|
Home 
Dog
Training
Housetraining Your New Puppy
Housetraining Your New Puppy
Learn how to housetrain a puppy.
by Rachel Webb
June 15, 2004
A new puppy can be a handful and even top breeders will
admit that house-breaking a pup takes time and patience. Understanding
a dogs natural instinct and watching their behavior will help
you be successful!
More dogs are abandoned or taken to the pound for messing
inside the house than for any other reason. Generally, the
human caretaker is more at fault that the dog. Pet owners
need to teach their pet how and when it is acceptable to relieve
themselves.
What age should you train your pup? When you bring home a
new puppy from a breeder, pet store or pound they should be
no younger than 7 weeks old. The United Kennel Club and American
Kennel Club both require breeders to not release pups to a
new owner until they are at least 7 weeks of age. By then
they should have received their first shots and be on their
way to being house-trained. This should make your training
job easier.
Generally dogs are easy to train because their natural instinct
is never to soil the area where they sleep or eat. Even a
very young pup will wobble a few steps from the main whelping
area to urinate. When house-training we are essentially teaching
pups to extend their den to OUR living area.
Because our home is so much larger than the pups original
whelping box or den I suggest sectioning off the house using
toddler gates. As with young children a pup can create messes
that can be confined to a smaller area that is easier to control.
Think of baby products that could work with your pup like
a playpen or travel bed. I have even used a plastic swimming
pool to aid in training a young pup. I was training several
miniature American Eskimo pups that were not big enough to
climb over the side yet, so the pool was easy to wash out
too. Obviously this would not work long if your pup is a larger
breed like a Great Dane or Golden Retriever.
Your puppy will need to eat an average of 4 meals per day
at first. Immediately after feeding your new pup take him
or her outside to relieve themselves. Always praise a dog
right after they do it in an appropriate place. If they do
soil the floor in your home do not rub their noses in it.
This practice will not help your dog learn or improve your
relationship with your dog in any way. You should also never
hit your dog for making mistakes of any kind.
You should also take your pup outside immediately after they
wake up or after you have played with him. These are natural
times he might relive himself.
If you do see your dog relieving himself inappropriately
or marking territory in the house try making a load "Auughk"
noise. Done correctly it is a guttural throaty sound which
reminds me of a German dialect. Believe me I know this sounds
odd, but it really does work! Many dog trainers and breeders
use this technique. They have found that most breeds find
this noise distasteful and immediately stop what they are
doing. Your dog will know your displeasure and often react
by laying back his ears.
To help your dog learn to control himself at night I strongly
suggest you use crate-training. A crate is not cruel to a
dog if used appropriately. Think of it as a bed with a door.
Include water and food and a soft blanket for your pet. Animal
behavior specialists recommend introducing your pet to a crate
slowly and gradually increasing the house you leave your pet
alone in the crate. You can also reward your pet with treats
when they are in there. The crate will quickly becoming a
refuge for your pet and create a short term training break
for you.
Cleaning up any accidents your pup makes is essential to
successfully potty training your pup. A dog has a natural
instinct to go again in places where they can smell urine
or feces odors. If you paper train you should put plastic
sheets underneath the newspaper. Plastic sheets that are used
in care centers for incontinence problems work well or sometimes
pet stores have "piddle pads" to prevent odors from seeping
through litter boxes or newspaper.
To avoid accidents recognize the signs your pet will give
you that he needs to go. Dogs will generally scratch at the
door or sniff close to the ground and whimper and whine before
squatting. Try to outguess your dogs needs and you will help
them succeed in becoming house-trained.
Dogs are eager to please you if only shown how. Once they
are taught what is acceptable behavior they can be an invaluable
loyal companion.
- Rachel Webb
Author Rachel Webb is a former dog trainer who manufactures
Magnetic Fridge Calendars that are 100% Magnetic & easy
to write-on/wipe-off for use year after year. 5 styles available
visit: http://www.Note-Ables.com
|
