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PUPPY
HOUSE TRAINING TIPS FOR THE NEW OWNER |
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What To Expect During the House
Training Process
Unless you can
monitor your puppy 24 hours a day, don't expect the house training
process to be completed until your puppy is at least 6 months old.
It's normal for a young puppy to be a little 'input-output' machine.
Since puppies are growing and developing rapidly at this stage, they
eat more food, burn up more energy and seem to need to eliminate
constantly! They also have not yet developed bowel and bladder
control, so they can't 'hold it' as long as adult dogs.
House
Training When You Are Not Home
Confine your puppy to a small,
'puppy-proofed' room and paper the entire floor. Put his bed, toys and
food/water bowls there. At first there will be no rhyme or reason to
where your pup eliminates. He will go every where and any where. He
will also probably play with the papers, chew on them, and drag them
around his little den. Most puppies do this and you just have to live
with it. Don't get upset; just accept it as life with a young puppy.
The important thing is that when you get home, clean up the mess and
lay down fresh papers.
Passive House
Training or Paper Training
While your puppy is confined, he is
developing a habit of eliminating on paper because no matter where he
goes, it will be on paper. As time goes on, he will start to show a
preferred place to do his business. When this place is well
established and the rest of the papers remain clean all day, then
gradually reduce the area that is papered. Start removing the paper
that is furthest away from his chosen location. Eventually you will
only need to leave a few sheets down in that area only. If he ever
misses the paper, then you've reduced the area too soon. Go back to
papering a larger area or even the entire room. Once your puppy is
reliably going only on the papers you've left, then you can slowly and
gradually move his papers to a location of your choice. Move the
papers only an inch a day. If puppy misses the paper again, then
you're moving too fast. Go back a few steps and start over. Don't be
discouraged if your puppy seems to be making remarkable progress and
then suddenly you have to return to papering the entire room. This is
normal. There will always be minor set-backs. If you stick with this
procedure, your puppy will be paper trained.
House
Training When You Are Home
When you are home but can't attend to your
puppy, follow the same procedures described above. However, the more
time you spend with your puppy, the quicker he will be house trained.
Your objective is to take your puppy to his toilet area every time he
needs to eliminate. This should be about once every 45 minutes; just
after a play session; just after eating or drinking; and just upon
waking. When he does eliminate in his toilet area, praise and reward
him profusely and enthusiastically! Don't use any type of reprimand or
punishment for mistakes or accidents. Your puppy is too young to
understand and it can set the house training process back drastically.
Don't allow your puppy freedom outside of his room unless you know
absolutely for sure that his bladder and bowels are completely empty.
When you do let him out, don't let him out of your sight. It is a good
idea to have him on leash when he is exploring your home. He can't get
into trouble if you are attached to the other end of the leash. Every
30 minutes return your pup to his toilet area. As your puppy becomes
more reliable about using his toilet area and his bowel and bladder
control develops, he can begin to spend more time outside his room
with you in the rest of your home. Begin by giving him access to one
room at a time. Let him eat, sleep and play in this room but only when
he can be supervised. When you cannot supervise him, put him back in
his room.
Active House
Training
The most important thing you can do to make
house training happen as quickly as possible is to reward and praise
your puppy every time he goes in the right place. The more times he is
rewarded, the quicker he will learn. Therefore it's important that you
spend as much time as possible with your pup and give him regular and
frequent access to his toilet area.
Key to
Successful House Training
Consistency and Patience. Never scold or
punish your puppy for mistakes and accidents. The older your pup gets,
the more he will be able to control his bladder and bowels. Eventually
your pup will have enough control that he will be able to "hold it"
for longer and longer periods of time. Let your puppy do this on his
own time. When training is rushed, problems usually develop. Don't
forget, most puppies are not reliably house trained until they are at
least 6 months old.
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