Don't Punish Your Dog for Peeing in the House
Why punishment is the wrong approach for house training mistakes, and what you should do instead. Photo: mannpuku/Shutterstock Suppose your dog suddenly starts to pee in the house. You clean it up the first time but it happens again…. And then again. Or your new puppy keeps having accidents indoors even though you take her outside often. In this situation, some people will yell at their dog. Some might even try physical punishment like hitting the dog or an alpha roll. And we’ve all come across the advice that you should rub their nose in it. Don’t do it. Whether you're toilet training an adult dog or house training a puppy, here’s why that’s the wrong approach, and what you should do instead. Punishment can make things worse First of all, let’s think about it from the dog’s perspective. Suppose they pee in the house and you yell at them. What do they learn from this? It’s unlikely the dog will understand why you are yelling. This is especially the case if there is a time lag betw...