House-training your puppy
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Your canine newcomer is just itching to learn household manners. She wants to please, but she has to learn how. Before the young pup can be trusted to have full run of the house, somebody must teach the house rules. There's no point keeping house rules a secret. Somebody has to tell the pup. And that somebody is you. Otherwise, your puppy will let her imagination run wild in her quest for occupational therapy to pass the time of day. |
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Without a firm grounding in canine domestic etiquette, your puppy will be left to improvise
in her choice of toys and toilets. The pup will no doubt eliminate in closets and on carpets, and your couches and curtains will be viewed as mere playthings for destruction. Each mistake is a potential disaster, since it heralds many more to come. If your pup is allowed to make "mistakes," bad habits will quickly become the status quo, making it necessary to break bad habits before teaching good ones. |
Begin by teaching your puppy good habits from the very first day she comes home. Remember,
good habits are just as hard to break as bad habits. Most pressing, your puppy's living quarters need
to be designed so that house-training and chew toy-training are errorless.
good habits are just as hard to break as bad habits. Most pressing, your puppy's living quarters need
to be designed so that house-training and chew toy-training are errorless.
Confinement will help you house-train your puppy
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Successful domestic doggy education involves
teaching your puppy to train herself through confinement. This prevents mistakes and establishes good habits from the outset. When you are physically absent, confine your puppy to keep her out of mischief and to help her learn how to act appropriately. The more you confine your puppy to her Doggy Den and Puppy Playroom during her first few weeks at home, the more freedom she will enjoy as an adult dog for the rest of her life. |
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The more closely you adhere to the following puppy-confinement program, the sooner your puppy will be
house-trained and chew toy trained. And, as an added benefit, your puppy will learn to
settle down quickly, quietly, calmly, and happily.
house-trained and chew toy trained. And, as an added benefit, your puppy will learn to
settle down quickly, quietly, calmly, and happily.
House-training your puppy when you're not at home
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Keep your puppy confined to a fairly small puppy playroom, such as the kitchen, bathroom, or
utility room. You can also use an exercise pen to cordon off a small section of a room. This is your puppy's long-term confinement area. It should include: A comfortable bed, a bowl of fresh water, plenty of hollow chew toys, doggy toilet in the farthest corner from her bed Obviously, your puppy will feel the need to bark, chew, and eliminate throughout the course of the day, and so she must be left somewhere she can satisfy her needs without causing any damage or annoyance. |
Your puppy will most probably eliminate as far as possible from her sleeping quarters-in her doggy
toilet. By removing all chewable items from the puppy playpen-with the exception of hollow chew
toys you will make chewing chew toys your puppy's favorite habit, a good habit! Long-term confinement
allows your puppy to teach herself to use an appropriate dog toilet, to want to chew appropriate
chew toys, and to settle down quietly.
toilet. By removing all chewable items from the puppy playpen-with the exception of hollow chew
toys you will make chewing chew toys your puppy's favorite habit, a good habit! Long-term confinement
allows your puppy to teach herself to use an appropriate dog toilet, to want to chew appropriate
chew toys, and to settle down quietly.
House-training your puppy when you're at home
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Enjoy short play and training sessions hourly.
If you cannot pay full attention to your puppy's every single second, play with your pup in his Puppy Playpen, where a suitable toilet and toys are available. Or, for periods of no longer than an hour at a time, confine your puppy to his Doggy Den (short-term close confinement area), such as a portable dog crate. Every hour, release your puppy and quickly take him to his doggy toilet. Your puppy's short-term confinement area should include a comfortable bed, and plenty of hollow chew toys. |
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It is much easier to watch your pup if he is settled down in a single spot. Either you may move the
crate so that your puppy is in the same room as you, or you may want to confine your pup to a different
room to start preparing him for times when he will be left at home alone. If you do not like the idea of
confining your puppy to a dog crate, you may tie the leash to your belt and have the pup settle down
at your feet. Or you may fasten the leash to an eye-hook in the baseboard next to your puppy's bed,
basket, or mat. To prevent the chew toys from rolling out of reach, also tie them to the eye-hook.
crate so that your puppy is in the same room as you, or you may want to confine your pup to a different
room to start preparing him for times when he will be left at home alone. If you do not like the idea of
confining your puppy to a dog crate, you may tie the leash to your belt and have the pup settle down
at your feet. Or you may fasten the leash to an eye-hook in the baseboard next to your puppy's bed,
basket, or mat. To prevent the chew toys from rolling out of reach, also tie them to the eye-hook.
