Mar 31 2009
Puppy Training: How Do I Train My Puppy?
Around 90% of puppies live in the home in America. Dogs kept inside with your family and you need to be housebroken. The process of potty training a puppy is a prospect that intimidates many dog owners. It is not that difficult, it doesn’t have to be messy and housebreaking can be accomplished without a struggle. Training needs to receive a significant amount of time devoted to it in order for it to be successful. It requires time, involvement, and some tools of the trade such as puppy training pads.
The Puppy is Boss
Two guiding rules exist for helping puppies and dog owners in puppy training. Remember to never punish your puppy for something you didn’t see him do. And second, praise your puppy for the things he did do right. Don’t let training lead to situations where your only action is saying ‘no’ when you catch your pet doing something wrong. Praise them or offer them a reward when they do the right thing.
Housebreaking Guidelines for Your New Puppy
Many methods exist for housebreaking your puppy. When starting indoors, encourage your pup to use puppy training pads or papers to go to the bathroom on. Puppy pads generally are treated with scented chemicals that lure pups and get them to use the pads. As soon as you see them starting with their pre-potty pattern of walking around and sniffing the floor, pick them up gently and without saying anything, and carry them over to the puppy training pads or paper and reward them for the doing their bathroom acts properly.
When everything is going well and the doggies are using the papers and puppy training pads consistently, you can either move those closer to the door or place them outside. This transition is done from focusing toilet habits at one spot inside the home to one spot outside the home. You’ll soon see that you won’t need the training pads or papers in the house anymore.
The only major problem or setback with this puppy potty training method is that it takes a longer period of time to encourage the puppy to do his bathroom rituals indoors. When house training puppies, other widely used techniques might work; you could, for example, use puppy crate training or cages, always accompanied by the owner’s close supervision.
When using a cage or crate to housebreak your puppy, realize that puppies can’t go for more than about seven to eight hours without using the bathroom. Usually this technique is very effective because most puppies consider their cage or crate as their sleeping area and they don’t want to have to lie in their own mess. However it is not recommended to leave them in a cage or crate longer than necessary.
The use of crates/cages and papers/puppy pads is not required if you have constant supervision. It is here that dog owners opt to spend whatever time is necessary with their pups. This works good for those who are retired, work from home, or any owner that can spend lots of time with the puppy. With this method, pet owners usually hustle their puppy outside as soon as they notice the pre-potty signs. You need to keep a constant eye on your puppy to prevent any accidents or slip-ups.
In summary, housebreaking your puppy should be considered a part of command trainings like ‘come’ or ’stay’. But puppy potty triaining and housebreaking will be the most difficult forms of dog training due to the fact that they are simply the messiest. Do not lose heart!
