Is Your Pet Housebroken?

When we brought Maggie home, we knew she would have accidents inside.  When you adopt an animal, it is hard to judge what they already know (tricks, training, etc.), add in the fact that they are in a completely foreign environment and you are bound to have a mishap every once in awhile.

Maggie had a difficult time grasping the concept of going potty outside.  To this day, she still has accidents from time to time.  I have heard and read that keeping your dog on a non-carpeted surface (such as porcelain tile), you can reduce the risk of an accident. Dogs will usually not go on a non-absorbent surface, so it is best to keep her confined to an area of your house where accidents will be easy to clean up and it will not soak into anything.

Does anyone have any helpful housebreaking tips they would like to share?  Please leave a comment detailing how you potty trained your dog - this information could be very helpful to many of my readers.  With Maggie, we closely monitored her actions inside the house after she ate and drank.  We watched for circling or any other trademark potty behavior, when she went potty outside, we would immediately reward her with a small treat.  We also have her on an eating schedule - this helps us predict when Maggie will need to be taken outside.

I strongly encourage you to leave a comment on your housetraining tips - this can be one of the most frustrating issues pet owners have to face, so any bit of information would be incredibly helpful!

Thanks for reading!  As always your participation in comments and discussions are encouraged and greatly appreciated!!