Crate Training

House training a new puppy can cause a lot of frustration and disappointment with the newfound friend! Here are a few tips that can help with the training and make your new puppy and yourself a little happier in the homecoming…

Coming home

You bring your puppy home for the first time to surprise your wife and kids. You carry little ball of fur to the house, set it down and the kids and wife get really excited! Then the puppy gets excited to! The problem is the puppy gets so excited she starts piddling all over the floor, the kids, and the wife… not a good thing for the first encounters!

So what went wrong? Nothing really, if you had a bladder the size of a thimble you probably piddle when you get excited to! My recommendation would be this: before you bring the puppy into the house, take a puppy to where she is expected to do her business in the first place. Let her sniff around but don’t play with her… this is a place for business not play, she has to learn that this part of the lawn is hers and for a potty breaks only!

When she finds a spot that seems suitable to her and starts to relieve herself, repeat the words or the phrase you want her to associate with going out for a potty break: “Go Pee” or “Potty Time” or whatever phrase you feel most comfortable with. Its best that you make it a short and easily recognizable, using the same inflection every time so that she can easily memorize the phrase and it’s meaning.

When she’s done, THAT is when you make a big fuss over her, shower her with affection, even give her a little treat in you have one. In general just make her feel that she did the right thing!

Now when you take the puppy in the house she’ll be less likely to piddle all over everyone and everything! From here on, the first meeting will be a lot more enjoyable!

A House Within A Home – Crate Training And Its Advantages

Some people see crate training as being inhumane however it is actually comforting for a puppy or dog to have their own private space that they can go to, that they can call their own. This is why crate training is a wise thing to do!

A “crate” in the sense that I’m using it here is actually any container, box or area that is closed off from the rest of the room — that keeps the puppy segregated and still allows her to feel a part of the “action” and thereby feeling a part of the family. So the kitchen, Den or Living room would be a great place for this. Click to continue »