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Once my dog is potty trained, how can I reinforce this?
Most dogs begin potty training by being taken on walks or breaks outside. When they complete each potty act, they get praised and rewarded. Then, they are brought back inside. You can also reinforce commands and completion of potty training this way:
Have a dog clicker. After the dog goes potty, name the name you want to use, click your clicker, praise and reward your dog. The reward can be verbal praise, neck scratch, back scratch, and/or a treat they get. Use two names, something for one and something for two. You can shop for a dog clicker here.
Dog clickers come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Some have a little wristlet bracelet for convenience.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.If you have a dog door, most dogs learn to access outside for potty breaks on their own. If you don’t, a lot of people hang a bell on the back door to the yard. Before letting the dog out for breaks, they ring the bell. Sooner rather than later, the dog starts ringing the bell when they need to go outside to go potty. If there is no bell there, they may even sit there and wait for you to see them there and open the door.
Some dogs don’t give a clear sign they need a potty break, and then can have an accident in your house. Any time a dog starts going to corners or farther away in the house looking for “something,” it usually means you need to let them out for a potty break. If a dog wakes you up with a bark or nudge, usually they need a break opportunity. Watch for subtle signs, and utilize these times to formally let them out for a potty break. Then, reinforce and praise that they went potty outside. All potty done outside gets some type of reward and praise.
If they have an accident inside, place them outside immediately. Clean up the mess. Usually disposable rags and some Pine Sol sanitizer. Have this stuff in a spray bottle ready to go if you need it. Keep one ready to go spray bottle of it in your home, and one in your car. Have a small bag of disposable rags available with it as well. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Then spray some odor neutralizer where the accident occurred. This is so you can prevent the dog from going potty there again because it smells like potty. You can shop dog odor neutralizers here. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
So you can see that the strategy is that you prevent an accident in the home by recognizing signs the dog needs to be taken outside for a potty break. Reward them after they go potty outside.
Always, if they have an accident, they immediately get placed outside. Then they stay outside while you clean up the accident(and apply odor neutralizer to the area). The odor neutralizer is so they don’t scent it out and use it again for another accident site.
If they go more outside, praise and reward that. Then they can come back inside. If you notice you respond and redirect when they have an accident inside. However they do not get punished. They only get rewarded and praised for the wanted and good behavior: doing things right.
Keep working on prevention by providing numerous outdoor break opportunities all day. Prevent indoor accidents by ensuring they go potty outdoors, and are completely unloaded each time before bringing them back inside again.
How can I get my dog to go potty in a certain place in my yard?
Once you have reinforced potty training, you can work on precision training your dog to go potty in a certain place. There are three main products involved. What you do is that you set up a rock, fire hydrant statue or some type of object on the ground. You install a pheromone stake next to the object. Or you can spray the object with a spray attractant that ellicits that the dog go potty there.
Then, take your dog over there and reward them for going potty over there.
Here are the three helper product set ups.
1. You can read/shop for the pheromone stake here. It’s called an infused yard stake. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
2. You can put a rock, brick or dog fire hydrant statue there and spray it with potty attractant spray. This will attract your dog to go potty over there. You can shop for the potty attractant spray here. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
3. You can set up a rock, brick or fire hydrant statue that identifies the designated place for dog breaks. Spray the potty here attractant spray on it. Every time they go potty there, they get rewarded. You can shop for dog fire hydrant yard statues here. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We hope this information has helped you in precision potty training your dog.
In the future after taking all these potty training steps, you will be able to build on this success when you and your dog are out in public. Because your dog will know the potty train command names and rewards system, you can take them to designated dog potty areas in public places or airports for breaks.
They will then complete their potty breaks when available so you can continue on in public with them, whether you are just at a park or are traveling on public transportation with them. All airports have designated areas where you can take your dog for a potty break. Some of the areas are outside the airport, some as you deplane the aircraft, and some are inside the secure areas of airports. You can look them up online before going to the airport that day.
If you ever need a paw or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.
All the best,
Arla
www.dogworksupply.com