About 90% of American pet puppies live indoors with their owners. If you are thinking of having your dog live inside with you and your family, you have to go through the process of housebreaking them. Many pet owners are daunted by the responsibility of potty training a puppy. But it’s really not that hard to accomplish, it doesn’t need to be messy, and you don’t have to struggle with your pet when housebreaking him. You have to keep in mind though that this is a training issue and you have to put in a little more than just casual effort. You will need time, a little more involvement, as well as some training tools such as puppy training pads.

The Puppy is Boss

For those who own dogs or puppies, there are two major guidelines to follow. Remember to never punish your puppy for something you didn’t see him do. Two, always remember to praise your puppy for good behavior. Do not train by only using “no” when you see your dog doing something it should not be doing. Desirable behavior should be met with praise and treats.

House Training/Breaking Puppies

There are many different techniques to house train your pup. At the beginning, encourage the puppy to “go” on newspapers or puppy training pads. Puppy pads generally are treated with scented chemicals that lure pups and get them to use the pads. When you notice them doing their pre-potty routine of sniffing and walking around, take them gently, without saying a word, to the puppy training pads or newspaper and praise them for going to the bathroom correctly.

After things are progressing well and the puppy is using the puppy training pads or newspapers regularly, you can then locate them a little closer to the door and eventually outside. The change is made from concentrating on bathroom habits at a location inside the house to a location outside the house. You’ll soon see that you won’t need the training pads or papers in the house anymore.

The biggest issue with this method of puppy potty training is that is requires more time to get the puppy to go indoors. When house training puppies, other widely used techniques might work; you could, for example, use puppy crate training or cages, always accompanied by the owner’s close supervision.

When you opt to use a crate or a cage for housebreaking your dog, take note that dogs can only hold their bladders and bowels for about seven to eight hours. This method usually works as most dogs treat cages and crates as their sleeping places and they do no want to soil their beds because they will be forced to lie in the mess. However it is not recommended to leave them in a cage or crate longer than necessary.

The use of crates/cages and papers/puppy pads is not required if you have constant supervision. In this case, the owners elect to be with their puppies for as much time as necessary. For people who are retired, work from home, or pet owners that have the spare time to be with their puppy, this is the ideal situation. Pet owners can normally usher their dog outside as soon as the pre-potty signs are noticed with this technique. You need to keep a constant eye on your puppy to prevent any accidents or slip-ups.

To sum up, puppy housebreaking and training should be treated as part of the ‘come’ and ‘stay’ command trainings. However, housebreaking and potty training a puppy are always the messiest lessons, and will usually give you more problems than any other form of training. Do not lose heart!

Popularity: 9% [?]

Technorati Tags: animals, Dogs, family, pets, puppy barking, puppy obedience, puppy obedience training, puppy potty training, puppy training