The Best Ways to Housebreak a Mini Schnauzer

Housebreaking a Mini Schnauzer Puppy

• The most important tool for housebreaking a puppy is a crate. Using a crate is not cruel, as some people think; dogs are den animals, and being in a crate simulates the den experience. Be sure you allow the puppy to develop a positive association with the crate, however, by putting toys in the crate, padding the crate with a comfortable dog bed, and never forcing the puppy to go in. Likewise, never put the puppy in the crate as a punishment.

  Keep your puppy on a schedule. A puppy should be able to hold its bladder for as many hours as it is months-old plus one. In other words, a two-month-old puppy should be able to hold its bladder for three hours, and so it should be taken out every three hours and not left in its crate longer than that.

Housebreaking an Adult Dog

• If your dog is an adult and has started using the bathroom inside, first attempt to find out why. If you are taking the dog out when it needs to go, and still it goes inside, look for other possible signs of illness: change in the consistency of stools, vomiting or lack of appetite, for example. If you notice any of these symptoms, take your dog to the vet.

  If your dog is not sick, look at your relationship with the dog. Is this dog new? If so, was it house trained before coming to live with you? Are you the clear leader, or is your dog in charge? If the dog growls at you for any reason, it thinks it's the leader. If you don't make the dog work for anything, but give it whatever it wants -- attention, treats, play -- it thinks it's above you in the pack hierarchy and may decide that the bathroom is wherever it wants. In this case, you must exercise leadership skills. Make the dog work for everything: sit and stay, until released, before meals; sit before getting a treat; wait until invited before jumping up on the couch; virtually, perform a task before getting anything it wants. Dog trainers call this policy, "Never give a dog anything for free," and recommend it for all dogs.

  Until your adult mini schnauzer is housebroken, consider using a doggie diaper to prevent accidents.

Put It on Command

• Whether a puppy or adult, your mini schnauzer can respond to a verbal command to use the bathroom. First, establish a general area where you want the dog to urinate or defecate. Take the dog there every time you take it out; wait until just before the dog starts to go and say, "Potty!" Praise the dog excessively as it goes and after it's finished.

Never Punish for Mistakes

• If your mini schnauzer has an accident, never punish the dog, whether you see it happen or find a mess later. First of all, you should not have this problem with a puppy, because the puppy will be securely crated; unless you are supervising it. However, mistakes sometimes happen; but remember that if your puppy uses the bathroom inside, the mistake is yours for not paying attention. If the puppy whines, acts restless, or starts sniffing about, take it out immediately. Otherwise, take it out on schedule. A puppy is considered housebroken if it can go several days without having an accident.

  You leave home for work and come home to find your dog used the bathroom in the house. You yell at the dog and even push its nose in the mess, a cruel and useless punishment. You come home on another day to find an accident and notice that the dog looks guilty the instant you walk in the door. You therefore conclude -- wrongly -- that he knows better. In fact, the dog now associates your coming home with being punished. The so-called guilt is in fact the dog trying to act submissive in order to appease you. Studies by animal behaviorists have proven that dogs do not "know better" and do not have a guilty conscience. Unlike humans, they have no moral code.

  If your dog does have an accident, calmly put the dog out or in another room and then clean up.