Thursday, May 8, 2008

House Breaking A New Puppy

So you've welcomed a new puppy into your home, either as a pet for your child, or as a companion for yourself. They're great pets, as we all know, but they also make messes in their early days. You will want to quickly get your new puppy adjusted to it's new surroundings and most importantly, teach your him the appropriate place to do his business. It's not always an easy task, but with a little patience, should be a piece of cake.

The first thing to remember when house breaking your new puppy is that you need to stay committed to a routine until your puppy is fully trained. House training takes patience and time.

The most successful method for training your puppy is the crate method. If you do not have a dog/puppy crate, you can cordon off a small area for your puppy where his is unable to move around. This will be your puppy's sleeping area. Dogs do not soil their sleep area, so keeping your puppy in this area, will help establish this area as a no go zone.

If your puppy does not go in this area, you then move him/her to the appropriate area for eliminating waste at an appropriate time. You should not leave a puppy in its crate/sleep area for an extended period of time, as a puppy does not have a large capacity for waste to begin with. So semi-frequent breaks are required. Each hour if possible.

Once you have taken your puppy to it's appropriate area, wait to see if he/she goes. If the puppy does go, be sure to offer up praise, as positive reinforcement will help establish that the puppy has done the right thing (negative reinforcement with a strong "No!" can be used when the puppy goes in the wrong place). If the puppy does not relieve itself after a sufficient length of time, take him/her back to it's crate/sleep area.

At night it is best not to feed your puppy after a certain time and to be sure your pup has been taken to relieve itself before you call it a night.

As stated, house training takes time and commitment. It may be wise to keep a log of your activities to help establish a routine for your puppy. Keeping a routine feeding time, with time for relieving itself immediately after, can help greatly with a young puppy, as it can help develop a solid route for relieving itself.

If you stay consistent with your puppy, the training process can go by fairly quick and your puppy will develop the awareness needed to go on his/her own before long. You will no longer need to worry about messes in your home and will be able to move in to more advanced training of your puppy, as well as to enjoy your great new pet to the fullest. They truly are man's best friend and with a little patience you will experience this to the fullest extent as you and your puppy grow along together.

Avoiding Common Training Mistakes

Dogs are man’s best friends. When you ultimately made that big decision to own a dog, you expected it to provide you companionship, be a pleasure to show off to your friends and just plainly be a joy to own. So off you go to the pet shop, choose a dog that catches your attention and bring him (or her) home.

But then, the horror begins. The dog you brought home seems to be anything but the adorable creature you expected it to be. His (or her) behavior is terribly unpredictable and can even be downright embarrassing at times. The dog you brought home to provide you companionship just sits around at the corner of your home, seemingly bored at the things happening around him (or her).

So you read all the books and even went to a dog training class to teach your dog a thing or two about obedience, but you still get no good results. This may lead you to think there is something inherently wrong with your dog. Is he (or she) just plain lazy, hardheaded or a little bit slow in the head?

Have you considered its lineage? Some breeds of dogs are simply not born to be followers; making them naturally hard to train.

Have you taken an honest look at your self and your training style? Are you observing the proper dog training techniques? It would be a good idea to make sure that you do, to make both of your lives easier and to make your dog training sessions an enjoyable and fruitful experience for both of you. To help you make your training sessions easier, here is a list of the most commonly committed dog training mistakes. Please avoid them at all costs.

•Not giving enough rewards during the training - Providing treats is one indispensable part of dog training. It gives your dog enough motivation to continue following your commands satisfactorily. However, some dog owners shun this idea. They simply do not want to provide treats during their dog training sessions because they feel that they would not retain authority if ever they do so. They believe that it is the dog’s role to follow their commands and giving them treats would be like bribing them.

•Being too controlling - Some owners simply have a “control” problem and can be quite overbearing, nagging and perfectionist during their dog training sessions. If you happen to be one of these control freaks and you own a hard-to-train dog, you can expect to be in for a very hard time!

•Being a training fanatic - Training your dogs too often, or repeating the same exercises over and over again, may bore him (or her). This is especially true when you own an independent dog, one that was simply not bred to obey his master’s commands. Among these are dogs that belong to the non-sporting, terrier and hound breeds.

•Not giving attention to the dog’s emotions - Some owners neglect to give enough attention to their dog’s feelings during their training sessions. This can be a major problem indeed! Especially during training, it is important to consider how your dog is feeling to get the most out of your efforts. So whenever you observe his (or her) reluctance in doing the exercises, if you notice excessive yawning or that your dog simply refuses to look at you, it may be best to stop and let it loose for a while. Your dog might already be tired or bored from all that physical exertion!