puppy crate training

Potty Training Puppies

February 10, 2010 · 0 comments

You’ve been searching for that special pup, and now you’ve finally found him. Like every other dog owner you’ll want to avoid “accidents” in your house as much as you can, so after you bring him home, potty training your puppy is one of the first things you’ll want to do.

Thankfully, potty training puppies is very simple. It’s so easy, a child could do it. You only need to do three simple things: be consistent, be persistent, and most importantly, be affectionate to your new dog.

First and foremost, you need to realize that puppies respond to affection and rewards much better than they respond to any type of harsh discipline.

In potty training puppies, the first rule is to always praise and reward your puppy when he does well and always resist the temptation to hit your pup or even to shout at him if he has a “mistake.”

Always keeping that in mind, the next thing to do while potty training puppies is to be consistent and persistent. This means you need to get into, and always stick with, a housebreaking routine.

Puppies need to urinate as soon as they wake up, so always take your pup outside right away. Don’t stop to do anything else along the way. Puppies also need to urinate within about 15 minutes after eating and whenever they’ve been playing or been excited.

On top of that, puppies also need to urinate every hour or two, and they poop within a half hour or so after eating. Get in the habit of taking your pup outside at each of these predictable intervals.

Potty training puppies requires your attention. You can’t just let your pup out into the yard to do his “business.” Instead, take him out there, and lavishly praise and reward him when he makes his deposit. While you’re there, consistently say some cue words like “do your business” or “have a poop” while he pees or poops. If you stay with it, you’ll be training him to do it on command.

Potty training puppies is just that simple. You can make it even easier by never overfeeding, never punishing for indoor accidents (this will just make him confused and afraid of you), never being lazy about your routine, and always being affectionate and feeding at regular times.

Puppies are creatures of habit, and if you’re persistent, consistent, and affectionate, they learn very quickly. Those three things are really all that potty training puppies requires.

Here’s another article on potty training puppies that I think you’ll find useful:

  • Dogs Potty Training, Can You Do It? – You Can Make Potty Training Puppies Easy (0); Why Potty Training A Puppy Is Easy (0); What Are The Potty Training Puppies Secrets? (0); The Hottest Techniques For Training Your Puppy The Easy Way (0); Potty Training Puppies Is Easy With …
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Puppy Crate Training

February 10, 2010 · 0 comments

Puppy crate training is one of the key elements of housebreaking your puppy and to prevent puppy behavior problems from developing at an early age.Firstly, you should determine what size crate you need for your puppy. You need to take into consideration what size your puppy is now and what size your puppy will be when it’s fully grown.

You don’t want a crate that’s going to be too big that your puppy may use part of it as its toilet, but at the same time you don’t want one that your puppy will grow out of either, so you need to strike the right balance here.

Dogs also like familiarity, so having the same crate throughout it’s life will reinforce those feelings of familiarity in your dog – so choosing the right one in the beginning is important.

The next element of puppy crate training is to help make your puppy feel comfortable in its crate and to create more feelings of familiarity for your puppy. You can do this by making its bedding from some old blankets that you’ve used in the past so that your puppy can associate your smell from the blanket with positive feelings – remember a dogs nose is a powerful thing!

Once you’ve selected and bedded down an appropriate crate for your puppy actual puppy crate training can then begin. This should be a slow and gradual process whereby you introduce your puppy to its new crate gradually over time.

In the beginning, it’s a good idea to leave the crate in your bedroom over night so that your puppy feels safer – and to begin the process of puppy crate training by helping your puppy associate its crate with sleep time. You can then leave your puppy in its crate for a short period of time outside or downstairs but don’t cajole or force your puppy in any way into its new crate in the beginning. You need to make this a positive experience for your dog and to associate being in its crate with postive things – maybe a small snack every so often, have their water tray nearby & some toys to keep them busy.

Also remember that young puppies like to poop & pee a lot so in the early stages don’t leave them for too long in their crate as they need to learn that they should not use their crate as a toilet! However, soon they’ll realise that their crate if mainly for sleeping and will always then leave the crate if they need to go as puppies rarely poop where they sleep.

