Apr 16 2009
Puppy Training: Ways to Train My Puppy
About 90% of American pet puppies live indoors with their owners. 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. Be aware, however, that you are dealing with a training issue, and you will need to dedicate more than just a cursory effort. You will need time, a little more involvement, as well as some training tools such as puppy training pads.
The Puppy is Boss
For those who own dogs or puppies, there are two major puppy training guidelines to follow. The first and most important rule is not to punish your puppy unless you actually catch her in the act! Two, always remember to praise your puppy for good behavior. 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.
House Training/Breaking Puppies
There are many different techniques to house train your pup. When starting indoors, encourage your pup to use puppy training pads or papers to go to the bathroom on. Puppy pads are usually scented with chemicals that attract little doggies to use them. The moment you observe them beginning the pre-elimination routine of pacing and sniffing at the floor, lift up the puppy and quietly relocate them to the paper or puppy training pads, and then offer them a reward for appropriately going to the bathroom.
When the new dog is comfortable with the papers or puppy training pads, they can then be put near the door or even outside. This transition is done from focusing toilet habits at one spot inside the home to one spot outside the home. In the very near future you will have no need for papers or training pads indoors.
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.
The maximum amount of time that dogs can hold their bladders and bowels is between seven and eight hours, so you should keep that in mind when using a crate or a cage, trying to housebreak your dog. 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. Here pet owners choose to spend all the time necessary with their pet puppies. 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.
To sum up, puppy housebreaking and training should be treated as part of the ‘come’ and ’stay’ command trainings. 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!
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