House training By Vicky Collins
Keep a close eye on your puppy when housetraining the more attention it gets whilst learning the quicker it will respond
Ways to avoid accidents in the wrong place
· Do not let your puppy wander around without supervision.
· Keep it in view or attached to a lead
· Always take puppy outside on waking or after eating, playing, and after being confined in the crate
· When you observe it sniffing and circling take it out side immediately
Five to 30 minutes after any of these events follow the following steps
1. take the puppy to the chosen toilet area
2. say words to encourage the behaviour ‘be quick’ or’ go potty’
3. when puppy starts to eliminate praise it quietly
4. after the puppy finishes , praise enthusiastically, pet it and reward it with a small titbit
5. Reward each time with praise but as your
puppy learns give food treats intermittently .
Paper training
Spread newspaper liberally on the kitchen floor, and whenever you see the pup about to squat ,pick it up and place on the paper ,do this even if its too late! gently reminding that this is the place to eliminate .
NEVER hit the pup if it has had an accident
Soon the pup will look for the newspaper .. praise it and reward it with a titbit.
Gradually reduce the amount of newspaper until there is just one sheet …by the back door
When the pup has learned to head for the door ,encourage it to go outside and praise .
Once the pup is old enough [around 20 weeks + ] it can control its bladder for several hours but before this mistakes will occur .ignore accidents but praise good behaviour and the pup ever eager to please will quickly learn
An observant patient owner can be quickly successful in housetraining but ignoring the dog can lead to long term problems .
Use of a crate is highly recommended however the owner must be there to observe waking and to allow the pup free range to the elimination area .