HOUSE TRAINING YOUR PUPPY

Basic Training:

Direct Method

The direct house training method requires you to be nearby to supervise and reward good habits from the beginning.

Provide frequent opportunity to eliminate in an appropriate place and to reward this behavior immediately as it occurs.  To do this, walk your puppy on a leash at regular intervals.  Other methods may seem easier and may appear to demand less initial investment of time.  The direct training method, however, is sure to save you time and energy in the long run.

Frequent Opportunities to Go Out

Puppies require more frequent walks until they are able to reliably control their sphincters.  This usually occurs by 6 months of age.  The best method of house training is to take your puppy out within several minutes after each meal and each nap.  These are predictable moments during the day when bowel and bladder are most full.  A wave of rhythmic contractions along the length of the digestive tract (the gastrocolic reflex) begins when food or water is swallowed.  The contractions are particularly strong after eating, which explains why a bowel movement is so likely after a puppy eats. Feed your puppy at scheduled mealtimes and avoid snacks between feedings. The gastrocolic reflex may be conditioned by feeding your puppy at regular intervals.  Allowing your puppy continuous access to food makes house training more difficult.  Prevent ?accidents? between meals by taking your pup out before the accidents occur.

Learning to Walk On a Leash

It is best to leash walk your puppy within 15 minutes or sooner after each meal.  Continue to walk, incorporating play to make it fun, until the puppy has eliminated.  If your puppy is too young to walk on a leash, carry it outside to an enclosed, safe area.  Stay nearby and play with or pet it.  Additional activity will help to stimulate bowel movements when your pup is already outside.  Be sure not to distract it, however, if it begins to sniff the ground or crouch to void.  If  your pup is slow adjusting to leash walks, be patient.  Avoid pulling the leash and allow your pup to take its time.  When the pup prepares to eliminate, begin praising it in a happy and light voice.  Your tone should be soft and quiet so your pup won?t stop before it is done in response to your over-enthusiastic praise.  Continue your praise until the task is completed.  Immediate encouragement is necessary for your pup to learn to eliminate in an acceptable area.  As your dog eliminates, pleasantly say something like ?hurry? or ?do it? and give abundant praise.  This teaches the pup to void on command so that you won?t freeze unnecessarily on a cold winter night while the pup leisurely looks for just the right spot.  If your pup is initially afraid of the leash, leave the leash on indoor for brief periods without holding onto it.  When the pup becomes more accustomed to the collar and leash, take the pup for brief leash walks indoor before graduating to walks outside.  Daily leash walks throughout a dog?s life help maintain good elimination habits. 

Avoid Paper Training

Paper training is not the method of choice, contrary to popular opinion.  Paper training encourages the pup to eliminate on newspapers spread over the floor in a designated area of the home.  This can lead to several problems.

The first is that you may confuse your pup by teaching it twice what it needs to learn only once.  When, and if the pup has learned to void on the newspapers, it must then be retrained to eliminate outside.

The second problem with paper training is that you may unintentionally teach your pup that it is acceptable to eliminate inside your home.  Though some puppies stay on the paper, many more ?miss? the boundaries set for them.  You may think your pup clearly understands that it should void on paper.  Instead, it may learn that it is acceptable to eliminate anywhere in that room and may begin soiling in a variety of unacceptable areas in your home.  Some owners of small-breed dogs prefer to continue paper training throughout the pet?s lifetime, but this should not replace daily walks.

Accidents Will Happen

Puppies need to learn these skills and need time to physically be able to control their sphincters.  Punishing the pup for accidentally eliminating in the house and then taking it immediately outside is a common and unfortunate practice.  Some owners believe that pressing the pup's nose into its own waste discourages it.  Others punish by using a stern and loud voice or by hurriedly grabbing a pup while it is urinating or defecating.  Punishment is often followed by whisking the puppy outside into a big and frightening world, where the irritated owner impatiently awaits appropriate behavior.  Although this may be intended to teach the puppy not to eliminate indoor, the puppy may associate the punishment with going out and may learn to fear going outside.  A confused and frightened pet is even more likely to spontaneously void when it is threatened!  The dog might even learn to fear eliminating in your presence.

It is pointless to punish your dog at any age for accidents that occur in your home. This is particularly true when there is any delay between the act of soiling and your discovery of the mess.  To be effective, punishment (and praise, for that matter) must follow your pet's action within seconds.  Punishment, however, is not helpful in house training.  No matter how frustrated you may be, clean up the mess and concentrate on the steps to prevent another one.

Crate Training:

Advantages

Crate training is based on the premise that puppies are unlikely to eliminate in or near an area used for rest.  Crate training is popular among owners who cannot continually remain nearby to take the puppy directly outside as described above.  Some owners place the pup in a crate while they are away at work or when they will be absent for short periods of time or even overnight.  A puppy that naturally resists voiding inside the crate may eventually adjust to longer periods of crate confinement when you are absent.  At the least, a crate will contain any messes and can prevent destructive behavior, too.  This method works well for some dogs, but not for all.

Disadvantages

Many young puppies are simply unable to control immature sphincters, especially when they are anxious or frightened.

Some pups may soil themselves and even ingest their own waste.  For these pups, the direct training method is preferable and crate training should be abandoned.

Pups should not be crated for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time.  If you must confine your pup for long periods, try to rearrange your plans to visit it on your, lunch hour, for example, and go for a nice long walk.  If necessary, ask a neighbor, friend, or relative to help you.  If no one can help you, professional pet sitters are an option until your pup is an adult.  Still even an adult dog should not be crated for more than 6-8 hours at a stretch.

Some pups do not tolerate this type of confinement, becoming very agitated and excessively vocal.  If the pup initially objects to being confined in the crate, you will encourage undesirable attention-seeking behavior, such as whining or   barking, by visiting or otherwise comforting the crated pup.  Wait a few moments until it is quiet and calm before checking that all is well.  This way, you will not encourage undesirable behavior nor will you defeat the potential usefulness of the crate.  If your puppy's objections seem excessive or unacceptable to you, apply other house training techniques instead.