Petsmu

If you are planning to get a new puppy or you have recently purchased one, you may be worrying about how difficult it will be to house train your new puppy. Believe it or not, house training a dog really does not have to be difficult. As a general rule, most dogs are actually quite clean animals, and it is in their nature to want to keep their living space clean. You can take advantage of their natural instincts while you are house training a dog, and with just a few short steps training your new puppy can be a cinch.

The first thing that you need to do when you are house training a dog is to establish an area for your new puppy to live in. Make it a small place where there is not a great deal of room and get him used to the idea that this is where he lives. Place his bed, food, and water in this area so he knows that this is his living area. It is important that you train him that this is where he lives and that you also establish regular feeding times as well.

The next step when you are house training a dog is to set up an area where he can go to the bathroom. This needs to be somewhere other than his living area, and you need to be sure that you take him to this area each time he has to go to the bathroom. After a few times, your dog will soon associate this place with where he is allowed to use the bathroom, and in no time, your dog will start to go there on his own.

When you are house training a dog and you have established the area where your dog can use the bathroom, then you can start allowing him to have greater freedom while he is in the house. It is important while you are house training a dog that you do not let him roam the house when you are not around to supervise. There may be accidents and you need to reinforce where the bathroom area for him is when the accident happens. Only after you have fully finished house training a dog should you allow him access to various areas of the house when you are not around. Continue Reading »

You have picked out the perfect dog to bring home to your family, just to find out that perfect dog may be your worst nightmare! How did that happen? The answer is your cute little angel was never taught how to behave in certain situations.

You would not leave your toddler alone in the living room to have free access to the remote controls, DVDs and snacks. You should not leave your puppy, either. If you do, you will likely come into a huge mess where your puppy had a blast while you were gone. The thing is that if you did not try to train your dog on how to behave, than this is your own fault! But sadly, it is the dog that is blamed and punished. How do you expect your dog to know what to do when put in certain situations?

You have brought your puppy or dog into your home to love and nurture, not to yell at and scold all of the time. This causes frustration for you and your puppy.

Teach one thing at a time. Your dog has a single track mind.

Do not demand immediate action. Give your dog a moment to carry out your command.

Be decisive and know exactly what you want from your dog.

Always be considerate of you dog. If your puppy is tired, do not expect him to get up and go through a training period. It is not a very nice thing to do, and your dog will likely be too tired to comprehend what you are trying to teach him.

A bond should be developed between you and your dog. You will be able to train your dog more effectively if your dog respects you as his leader. And, he will want to please you much more.
Be clear when you say your commands, and the commands should be the same each time in the same voice and manner. If you try to change these things, your dog will only get confused and you will only get frustrated.

Patience is the key to successfully training your dog. With patience, you will be able to accept the fact that your puppy is just that, a puppy. He is not a human, and therefore you will need even more patience to get you and your puppy through this trying period. Continue Reading »

Paper training is a specific form of house training for your dog: you’re teaching her where in the house is appropriate for her to eliminate (pee or poop). When you paper train your dog, you teach her to only eliminate on newspapers (chosen for their absorbency, ready availability, and cheap cost) which you gather up and throw away after each use.

What options other than paper training do I have for my dog’s house training?

There are two ways of effectively, efficiently, and rapidly house training your dog. Paper training is one; the other is something called crate training.

We will be covering the paper training method here

How to paper train your dog…

First, pick a convenient area of the house for your dog to use as the elimination area. Because she’s going to be peeing and pooping in this area, it’s best if you can choose somewhere without carpet: most people choose a corner of the kitchen or laundry (since these rooms usually have tiled or linoleum floors, hygiene a non-issue.)

Spread newspaper thickly in a corner of this room. At first, you’ll need to make the newspaper area pretty big, since your pup has no idea that she’s meant to go on the paper at all.

To make sure that she’s able to eliminate only on the paper, you’ll either need to restrict her movements to the papered area of the floor, or paper the whole floor.

At first, your puppy will eliminate pretty much at random on the paper. It’s important for the paper-training process that she only gets to go on the paper – you need her to form a strong association between the feeling of paper under her toes, and relieving herself.

After a week or two, you can begin to shrink the papered area of the floor, allowing her more access to unpapered surfaces.

Do this gradually, a couple of sheets at a time. If you’ve given her enough time to get used to the paper, she should naturally restrict her elimination areas as the papered area shrinks.

NOTE: If at any time she begins to eliminate off the paper, then increase the size of the papered floor surface to the size it was when she was still eliminating only on the paper, and give her more time to get used to it before beginning to reduce the papered area again. Continue Reading »