First Coast Pet

Posts Tagged ‘Puppy Housetraining’

Puppies have very little control over their excretory functions until they are over seven months of age, so keep that in mind when puppy housetraining. At least once per hour and possibly more often, it will have to relieve itself. After playing, eating and sleeping your puppy will have the urge to use its bowels. By keeping your puppy confined to a relatively small area lined with papers, it will not have the opportunity to make a mistake and necessitate a verbal reprimand. A puppy likes to keep its own bed clean and as a result will soil as far away as possible.

Take this cue and after it naps, eats or plays, place your pup on its papers, or outside in the yard. After your pup has successfully soiled where you have placed it, lavish it with sincere praise. A puppy will respond to sincere praise and will not be fooled if you do not mean it. Apartment dwellers who are away at work all day, are generally more successful at paper-training a puppy until it is old enough to have considerable control. It is not important where you live, the same rules apply to your dogs potty training.

Supervising your puppy at all times is required if you let it have the freedom of the whole house. Should it lower its head, sniff and begin to circle, be quick! Get it onto its papers or into the yard immediately. When it relieves itself, praise is in order. However, if, through your fault, it has an accident, no spanking or rubbing its nose in it. A pup has a memory of a couple of seconds and if it soiled ten minutes before, it cannot relate your anger to its action that long ago and will not be able to understand why you are angry.

Such punishment does not fit the crime and will only encourage bad habits such as stool eating and thereby re-infestation with parasites. By all means show your pup what it has done, scold it and place it on the papers. Remember, the accident was your fault for not supervising it properly, or not being aware of its warning signals. Clean and disinfect the soiled area thoroughly to remove any odour, otherwise your pup will seek out this spot again. Having the freedom of the whole house is the biggest disadvantage you have in teaching your puppy potty habits and you could end up with real housetraining problems.

Paper training an older dog is generally not required. Regular outings, timed to coincide with its peak urgency periods, after meals, naps and play periods should accomplish this in short order. While confinement to a very small area is probably unnecessary, supervision and praise must never be forgotten. These are the simple rules to puppy housetraining as you show how pleased you are with praise and affection and they reward you with good behavior as they want to please you, their leader.

Many dog owners find puppy housetraining their hardest challenge. A puppy should not be left unsupervised as it needs to learn what housetraining is. You can have the opposite effect if you over harass your pup as it may become neurotic.

House training a puppy means disciplining yourself to be consistent and by using methods established by professional trainers. In the long run, a few weeks of effort will result in a housetrained pup and later, a well behaved dog.

Confinement Rule In Puppy Housetraining

In puppy housetraining you have to consider several important factors.  You need to have a small area with an easy to clean floor and keep your pup in this area, a playpen is ideal. You are not being cruel keeping your pup in a confined area, as it is happier when it can slowly adjust to the whole house. Your pup is very small and everything around it can be extremely overwhelming. Confinement keeps little paws and playful teeth out of range of dangerous places, while ensuring that your dog is close to its papers, or the door to the yard.  This means it is more likely to behave correctly, than to have an accident, which results in lots of praise and affection from you.

Praise When Housetraining Your Puppy

Praise is the second important factor in housetraining. Your puppy loves you unconditionally from the time you bring it into your home and to please you is its aim in life. Puppies respond very quickly to your moods and know when you are angry and when you are pleased. Praise and affection will achieve more response from your pup than any physical correction.  There is no place for physical punishment for any puppy, it is totally unnecessary and inhumane.

Housetraining Consistency Rule

Consistency is the third vital factor in housetraining. Consistency in schedule, feeding habits, praise and reward for proper behaviour and in verbal reprimand when accidents occur. It is of supreme importance. As with children, a puppy must learn that your word is law and obedience comes from them understanding that what you say, you mean. If you ignore some mistakes, forget to praise, overlook a mealtime, forget where your puppy is and if it needs to use its paper or go outside, you will never housetrain your pup.

These are just a few factors to help you in housetraining your puppy. The ultimate house training guide is where a professional dog trainer answers many of the problems associated with housetraining your puppy. Following a few basic rules will help you when you begin housetraining your new puppy.