What Is Umbilical Cord House Training?
Umbilical cord training is a constant supervision based method where you have your puppy attached to you by a leash.
Being a constant supervision technique, it does require concentration and effort on your part.
But due to the physical attachment between you and your dog by a leash, it’s not as demanding as ‘pure constant supervision’ where your puppy can sneak off at any time and you must watch them like a hawk.
With umbilical cord house training your puppy goes everywhere that you do and can never be more than your chosen leash length away.
You take them room to room as you go about your home and they are never left alone.
This removes your puppy’s ability to make any house training mistakes without you being right there beside them to interrupt, correct and redirect them to potty in the right spot.
It’s a method that works extremely well and gives good results, particularly when combined with the house training method of using a crate.
First and foremost you need a leash and collar for your puppy to wear and to attach to yourself to form the umbilical cord between you.
A 6-foot leash is ideal as this gives the puppy some room to move around while remaining close enough to you that you always know what they’re doing. Any longer and it will be too loose and tangle around both yours and your puppy’s legs, any shorter and it’s too restrictive.
As with all methods of house training, you will also need some food treats to reward your puppy when they potty in the right spot, and some odor neutralizing cleaners for the inevitable accidents…although with this method if you do your job well there will be close to none!
It’s highly likely you will need baby gates or an exercise pen or a crate to confine your puppy to a single room or small area if you do have to go out and leave them alone for hours at a time. Crate training is very valuable as well as it prepares a dog for being crated, which is often necessary at some point in the dog’s life.
Umbilical cord training relies on tethering your puppy to you and taking them wherever you go so you always know what they’re doing and can always intervene before they make a house training mistake.
These are the basics steps to follow:
Step 1:
First of all, you need to get your puppy used to wearing a leash and collar. Step 2:
Once your puppy is comfortable wearing a leash and collar, you now have them attached to you or a family member any time they aren’t confined to their crate.
Attach a 6 foot leash to yourself by either looping your belt through the handle, putting the end through a belt loop or having it around your wrist.
I recommend not looping it around your ankle as your puppy will soon be able to pull you over this way when they grow stronger.
Now you simply carry on about your usual day with your puppy following you around wherever you go.
Remember, a mistake only takes a second and the very essence of umbilical cord training is that you always have them at your side for you to guide and correct them.
Step 3:
While spending time with your puppy tethered to you, it’s your job to take your puppy to their bathroom spot on a regular schedule that fits their age and recent activities.
But you also have to constantly watch your puppy for any signs that they’re about to or need to eliminate. And because you’re attached to them, this will be very easy for you to do.
Your puppy might start to sniff the floor, circle around, become more agitated, try to get away from you, whine or start squatting.
When you see the signs, you need to get your puppy to their bathroom spot ASAP and when your puppy eliminates where they’re supposed to, praise and reward them lavishly.
Step 4:
If your puppy begins to relieve themselves and you catch them (which you should when you’re attached to them!) you need to correct them with a firm but calm ‘NO!’ and lead them outside to where they should be going. Remember, no shouting or getting angry. Firm but calm.
As soon as you get them to the correct spot and they finish what they started, make sure you praise and reward them enthusiastically.
With umbilical cord house training you’ll be able to catch every single mistake and intervene and correct them.
So they experience lots of lessons, while getting away with no mistakes. It’s this that teaches them so quickly and makes the method so effective.
They have no opportunity to get away with eliminating in the wrong places so no bad habits form and you also get many more opportunities to praise and reward them for going in the right spot.
Step 5:
If you take your puppy outside for a scheduled bathroom stop, or they were making moves to relieve themselves but when you get them outside they don’t go, take them back inside and watch them intently to make sure they don’t make a mistake indoors.
In 5, 10, or 20 minutes time depending on their age, take them back outside to have another try.
What’s important is if they’re due an elimination, or they attempted one before but you intervened, they will need to go very soon so you must be extra vigilant at this time until they do go.
Step 6:
After your puppy has both urinated and defecated outside (or their indoor bathroom spot if that’s your aim) you now have an opportunity to grant them some freedom off leash.
Release them for a short while, how long depending on their age and how trustworthy they’ve become.
For puppies under 12 weeks, just 3 to 5 minutes. If 12 to 16 weeks old, give them 10 minutes.
Over 16 weeks, give them 15 minutes. Increase the time as they get older and as they prove within the time you grant they don’t make a mistake.
The important thing to remember here though is: This is supervised free time!
You’re not letting them free roam your home alone, you’re still right there with them and ready to react if they make moves to have an accident on your carpet, they just aren’t on the leash.
Over time, the duration they can be trusted off leash in the house increases and increases until eventually, they’re house trained and you can let them roam free and stop using the umbilical cord at all.
Some level of confinement for your puppy will still be necessary. There will be times that you’re alone with your puppy and you need to take a shower, or deal with a visitor and at this time you cannot allow your puppy to roam free unsupervised.
This allows accidents and defeats the purpose of house training.
Also, where will your puppy sleep at night?
They’re best in a crate when you cannot watch them, but if you aren’t using one you should invest in a baby gate to confine them to a small room, or erect an exercise pen / puppy pen to hold them.
It’s nowhere near as hard as standard ‘constant supervision’ house training where your puppy is off leash and allowed to roam free so you have to watch them like a hawk.
And again, it’s more effective because your puppy has less chance to make mistakes. With normal constant supervision, you WILL take your eye off the ball and accidents WILL happen. Not so with umbilical cord training.
Both umbilical cord and crate training techniques allow you to let your guard down a little while still knowing your puppy cannot sneak off and make a mistake. And both methods are extremely effective if applied correctly without being too taxing on you as a trainer.
The one big downside of umbilical cord training is you must have your dog tethered to you all the time.
This can become a bit tiresome although it does have the benefit of building a very strong bond between you after spending all that time together.
I would say if you’re going to use this method, use it alongside crate training and that way you get the best of both worlds and can enjoy the benefits both methods bring.
Umbilical cord training forms a very strong bond between you and your puppy and cuts out a lot of opportunity for mistakes.
Crate training hastens your puppy’s learning by teaching bowel and bladder control, has a whole range of other benefits and allows you to confine your puppy when you’re busy and have peace of mind that they’ll not soil in your home.
Ultimately, the final decision comes down to personal preference, but if you read this entire house training series, at least you can make an informed decision.
People who spend a very high majority of their time at home can use it full-time and exclusively. People who work from home or the retired.
But most people spend hours each day out of the home while at work so they cannot use this method full-time.
However, it’s a method that everybody can use at least some of the time mixed in with other methods, because everybody spends a great deal of time at home.
Consider that no matter which method you choose, you must constantly supervise your puppy if they aren’t in a crate or confined to a small papered area. Umbilical cord training IS supervision so you can use it at these times.
This technique is also recommended for people already struggling with other house training methods because they’ve found they keep allowing their puppy to sneak off unsupervised and make mistakes.
We all start house training with the best intentions, but sometimes life gets in the way and we can be less than perfect when it comes to watching our puppy.
If this is you, don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s a lot of effort and not very easy to constantly supervise a puppy.
Try switching to umbilical cord training for a while and you should find it dramatically cuts down on your puppy’s mistakes and will make you feel better about the improved progress your puppy makes.