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Posts Tagged ‘house training’

One of the most frustrating parts of animal ownership is making sure they develop good habits when it comes to when and where they eliminate. Indeed, training a dog to wait until it can be taken out can be one of the most difficult training tasks, requiring firmness and consistency when offering either praise or punishment.

House breaking a dog is much more about having a routine and training the owner than teaching the dog anything. It is important that the dog is taken outside several times a day. Early in the morning and right before bed are both good places to start. Other times to take or send the dog outside include after meals and after playtime.

At least at first, you’ll want to stay outside and make sure that the dog does go. Then, the owner should tell the dog how they well they did that using whatever word they want to dog to associate with elimination.

Dogs do not like to eliminate where they eat or sleep. This fact can be taken advantage of if the owner places a small bowl of food in any area of the house where the dog has had an accident in the past. Dogs are creatures of habits and instincts, so hopefully the instinct not to eliminate near food will override the habit of eliminating in the area.

If you continue to have problems, consider limiting your dog’s access to the majority of your house. Often owners find they have to block off the second floor of a home or the hallway leading to the bedrooms of the house. Rooms that are too far from a dogs regular living space feel no different that outdoors to him.

Remember, consistency is key when you’re hoping to house train your dog.

Taylor also writes on articles on dog bed selection such as kuranda dog beds.

Training your dog to come as soon as it is called

Instructing a four-legged friend to come every time it’s called is a really imperative, and likely life saving, part of some successful k9 training system.  All properly trained dogs should learn to respond straight away to your owner’s voice, and also the quicker this lesson is learned your better.

The advantages of training your puppy to come anytime called are understandable.  Firstly, coming when called will assist you regain control of the dog in case of collar break, snapped leash or other similar equipment failure.  That is particularly important when you are out with your pet, especially in an area with lots of traffic.  It can be vital that the pet respond to your voice and return to your side, even in the absence of collar and leash, and even though there are lots of other activities competing for its attention.

Coming while called can also be a crucial skill for all working canine friend.  Whether your dog’s job is herding sheep, guarding livestock, or sniffing out bombs and drugs at the airport, the working pet must be under total control at all times, whether on leash or off.

Regardless of whether your dog’s sole job is being a loyal companion, it can be still vital that he learn this important basic obedience exercise.  After your first obedience lessons, such as heeling, stopping on command, sitting on command, etc. have been learned, this is time to start incorporating your come anytime called lessons into your daily training sessions.

One note about k9 training – it’s all too easy for training sessions to become dull and routine for both handler and k9.  A bored canine friend will not be receptive to learning, just as a bored handler will not be a good teacher.  This is important, therefore, to always incorporate fun things and play into each and every training session.  Incorporating a few minutes of play time before the lesson begins can do wonders for the attitude of four-legged friend and human alike.  Likewise, ending each training session having a few minutes of free play time is a great way to end on a positive note and to help the dog associate obedience training with fun and not drudgery.

Your command to stay and the command to come when called are often combined in obedience training lessons, and they do go naturally together.  Start with the dog on a loose leash, ask the four-legged friend to sit and then slowly back away.  If the pet begins to get up and follow you, return to the four-legged friend and ask him to sit again.  Continue this process until you can reach your end of your leash without your four-legged friend getting up.

After you can successfully reach the end of your leash on a consistent basis, try dropping the leash altogether.  Of course you will want to do this in a controlled environment like a fenced in yard.  After your k9 has mastered your stay command, it will be time to add your come as soon as called command.

Take up the leash again, and with your pet on the end of your leash, say “come” or “come here”. It will be often helpful to use a lure anytime instructing this behavior.  Your lure provides a visible item for your canine friend to focus on.  Educating the dog to come to the lure is a good first step in training the four-legged friend to come when called.

Repeat this procedure many times until your canine friend will consistently stay and then come when called.  After your k9 has mastered coming anytime called while attached to the leash, slowly start introducing the concept anytime the leash is removed.  As before, these training sessions must only take place in a controlled, safe environment, such as a fenced in front or back yard.

A rightly taught, obedient dog ought to respond to your call to return to its owner no matter where this is and no matter what distractions may occur.  It is therefore necessary to test the dog with distractions of your own.

If you have a neighbor, if at all possible one that has a dog of their own, try having her come over with your dog.  Have him, and your dog, stand just outside the fenced in area and repeat the come whilst called exercise with the animal off leash.  If he becomes distracted by the other dog, put the leash back on and repeat the process.  The goal is to have your dog consistently pay attention to your commands, whatever distractions may well present themselves.

Housetraining

No training is more basic for pet owners than that first important lesson: Do it outside!

Teaching your new puppy to eliminate outside the home, not in it, can start between six and eight weeks of age. Dogs as young as four weeks can start house training, but at that age few have the muscular control to succeed.

Like any dog training plan, trainer patience is just as important as the dog’s temperament. ‘Sit’, ‘stay’ and other behaviors can often be learned in a few days. House breaking typically takes weeks – sometimes as short as two, often a month or more.

As with other learned behaviors, it helps to watch for signs of the desired potty behavior and enforce and direct them with a voice command followed by praise. In this case that technique works even more to the trainer’s advantage, since all dogs will naturally eliminate. The true challenge is to get them to do it when and where you want!

Watch for circling or squatting, then pick up the pup, say ‘outside’ and dash outside. The puppy may circle some more, but will often squat immediately. As she starts, say ‘Go potty’ ( or some other unique phrase) in a clear, firm (but not angry) voice. Wait until she is finished and then her praise lavishly.

You won’t always be able to notice the puppy about to begin, but don’t become angry or impatient when the dog eliminates indoors. It takes some time for your puppy to learn to tell you it’s time to ‘go outside’. It also takes time for the muscles needed to control bladder and bowels to gain control.

On average, puppies need to eliminate every 2-3 hours. If you haven’t spotted pre-elimination behavior within that time, take the dog outside anyway. Issue the command ‘Go potty’ and wait. At first, usually, the dog will have no clue what you want.

Again, even when outside, it helps to wait and watch for the desired behavior then issue the command. That helps the dog associate the command with the behavior. Wait a few minutes and If the dog hasn’t gone, even after a few ‘Go potty’ commands, take it back inside for an hour. Of course, if you notice the pre-elimination behavior in less time, go outside again immediately.

Puppies have a surprising ability to quickly learn what their ‘alpha’ (the leader of the pack) wants. This is almost always accomplished by associating a verbal command with behavior, followed by praise. Punishment is usually counter-productive, and nowhere more so than in waste elimination training. Never rub your puppy’s nose in the mess.

Paper and/or crate training is preferred by some. A puppy can be trained to go on a newspaper, or on one of the chemically treated pads designed for the purpose. Some small breeds that live all day in the home may not need to go outside at all.

The technique has a couple of downsides however. Unlike cats, dogs will seldom go in a perfumed litter box. Newspapers will often leave an unpleasant smell in the house.

Also, long before the odor becomes unattractive to humans, dogs can smell their own distinctive aroma. Dogs don’t find the scent unattractive – quite the opposite. And that’s the problem.

Dogs that are paper trained will often prefer to potty indoors. Sometimes they’ll miss the paper by only an inch, creating a mess to clean up.

Once the smell is in the carpet, the dog will often seek that area out as its proper ‘place to go’. This makes training the dog to eliminate outside even more difficult. Best to suffer a few accidents than to create a hard-to-overcome habit.

Providing patience, praise and consistency are key factors to any dog training. House training is the first test for you and your dog.

Get more tips and advice on housetraining or dog training at Luvurdog.com/dogtraining