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House Training Your Dog - House Training Tips For A New Puppy
By Max Young
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Once a young puppy arrives in the household, it is an exciting time for everybody. In order for the homecoming to go forward as smoothly as possible, it is a good idea to spend a little bit of time in planning.
One of the major challenges of dog ownership (in particular for first-time owners) is the issue of household training. If you outfit yourself with some fundamental knowledge and a positive mental attitude, though, it is a good deal easier than most people make it out to be.
The New arrival
As soon as you take the pup home, bring her outdoors. The excitement of the automobile journey joined with the unfamiliar faces, sights, and sounds will have her requiring to go anyway - and if you can mastermind her 1st toilet break so that it happens outdoors, rather than indoors, then so much the better. And not just from the position of short-term hygienics, either - the more your puppy relieves herself indoors, the more probable she is to do it over again.
The homecoming is a big chance for you to set a case in point for toilet conduct!
- Direct her to your assigned toilet area, and place her down on the grass.
- Hold back while she sniffs about - abstain from petting her or playing with her just yet, since you do not need her to form a connection between this area and games. She has to determine that this part of the yard is for toilet breaks exclusively.
- Once she starts to relieve herself, sound out the phrase you desire her to connect with toilet breaks: "Go pee" or "potty time" or whatever does work for you. It is better whenever the set phrase is short and easily recognizable - and use the same voice inflection each time, too (so that your dog can easily learn the meaning of the set phrase.)
- Once she is done, cause a big fuss over her: shower her in praise and warm heartedness, and give her a small goody.
When you bring her indoors the house, the house training regime you have settled on should begin at once.
As far as house training goes, crate training is more often than not accepted to be the most effective and efficient way of house training a pup in a short space of time.
What is crate training?
Crate-training is fundamentally the use of a small-scale inside dog house (the crate) to enclose your new puppy when you are not actively monitoring her.
How does it work?
Crate training is founded on all dogs' built-in disapproval of soiling the surface area where they sleep. As you are cutting back young dogs social movement to her sleeping space, she will instinctively "hold it in" until she is let out of the crate (provided you do not leave her in there too long, naturally!)
This is why it is crucial that the crate is sized the right way: if it is too large, she will be able to use one end as a bed and one end as a toilet, which defeats the entirely purpose!
How do I pick out a crate?
As a universal rule of thumb, it is more cost-efficient for you to pick out a crate that is large enough for her to develop into. It ought to be large enough for the fully grown dog to stand up comfortably without crouching, turn around in, and stretch out - but no bigger (so that she does not choose one part as her bed, and one part as her toilet!)
Since the fully grown dog is expected to be substantially larger than the puppy, it will most likely be essential for you to use a barrier to cut down the internal size of the crate. A wire grille or board will do just fine.
As an alternative, you will be able to use an inexpensive crate (or even construct one yourself) and replace it with a larger model as your pup matures.
Using the crate for house training
Crate training works like this: your pup is in that crate at all times unless she is sleeping, feeding, outdoors with you attending to the toilet, or being played with (active supervision.)
You will want to be consistent, or else it will not work: you can not allow your pup ramble off through the household unless you are centering your complete care upon her.
Whenever you permit her entree to the house before she is thoroughly house trained, you are essentially encouraging her to relieve herself indoors - and remember, for each one time she performs this, it will be easier for her to execute it again (and again ... and again ...)
Sample schedule of a morning's crate training
7am: Awaken. Puppy comes outdoors with you for a toilet break.
7.25: Breakfast time.
7.45: Back out of doors for additional toilet break (attended by you, naturally.)
7.50 - 8.45: Play-time! Puppy is out of the crate being actively played with, snuggled, etc.
8.45: Outdoors for another toilet break.
8.50 - 11: Puppy gets back in the crate for a nap
11 am: Puppy comes out of doors with you for a toilet break.
11.05 - 12.30: Playtime! Puppy is out of the crate being played with and petted.
12:30: Lunch period.
12.45: Puppy comes outdoors with you for a toilet break.
1 - 3.30: Puppy goes back in the crate for a short sleep.
... And so forth throughout the day.
Crate training usually takes one to two months (depending upon the breed of your dog and however much time you spend on the developing process.) As the pup gets older, you will be able to begin to cut back the amount of time spent in the crate - but beware of doing this too soon!
Other crate training rules
- Your puppy in all likelihood will not be too pleased to go in the crate the first couple of times she practices it. She would like to* be outside, being lavished with affection and attention, and hanging out with you (of course!) But it genuinely is for her own good - in a amazingly short time, she will come to accept the crate as her own personal haven where she can go to unwind and get a couple hours' uninterrupted rest. It is crucial to persist: don't react to any whining or crying.
- The most effective place for the crate to be is the hub of the household: generally the den or the kitchen, anyplace where people are incline to congregate. Just because she is in the crate does not mean she can't still feel like part of the household; it's significant for her not to feel detached or left out.
- The crate should be a welcoming, inviting place for her to go. Put down a couple of thick blankets or towels on the floor, and place a couple of toys and a chew or two inside it as well. The door should be invitingly open at all times (unless she is in there, of course, in which case it should be firmly closed.)
Some toilet truths about puppies that will come in handy
- Puppies' bladders and bowels are so small and weak that they've only a very small window of opportunity between knowing that they need to go, and having that need become an immediate reality. Because of this, it is imperative that you take her outdoors as soon as she awakens (she will let you know she needs to go out by pawing the doorway and whining), and inside of ten minutes of feeding or playing.
- Behaviors that suggest she needs to go out of doors include sniffing the ground and circling. Once again, because she's only little, she will not exhibit these warning signs for very long - so as soon as she starts, take her out at once. Better an unneeded trip to the yard than an unnecessary wet patch (or pile) on the rug!
- The maximum amount of time that a puppy can be crated at a time is worked out using the following equation: her age in months, plus one. Therefore, a three-month old puppy can be crated for a maximum of four hours. However, this is likely to be physically pretty uncomfortable for her (let alone hard on her emotionally and psychologically: it is tough being cramped up with nothing to do), so you should actually take her out at the least once every two hours during the day. If she is sleeping, of course, just let her sleep until she awakens naturally.
Max Young is an information researcher with a true interest in helping others find the knowledge needed to deal with everyday life.
Max Young is an information researcher with a true interest in helping others find the knowledge needed to deal with everyday life.
For a further in depth look at house training, as well as a good deal of useful information on canine behavioral problems and the most effective disciplining methods, check into The Ultimate House Training Guide. It is the complete dog-house-training guide.
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