not supposed to make a mess in the house. You could tell by their demeanor that they went somewhere in the house, without even seeing it or smelling it.

In fact, they would come right up to us with their ears back and tails down looking guilty. So, we would go looking, and sure enough, there it was…It took a few months to get both of them completely toilet trained for outside messes. We had to make the outside fun! We would go outside with them and play in the snow after they did their jobs…Plus, we would make sure Kaptain went outside to show them what to do as well.

You could almost see Kaptain cringe when they made a mess in the house, because he would never dare do that again.

Kenney has our mother’s newly adopted miniature schnauzer in Texas with him right now, and is in the process of trying to potty train her, as she comes home in a few weeks. He also has one of our girls there with him, Knosey. Knosey is trying to show Precious the ropes, and she is catching on quickly. She has to be let out at least every 45 min – 1 hr, and is praised each and every time she goes the bathroom outside.

Moreover, her messes happened because he was trying to figure out what her mannerisms were before she had to go to the bathroom. Once he paid attention and learned what her habits were, he knows immediately that it’s time to go outside.

Success is on the way!

I hope you enjoyed today’s installment of Terrier Lover, and you learned a lot. Until next time…

Love Your Terrier,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Looking for more great information on training your terrier? This is one great course to use! Check it out here:

Sit, Stay, Fetch

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