House Breaking Your New Puppy

by Chris Crow



Pick out the dog cage.


Before you bring your new puppy home you need to determine how big your dog is going to be when fully grown. Once you get this information go to your local pet store and purchase a dog cage/or crate that your dog can grow into to. There are many styles to choose from. The pet store representative should be able to assist you with this process. You want to get something that will be comfortable for your dog, as this will be his/her home when you are out of the house. Plus, this will be where the dog will sleep at night. This step is the most important! Hence the name Crate Method. People have tried without getting a dog cage only to prolong, and quite often, never successfully house break their pet. In the future you may choose to let your dog rome free in the house while nobody is home, and to sleep on the floor at night or the foot of the bed, but that time is not now. You are now in the training phase. I personally did not get rid of the crate until after the first year, and when I did, I did gradually.


Potty time!


When you bring your new pup home the first thing you need to do is show them where they will be going to the bathroom. If possible use the same area all the time. Dont even let there feet hit the carpet, or even their cage until they have had a chance to go POTTY. Yes, I used the word potty, and I suggest you start using the same word (or something similar) to let the puppy know what time it is. With my own dogs, every time time I went to take them out while in the house breaking phase I would say 'lets go potty!' EVERY TIME! My dog is now six years old. When it is bathroom time all I have to say is the word 'Potty' and he comes running to the back door to be let out. He knows what potty time is.


Consistency is the key.


At first, you may need to take your new puppy out for potty time every thirty minutes the first couple of days. Continuous repetition will help develop habit quickly. Plus, your new puppys small bladder can only hold so much liquid. There will be accidents. When an accident does occur hold the dogs face directly over the urine or poop (not in the urine or poop) and sternly say 'NO'. Than take the puppy straight outside and say 'POTTY'. Again, I dont think it is necessary to actually rub your dogs face directly in the urine or poop. Directly over it always did the trick for me. Besides, why would you want your new dog smelling like excrement? It probably isnt wise to strike your young puppy either. You can accidently hurt your pet. Consistency will train your pet quickly. A good consistent routine of taking your dog outside to use the bathroom will not only speed up the house breaking process, but will also help with developing bladder control. Also, make sure you praise your puppy when they do go where they are suppose to. This helps with the learning process.


While at work.


Your dogs place while you are not home always needs to be in the crate. This helps with two things: First, it helps minimize the amount of damage done to your home while your pet is in the training phase. Second: Your new pet will develop a sense of security in their little home. Two years after my dog was completely trained and trustworthy I would still leave the cage up in a corner because he would sometimes like to go in it and just chill. He felt comfortable in it. Believe it or not, the cage will help with developing your pets confidence. When you return home dont let your puppys feet hit the floor when you go to let him out. Pick him up from the cage and take him straight out to the bathroom. Dont leave food or water in the cage with your new puppy. This only promotes having to use the bathroom. If your going to be gone beyond a normal work day than make arrangements for someone to let your dog out and feed it. Otherwise your dog will be okay until you get home.


Sleeping arrangements.


I strongly recommend that at night your dog sleeps in its cage for the first three months, or until the dog has been completely house broken. When you think it might be safe, than try it out for a night where they sleep on the floor, or the end of the bed and see how they react. It might take them a couple of nights to realize that this is sleep time and not play time. However, just because the dog does well at night out of the cage when everyone is asleep does not mean they can be totally trusted during the day. Dogs will sometimes get out of character when they are alone, especially for length of a normal work day. If you let your dog out of its cage while you are at work before they have had time to mature, you might come home to a mess, so use precaution.


If you would like to read more on good dog-training tips. Go to http://chris295.bezoogle.com/pp/dog-training/




Chris lives in Tennessee with his wonderful wife of fifteen years and their two chrildren.