Liz Barton

How to Housebreak a Puppy - Part 1



Posted: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

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http://www.secretsofcats.com

When it comes to housebreaking a puppy, you need to make sure to start potty training them right from the start. It's easy to get caught up in their cuteness and the excitement of having a new pet, but you want to be sure to establish good habits with them right from the beginning or it could cause problems later on.

Several potty training techniques are available to you, but they're not all effective. For example, one method that is taught is paper training. With paper training, your dog learns to go potty on newspapers or puppy papers you keep inside your home. Once they've learned to use the papers, you then teach them to go potty outside. It works better to skip right to having them do their business outside from the very beginning.

Crate training is another popular technique. With crate training, you leave your puppy in a crate whenever you're not able to supervise them. To crate train your dog, you'll need to get a crate that's about the same size as your dog's bed. This prevents them from peeing or pooping in it when you leave in there, because if they do, they'll be forced to be in close proximity to it for the remainder of the time they're in there.

Whenever there is a time you can't supervise your puppy, such as when you leave the house, or you are cooking, working, cleaning, working on crafts, etc. you place your puppy inside the crate. This way, they learn that if they need to go potty, their body is able to hold it. It makes them realize they don't have to immediately go potty every time they feel the urge.

Purchasing the right size crate is crucial for this method. If the crate is too large, they may use that extra space to go potty in, which defeats the purpose. On the other hand, if it's too small, it'll be very uncomfortable for them because they can't lay down comfortably. The crate should give them just enough space to lay down and to turn in circles to re-situate themselves and get comfortable.

It's very useful to teach your dog a potty word. For example 'go pee pee'. You can choose something less cheesy if you wish. :) Any word will do, as long as you are consistent with using it.

When your puppy is outside going potty, you will say the 'potty word', then praise them and give them a treat. This will teach your pup to go potty when you take them outside for that purpose.

Be sure that if you take them outside to play games or go for a walk, you don't say this potty word. It needs to be something exclusive to them going to the bathroom, not a commonly used phrase you may accidentally say at some other time. Over time, you will be able to tell your dog the phrase and they will do their business immediately and rush back to you for their treat, rather than leisurely strolling around in the yard while you sit around and wait for them to potty.

Get more tips and tricks to train a dog at DogBehaviorExpert.com, where I provide information to solve all types of dog behavior problems .
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