Moving House (for Todd)

[mihadj]

Dear Todd,

I am moving house at the end of the month. I have a chihuahua/mini pincher mix who is 20 months old and fully housebroken. I live in a house with garden and the dog is used to eliminate on the grass. I will move temporarily to an appartment for a few months until my new house is ready. Should I have to begin housebreaking from the begining or follow an alternative procedure? This time I have to teach the dog the paper method at the balcony, not in the house. She was used to eliminate on paper the first year of her life until she became able to hold it for many hours. After that she eliminates outside when I return from the job.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[KOPsarah]

hi mihadj,
Unfortunately Todd no longer writes for us here at Kingdom of Pets as he has moved on to new things, I hope I can be of some assistance to you though.

Does your dog toilet on command? If your dog associates a particular word with going to the toilet then you can easily use this command to let your dog know that toileting on the newspaper is ok. If your dog doesn't know a command word for toileting and you still have time before you move you could teach one to her simply by using the word every time she goes to the toilet in the right place and then praising and treating.

Alternatively you can simply put your dog out onto the newspapers at the new house every time you think she may need to toilet for example after meals and first thing in the morning. Every time she toilets there you can praise her or even give her a treat and she will soon learn that going to the toilet there is ok.

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask.

[mihadj]

Thanks for your response, KOPsarah.