Category Archives: Dog Potty Training

How to Teach Your Puppy to Lie Down and Stay

Posted in Dog Potty Training, Dog Training, Uncategorized by

I have found that about.com has a wealth of useful dog information, including teaching your dog to lie down. Check out this link to their instructions for the basic down command http://dogs.about.com/od/basiccommands/ht/downcommand.htm

Once your puppy has learned what “lie down” means, you should practice it for longer 20 – 30 minute periods and insist that your dog “stay” in the down position until you tell him “okay” to get up. This will establish you as the pack leader to your dog. When you practice this exercise, you should sit on the floor and read or somehow quietly pass the time, staying in the same position next to your dog. This way, if he gets up, you are immediately ready to put him back in the down position, and keep him there until you are ready to tell him “okay” to get up. Eventually, when your puppy realizes that he cannot just get up without permission, he will accept you as the one in charge, which will be well worth it as you proceed with any more training beyond sit and lie down. Persistence is the key, and it may take a couple sessions a day for 3 to 4 weeks. In the end, you should rest assured that your dog will listen and obey this command in any situation.

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5 Essential Steps To Cleaning Dog Pee

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While cleaning up is one of the less pleasant aspects of puppy housetraining, it is certainly a critical one if you hope to succeed. Many people assume they can simply wipe the puddles up with a towel and be done with it. Unfortunately that just isn’t enough in most cases.

Dog pee clean up is not rocket science, but there are a few things you should know. You should not use ammonia based cleaners, as dogs are actually attracted to those as if you never cleaned the area at all. Be sure you clean the area larger than main spot, to be sure you get any tracked pee or poop from when your dog left the area. Those little wet paw prints are often overlooked.  And, of course, all dogs are different. Some are much easier to housebreak than others.

To clean a carpeted area:

  1. Pick up poop and blot pee with paper towels or rags
  2. Sprinkle w/baking soda and let sit just a few minutes
  3. Vacuum
  4. Neutralize
  5. Repel if needed

To clean solid flooring:

  1. Pick up poop and blot pee with paper towels or rags
  2. Wipe clean using a clean mop, sponge or rags with a non-ammonia based cleaner
  3. Wipe clean AGAIN with a fresh mop, sponge or rags and fresh cleaning solution (not the bucket you rinsed the first round in.
  4. Neutralize
  5. Repel if needed

To neutralize the area, you may use a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water (spray and blot) or you may purchase a neutralizer from a pet store. You may need to repeat this step if your dog keeps going back to spots you have already neutralized. You may use a black-fluorescent light to see urine spots that you can’t see with the naked eye if you think there are old spots you have missed. Be sure to clean and neutralize all previously soiled areas you may have missed, if your dog just seems to be going pee all over the house.

If your dog still goes back to pee in that spot, you may need to add step 5 (repel) to your arsenol. You may use a pungent perfume or air freshener as a repellent. Dogs have a very keen sense of smell, and often dislike those fragrances. My Boston Terrier won’t even sit in my lap if I put my favorite fragrant lotion on my hands.  You may otherwise wish to purchase a dog repellent from a pet store.

If you diligently follow these instructions, your dog should have no reason to keep going back to those same spots to pee or poop.