Housebreaking, Housebreaking a puppy

Archive for the ‘Housebreaking’ Category

When you adopt a new pet then the main challenge you have to face is regarding the housebreaking puppy. A sufficient amount of time is required by your pet to learn housebreaking, and you should not force him to do that early. Time taken by a young puppy may vary according to their nature.

Proper training should be done for your puppy, and it is a process which may be irritating for you sometimes. Take your puppy for a walk regularly to fulfill his daily routine. Otherwise he will do that in your home and then you have to clean that. Proper feeding schedule for your puppy should be set by you. Regular cleaning of house with some antibacterial solution is quite important to avoid the infections.

Working 8 hours a day and housebreaking a puppy is not as hard as you may think. In this article we will discuss things you can do to help you with housebreaking your puppy and working a full time job.

Crate Training

This is, without a doubt, one of the first essential steps in training your puppy and an exercise our puppy needs to master in their early days. It can be an effective means of housebreaking your puppy. However, many people misunderstand the proper methods of crate training and the benefits it will bring. Your dog will see their crate as their space, their sanctuary, and their escape from the very odd human world.

Crate Size

Before you start on this training exercise it is important to consider what size of crate to buy. The crate needs to be big enough to see your puppy through from their early days to their full size. Bear in mind though that if it’s too large, your pet may end up using one end as their ‘Business’ area. Some crates offer divider panels to expand the size as they grows. Choose one large enough to stand, comfortably turn, and sprawl.

Evening

Crate Training through the night can be a difficult task, don’t worry. When housebreaking a puppy be mindful that they will need to “go” as soon as they see you in the morning. It is very difficult for a puppy to hold his bladder until they are around 9 months of age.

Make Arrangements

While crate training is excellent for housebreaking puppies, do not leave your dog confined in a small area for too long. If your work allows, try to make arrangements to come home during your lunch hour to allow your it to relieve himself. Also there are even services you can hire to provide this. A pet ‘holding it’ all day can cause bladder and kidney problems.

When Supervised

While crate training your dog, it’s a good idea to leave the door open so your pet will not be confined to a closed area. Generally, in addition to housebreaking puppies, you are creating a safe place where your pet will feel comfortable sleeping.

Accidents

Don’t make crate training a punishment. If your dog does their ‘business’ in the house, make a loud, surprised sound take them outside. Avoid shouting “NO!” for this routine as they might associate it as something bad. Be sure to give exaggerated praise when your pet ‘goes’ outside in the regular chosen area, so they will learn that there is a good thing.

Cleanliness

Their crate is their space, but there will be some jobs you’ll need to do on their behalf. Regular cleaning and disinfecting will protect your dog from illness and you home from unwanted smells.

Hopefully this has given you some ideas on how to housebreak your puppy and still keep your day job.

Housebreaking a puppy requires a lot of patient. If your puppy has an accident inside the house, you’ll need to remove the urine and get rid of the smell quickly or your puppy will continue to return to that spot. You can use a product with active enzymes rather than something that will only cover up the smell for a short period of time.
Puppy usually likes to mark territory, and marking territory is more of a problem with male dogs than a female dog. This can be stopped by spaying and neutering your puppy as soon as possible.

In housebreaking a puppy, it is important to keep your puppy on a regular drinking and feeding schedule to prevent any accident and messing up of the house. You may not want to bring any food out until the feeding time and continue with this effort until your puppy is finally potty trained. At that point you have gained a full control over your puppy for when it needs to relieve him or herself.

If you are going to disappear from your home for a long period, do not feed your puppy with large amounts of water. A young puppy does not have a large bladder. As a rule of thumb, a puppy that is two months old can hold its urine for up to two hours and a 3-month-old puppy can hold it for three hours and so forth. If you are going to leave your puppy in the crate for the whole day, use a puppy potty pad as accident is anticipated. Of course the estimated hours for a dog to relieve can be different with every dog or dog breed.

Sometimes accident does happen even for the best-trained dogs if you leave them alone for too long or you miss that potty time particularly for puppy on a regular toilet schedule. Sometimes dogs can get bored when being left unaccompanied in the house for too long and they may surprise you by relieving inside the house. While you are away you may want to provide your dog with a puppy potty pad, a toy or keep the TV on to make your puppy feels as if someone is at home. This will make your puppy feel comfortable. Leaving a light on at night while you are away will also make your dog feel at ease.

It is the dog’s nature to please its owner. In the effort of housebreaking a dog, you must remember that the more efforts you put in to comfort them the more they will want to make you happy and not to annoy you by urinating in the house. On the other hand they can also show you they are upset by breaking the rules.

Please visit our Potty Dog Training Website for more helpful dog training tips on housebreaking a puppy.

Successfully house breaking a puppy is possibly the main issue in the minds of new owners when bringing home their pups.
Praise vs. Punishment

Yet it is training that can be quite easily accomplished if approached the right way and with the right attitude.  Housebreaking entails patience, kindness and awareness.  Establishing a routine for your puppy and learning to read the signs will prevent a lot of stress, for both of you.

Puppies don’t bode well in an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. A puppy needing to go to the bathroom is natural – it is not naughty behavior and should not be treated as such.  A puppy should not be shouted at, smacked, kicked or jerked around. They should be admonished when accidents happen and praised when they do something right.  They should not be punished.  A gentle and kind approach will reap far more rewards from your puppy than punishment.  If a puppy is consistently punished they will learn how to hide the evidence, but worse than that they could develop behavior problems.

After all housebreaking a puppy is about tailoring or focusing their behavior not about trying to break them of a habit.

Routines

It is simply not possible for a puppy to be trained in a day or two.  As with a human baby a puppy has no control over their bodily functions.  As they grow older they will become more reliable.  This means that it is up to the owner to take control over the situation.  They need to be vigilant and be consistent.  Knowing in advance when a puppy is ready to ‘go’ and reading the signs correctly, will ensure successful housebreaking.

There are many techniques to help an owner read the signs.  With the correct training techniques and owner will make their own lives easier as well as their puppy’s life.  A puppy needs to be taught how to integrate into an owner’s life. They live to please their owners and will do almost anything to do so.  However an owner must be able to instill a sense of trust in their puppy.  With the right housebreaking techniques this can be accomplished.

Putting routines in place will not only encourage housebreaking but will also offer the owner a housebreaking agenda that is easy to follow.

In Summary

Housebreaking a puppy should be beneficial for both owner and puppy.  Instead of traumatizing, it should bond.  If a puppy is shown what behavior is expected of them they will happily comply. There are techniques that if followed will ensure the process is as stressless as possible.

A puppy should be put onto a routine from the first day it arrives.  It should be shown what to do and when to do it.  Praise should be given and physical punishment withheld.  Housebreaking calls for high levels of patience from owner and a positive attitude.  The onus is on the owner to ensure that housebreaking is conducted in a manner that will not have an adverse or negative effect on a puppy.