Train your puppy to house-train himself
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House-training and chew toy-training will be quick and easy if you adhere to the puppy confinement plan above, which prevents the puppy from making mistakes and prompts the puppy to teach herself household etiquette. If you vary from the program, you will likely experience problems. Unless you enjoy problems, you must reprimand yourself for any mistakes you allow your puppy to make. House-training is quickly and easily accomplished by praising your puppy and offering a food treat when she eliminates in an appropriate toilet area. Once your pup realizes that her eliminatory products are the equivalent of coins in a food vending machine-that feces and urine may be cashed in for tasty treats-your pup will be clamoring to eliminate in the appropriate spot, because soiling the house does not bring equivalent fringe benefits. |
Preventing house-training mistakes
House soiling is a spatial problem, involving perfectly normal, natural, and necessary canine
behaviors (peeing and pooping) performed in inappropriate places.
behaviors (peeing and pooping) performed in inappropriate places.
Timing is the essence of successful house training. Indeed, efficient and effective house
training depends upon the owner being able to predict when the puppy needs to eliminate
so that she may be directed to an appropriate toilet area and more than adequately rewarded
for doing the right thing in the right place at the right time.
Usually, puppies urinate within half a minute of waking up from a nap and usually defecate
within a couple of minutes of that. But who has the time to hang around to wait for puppy
to wake up and pee and poop? Instead it's a better plan to wake up the puppy yourself,
when you are ready and the time is right.
training depends upon the owner being able to predict when the puppy needs to eliminate
so that she may be directed to an appropriate toilet area and more than adequately rewarded
for doing the right thing in the right place at the right time.
Usually, puppies urinate within half a minute of waking up from a nap and usually defecate
within a couple of minutes of that. But who has the time to hang around to wait for puppy
to wake up and pee and poop? Instead it's a better plan to wake up the puppy yourself,
when you are ready and the time is right.
Short-term confinement offers a convenient means to accurately predict when your puppy needs
to relieve herself. Confining a pup to a small area strongly inhibits her from urinating or defecating,
since she doesn't want to soil her sleeping area. Hence, the puppy is highly likely to want to
eliminate immediately after being released from confinement.
to relieve herself. Confining a pup to a small area strongly inhibits her from urinating or defecating,
since she doesn't want to soil her sleeping area. Hence, the puppy is highly likely to want to
eliminate immediately after being released from confinement.
Using an indoor doggy toilet
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For the best doggy toilet, equip a litter box or
cover a piece of old linoleum with what will be the dog's eventual toilet material. For example, for rural and suburban pups who will eventually be taught to relieve themselves outside on earth or grass, lay down a roll of turf. For urban puppies who will eventually be taught to eliminate at curbside, lay down a couple of thin concrete tiles. Your puppy will soon develop a very strong natural preference for eliminating on similar outdoor surfaces whenever he can. |
If you have a backyard dog toilet area, in addition to the indoor playroom toilet, take your pup to his outdoor toilet in the yard whenever you release him from his doggy den. If you live in an apartment and do not have a yard, teach your puppy to use his indoor toilet until he is old enough to venture outdoors at three months of age.
Training your puppy to use an outdoor toilet
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For the first few weeks, take your puppy outside on-leash. Hurry to his toilet area and then stand still to allow the puppy to circle (as he would normally do before eliminating). Reward your puppy each time he "goes" in the designated spot. If you have a fenced yard, you may later take your puppy outside off- leash and let him choose where he would like to eliminate. But make sure to reward him according to how close he hits ground zero. Offer one treat for doing it outside quickly, two treats for doing it within, say, five yards of the doggy toilet, three treats for within two yards, and five treats for a bull's eye. Always give your puppy lots verbal phrase throughout the toilet training process. |
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Original article can be found at : http://dogtime.com/puppy-housetraining-dunbar.html