Gradually over time you can then leave your puppy in its crate for longer periods (but the key is gradually) and even close the door of the crate too – but again be sure to associate the closing of the door with positive things for your dog – and the dog should always be able to see out through the door – i think all crate doors these days are designed like this in any case.

Notice specifically the mention of the key word “gradually” above as you don’t want your puppy to associate being left in its crate as a negative thing – this is what will happen if you leave your puppy in its crate for long periods early in the process. Think like our old friend the Tortoise – Slow & steady wins the race!

Here are some more articles on puppy crate training that you may find useful:

  • Puppy Crate Training At Night? – 5 Responses to “Puppy Crate Training At Night?” Taterbug says: October 7, 2009 at 8:20 am. I dont believe in crate training.. I have a 5 month old puppy and I got him at 6 weeks…. I started him off sleeping in his bed right next to mine …
  • 9 Steps To Puppy Crate Training Success – … with the dog as they are always at home in their crate no matter where you are or what type of transportation you use. Kelly Marshall http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/9-steps-to-puppy-crate-training-success-68869.html.
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Puppy Obedience Training

February 10, 2010 · 0 comments

Training your puppy to do what you ask is easy when you know how to do it, so here are some tips for basic puppy obedience training. Instant feedback works best, so praise and reward your puppy as soon as he does well.

Hold your puppy’s attention by keeping your puppy obedience training sessions short and fun. And always remember, training is a gradual process. Consistency and repetition are the keys to success.

Sit. Training your puppy to sit on command is a great way to begin puppy obedience training. He’ll master it quickly and gain the confidence to successfully learn more complex commands. Say “sit” in a firm tone when you see that your puppy’s about to sit. As soon as he sits, immediately praise him. After a few repetitions he’ll make the connection, and if you consistently praise him he’ll soon be sitting whenever you give the command.

But if this technique doesn’t work, grab a treat. While your puppy’s standing in front of you, say “sit” and bring the treat up from in front of his nose to just above his head. He’ll follow it with his nose and at the same time his rear end will go down, so that he ends up sitting. As soon as he does, give him the treat and praise him. Repeat until he sits on command.

Stay. Start your puppy obedience training for the “stay” command with your puppy sitting in front of you. Say “stay” in a firm tone, and if he’s still sitting after a second or two, reward him with praise and a treat. Repeat the process several times each session, but delay giving the positive reinforcement a few seconds longer each time. Don’t punish your pup if he breaks out of the stay prematurely – just say no and start over again. He’ll soon learn to associate the stay command with staying in place. Once he’s learned the command, you can gradually increase the distance between you, but make sure you always return to your dog before reinforcing his behavior. You want him to stay, so don’t reward him for moving away.

Come. “Come” is the probably the most important command you’ll teach during your puppy obedience training. Put your pup on stay, then kneel in front of him and in a friendly voice say “Brutus, come” (substitute your puppy’s name). Reinforce him immediately when he comes to you. As with all puppy obedience training, repeat the process until he gets it.

Heel. You want your dog to walk calmly beside you without touching you, so it’s critical to keep your puppy’s attention. Begin by standing with your puppy next to your left leg, holding one of your pup’s favorite treats near your waist. Say his name followed by the command “heel.” As soon as he looks at you, take two steps forward. If he moves forward still in the heel position, reward him immediately. Do this repeatedly, but only reward him when he stays tucked in close to your left leg. If he forges ahead or straggles behind, don’t reward him, just start again. Gradually increase the distance you walk with each successful repetition, but don’t forget to reward him each time he does it correctly.

Here are some more articles with information on puppy obedience training that i hope you find useful:

  • Puppy Obedience Training Tips – Puppy Obedience Training Tips – Teaching Commands To help you in training your puppy to understand and obey commands, you need understand how your pup thinks.
  • Effective Dog Training – Puppy Obedience Training – An important thing you need to teach when you wear from puppy obedience training, it has to be stopped by pulling on the leash. This is the most common problem faced by most dog owners and it can be very frustrating, you have your puppy …
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