Llewellin Setters Breeders Blog

If your Llewellin Setter pup is going to live in the house, and we most certainly encourage this, then you will be very interested in housebreaking him. There is a school of thought that a gun dog must be a tough macho beast who endures the weather no matter what mother nature throws at us and to get him accustomed to this he is better off living in an outside kennel. This is pure nonsense. Get pup bonded and close to you and sharing your world. He will handle better, understand you better, and respond better to commands. If he could also have an optional outside kennel to use at certain times especially to enjoy the good weather periods, then so much the better.

Of course many wonderful gun dogs do live permanently in outside kennels, and if insulated, free from droughts, and kept sanitary and clean, and the dogs exercised regularly, they are no worse off because of it. As a Llewellin Setter breeder with dozens of dogs, we have few options of course. Although we do have several “special” dogs who reside in the house anyway. We have never experienced a dog who cannot take the cold or the wet or who appears in any way to have a disadvantage from being a house dog.

During the weaning phase of puppy rearing we set up conditions which encourage the pups to leave the nest box and do their stuff on newspapers spread on the floor. This is mostly to reduce our work. However, it also sets the scene for your house breaking.

Right from the moment he arrives home place a newspaper somewhere in a corner of the room. Keep an eye on him and if he doesn’t find it for himself and use it then use the paper to soak up his “accident”. Place it back in the corner. It will now have the right scent to encourage him (you can also buy scent). Pups are not naturally given to fouling their nests and will always be looking for a spot to go. Make the newspaper that spot. If you catch him in the act of going elsewhere pick him up and carry him to the paper. Most pups catch on to this real fast.

Once the routine is firmly established it’s time to move the paper outside the door. Now you have to watch him, especially after any feeding which is nature’s time to signal action. As soon as you see the signs of his looking or as a matter of routine after feeding, hustle him outside. With this approach we have never failed to get a pup housebroken in a very short time.

This would seem to be a good time to also reiterate the desirability of crate training your house dog. Better use an open wire crate of the folding variety rather than the plastic box which limits vision and feels very confining to the dog. We have found very satisfactory wire folding crates at very good prices at Wal-Mart. Get a big enough one from day-one so he will never outgrow it.
Put the dog into the crate whenever you leave him unattended. During the day leave the door open and make the inside inviting with soft bedding. It won’t be long before he goes in by himself to snooze and pretty soon this will become his space. Now you can corral him when you have guests or when you go out and give him his special place to sleep at night. You will never be sorry you did this!

KHS