House Training a New Puppy

When a new puppy comes into the household, it's an exciting time for everyone. So that the dog integrates into the family as smoothly as possible, it's essential to give some thought to house training your new pup.

Among the main challenges of dog ownership, especially for first-time owners, is the issue of house training. If you equip yourself with some fundamental knowledge and a positive attitude, it's a lot less daunting than many people imagine.

As soon as the new puppy arrives, take her outside. The excitement of the journey along with the unfamiliar faces, sights, and sounds will probably make her want to go anyway, so try to organise her first toilet break so that it happens outside. The more your puppy relieves herself inside, the more likely she is to do it over again.

The first arrival is an excellent opportunity for you to start house training and determine a good precedent for toilet behavior.

Carry her to your assigned toilet area, and put her down on the grass and wait while she sniffs around. Don't stroke her or play with her just yet, since you don't want her to formulate a connection between this area and play time. She needs to discover that this part of the yard is for toilet breaks exclusively.

When she starts to relieve herself, say the words that you require her to associate with toilet breaks. The phrase should be short and easy to recognize. Try to use the same voice inflection every time, so that your dog can easily remember the significance of the words.

When she's finished, make a big fuss over her, shower her in praise, and give her a little treat. When you take her indoors, the house training program you've settled upon should begin right away.

Puppies and their toilet habits

Puppies' bladders and bowels are so small and weak that they've only a very small window of opportunity between acknowledging that they have to go, and that need becoming an immediate reality. So as you can see, it's crucial that you take her outside as soon as she wakes up, and within ten minutes of eating or playing.

Behaviors that suggest she requires to go outside include sniffing the ground and circling. Once again, since she's only small, she won't demonstrate these warning signs for very long, so as soon as she starts, take her out immediately. It's better to have an unnecessary visit to the yard than an unnecessary wet patch, or worse, in the house.

Crate training is commonly recognized as being the most effective means of house training a puppy in a relatively short space of time.

The maximum amount of time that a puppy can be crated at one time is worked out using the following information: Her age in months, plus one. So, a three-month old puppy can be crated for a maximum of four hours. Even so, this is likely to be physically pretty uncomfortable for her, let alone difficult for her emotionally and psychologically: It's not much fun being cramped up with nothing to do, so you ought to really take her out at least once every two hours during the day. If she's sleeping, of course, just leave her until she wakes up naturally.

For a more indepth look at house training, as well as a great deal of useful information on canine behavioral problems and the most effective training techniques, check out The Ultimate House Training Guide. It's the complete dog-house-training guide.