The Drama of Housebreaking

12.27.12

I’m not sure why I’m blogging about our housebreaking drama. I guess I wish I had an adult dog housebreaking support group, and this is the next best thing.

We had a setback tonight. Jesse peed in the house again. I was furious with him, and he knew it, although I didn’t yell at him. I stormed and stomped around-the opposite of the neutral tone the articles instruct one to take. Now, Jesse seems afraid of me and is staying in his crate.

I’m trying to piece together what went wrong.

1.   I was at the coop and missed the 5pm walk. Things always go wrong when I miss a walk. Jonathan covered me with two walks. Possible confusion for Jesse?

2.   I noticed Jesse was drinking more water than normal. He hadn’t eaten any food all day, but did once I got home. When he finished the water in his bowl, he went for the toilet- a first to my knowledge. I refilled his bowl. I should have made note.

3.   I was eating dinner later than normal and watching TV. I checked on him just before the bedtime walk time and said, “15 minutes, guy. Okay?” Not okay. I should have walked him.

4.   Suddenly, I saw him trotting through the house, hitting all of the downstairs rooms. I should have stopped eating and taken him out.

5.   He trotted into the hallway and peed on the rug-same spot as Xmas eve-exactly what the articles say a dog will do.

6.   I showed anger as I put the leash on and dragged Jesse outside. It was too late. After the too-late walk, I knocked stuff over, including water, and made huge messes that dripped into the basement. The whole accident snowballed into an even bigger mess.

What did I learn?

·      I SHOULD have bought the Nature’s Miracle.

·      I should have cleaned the rug better.

·      I should have had newspapers down in the kitchen.

·      I should not have given Jesse access to the whole house-yet.

·      I need to buy baby gates to block off the kitchen.

·      I have ordered a new, smaller crate, although the crate has not been the problem right now. It’s just too big for our kitchen.

They say when a dog is accident-free for 6 weeks, he’s housebroken. That’s 42 days. We’re back to day 1.