Train My Puppy: A How-To on Puppy Training
About 90% of American pet puppies live indoors with their owners. Dogs kept inside with your family and you need to be housebroken. Many pet owners are daunted by the responsibility of potty training a puppy. 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 New Doggie is the Boss
For dogs and puppy owners, there are two major rules that you should stick to with puppy training. Remember to never punish your puppy for something you didn’t see him do. 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. Desirable behavior should be met with praise and treats.
Housebreaking Guidelines for Your New Puppy
There are different ways to housebreak puppies. At the beginning, encourage the puppy to “go” on newspapers or puppy training pads. Puppy pads generally are treated with scented chemicals that lure pups and get them to use the pads. When you notice them doing their pre-potty routine of sniffing and walking around, take them gently, without saying a word, to the puppy training pads or newspaper and praise them for going to the bathroom correctly.
After things are progressing well and the puppy is using the puppy training pads or newspapers regularly, you can then locate them a little closer to the door and eventually outside. The change is made from concentrating on bathroom habits at a location inside the house to a location outside the house. You’ll soon see that you won’t need the training pads or papers in the house anymore.
The biggest issue with this method of puppy potty training is that is requires more time to get the puppy to go 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 you opt to use a crate or a cage for housebreaking your dog, take note that dogs can only hold their bladders and bowels for about seven to eight hours. Crate training usually works because dogs do not like to mess their sleeping places, then have to lie in it. Leaving them in their cage or crate for very long, however, is not good to do.
Constant supervision on the other hand, does not involve the use of training paper or puppy pads, and crates or cages. 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. A constant watch must be kept on puppies to make sure that there are no accidents or slip-ups.
To summarize, housebreaking and training your puppy should be included along with teaching them the basic commands like ‘come’ and ’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. Don’t give up!