Practical Dog Training Tips

House-training your puppy!

My method of house-training

There are several different schools of thought regarding house-training, all of which have certain aspects in common. I will outline the way I do it and the points I think are important. You can adapt the method to suit your own circumstances, or take an entirely different approach if you like.

Set your goals!

My goal is to have the puppy relieve himself outdoors. I also want him to let me know when he needs to go out. For me, this means paper-training is out, since paper-training is actually teaching the dog to relieve himself indoors. If you are training a puppy and live in an apartment on the nineteenth floor, you may have to use paper-training initially, but, if you can get the puppy outside quickly, I would take him out right from the start.

Concentrate your effort!

When you start house-training your puppy, stay with the job until it's done. Try to prevent him making even one mistake in the house (easier said than done). If you have a bad-hair-day every three or four days and allow him to make an error, it will take much longer to get him trained. If you make a concentrated effort, most puppies can be reliably house-trained in three weeks.

Associate a command with the action!

We are teaching something. If we can associate a command with what we teach it will help us use what we have taught in other parts of our training. The command "outside" should be used whenever the puppy is to go outside, whether to relieve himself or not. Voice it as a question if no mistake has been made. Use it as a verbal rebuke if the puppy tries to eliminate in the house.

Take him out regularly!

Small puppies are not sufficiently developed to control their bladder for long periods of time and need to go out often. When they first wake up, after they eat, after playing, etc., they should be taken outdoors. Always taking them to the same area should help them remember the reason they are outside. Apart from the obvious times as outlined above, small puppies should be taken out regularly, perhaps every two hours, even if they apparently do not need to go. The more times they are successful, the better. Get them outside before they make a mistake.

Watch him like a hawk!

Take your eyes off him for a second and that's the moment he'll ruin your game plan. Keep him with you all the time. Don't let him wander off around the corner. When you can't keep at least one eye on him, put him outside in his run ( you did build a run for him, didn't you?). If you didn't, you'll have to use a crate I guess, but make sure he has just gone to the bathroom before crating him or you could be creating an even worse problem.

I sometimes get older dogs that are not house-trained and in the really difficult cases I resort to an "umbilical cord" ( attaching the dog to my belt with a length of light line), making it impossible for him to get out of sight. Only by watching for signs of an impending mistake and getting him outside quickly, can you teach him that the house is not his personal bathroom.

The important thing is to either watch him or put him somewhere where it doesn't matter if he goes to the bathroom.

Caught in the act!

If you're watching, you will see the signs of impending disaster. However, small puppies can be incredibly quick and the only warning you get might be when he squats. Try to disrupt him by saying "No! Outside!" in a loud voice. If you have a bean-bag handy, throwing it at him will add emphasis to your command. Scoop him up and get him outside. Clean up and apply vinegar to the area of the mistake.

A bean-bag, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a small cloth bag, about the size of a wallet, filled with beans. A bean-bag will not hurt you puppy. Please, do not throw "tin cans filled with marbles" at, or even nearby, a small puppy, although they might be suitable for breaking an adult dogs' train of thought.

But I have to sleep sometime!

Of course you have to sleep sometime, and here's how I handle that part of house-training.

Dogs and wolves are den animals. That is, in the wild they are born in dens and come already equipped with the instinct to keep their nest clean. If they cannot get away from their nest, they will instinctively try to avoid relieving themselves until they can. The den instinct is the reason dogs can be house-trained, while cows and horses cannot.

Some people crate their dogs at night, until they are house-trained. I prefer to attach the puppy to his bed using a light chain, about four feet long. This allows him to get up, stretch, and turn around, without allowing him to get away from his bed. It also allows him to wake me if he needs to go out. In either case his crate or bed should be right beside you while you sleep. Later, when he's house-trained, you can change his sleeping arrangements if you like.

Do not expect an eight-week-old puppy to sleep through the night. His bladder and bowel are not sufficiently developed at this age. Be prepared to get up and take him out for the first week or so, just like you have to get up to feed a new baby. An older puppy will learn to sleep through the night more quickly.

Good luck with your training.

Neil

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