The Happiness of Housetraining


Note: although this article discusses puppies, the same, basic techniques are used on adult dogs.

Puppies are babies. They cry a lot, eat a lot, sleep a lot, want a lot of attention, and pee and poop a lot. This article will deal with this last delightful part of puppyhood, the joy of puppy pee and puppy poop!

First, let me tell you other important things that we will not cover. We will not cover the importance of "schedule" for your puppy. Your puppy needs to be on a consistent schedule of eating and peeing and pooping if you are going to be successful at controlling these behaviors. Also, your puppy needs constant supervision or needs to be in a safe blocked-off area, or crated. For more information read "What I think about Crate Training" and "The Crate Alternative," which consists of purchasing a doggie door for your puppy. ...

How to teach your puppy or dog to tell you when he needs to go outside.


And you thought housetraining was done?

Once your dog associates praise with eliminating outside and realizes that it's useless to try to eliminate inside (because you'll stop him before he gets started and take him outside anyway) he may become perplexed with exactly how to tell you that he needs to go outside to pee or poop. If you have a fenced yard or a dog run, simply installing a doggie door will allow your dog to go outside whenever he has to. Pet Doors U.S.A. has the best selection of doggie doors, and I have been very happy with the ones I have gotten from them. If you don't have a fenced yard or dog run, this is a wonderful opportunity to teach your dog how to tell you when he needs to go outside.

First, decide what behavior you want your dog to do, to tell you that he needs to go outside. Some common choices are: ...

It is vitally important that you begin socializing your puppies NOW! The window for socialization closes at 12 weeks. Gradually introduce your puppy to all sorts of people: tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people, men, women, children, men with beards and who wear hats, girls and boys who wear baseball caps, black people, white people, and DOGS. When you're socializing your dog with children, watch your dog carefully to see if he's getting tired. If he is, remove him from the children and let him rest somewhere, like his crate. Put him in there with a chewy or a favorite toy so he doesn't see this as a punishment.

Begin this week by taking your dog to 5 new places. Put your puppy in the car and take him/her for rides in traffic. Speak to your dog along the way in a happy voice. Go and get gas at the gas station so your puppy gets used to someone reaching into the car to give you change. Ask the attendant if he'd mind offering your dog a treat through the window. ...

ALL puppies chew. It is what they do naturally. They chew on mom, on each other, and just about anything that fits in their mouth that doesn't taste bad. They "explore" a new item by putting it in their mouths and taking a good bite into it. Chewing is normal to them. It is we "people" who view it as "bad" or "destructive." Therefore it is our responsibility to teach our pups what is appropriate to chew, and what is not.

First of all, supply your puppy with a variety of chew toys. There is a very good selectin at DogToys.com. He needs chew toys that outlast his teeth (rubber "Kong" toys, some nylabones, hard dog bones, etc.), and others that he can really get his teeth into (stuffed toys, rawhides, real sticks, etc.). Add some squeaky toys, balls, tug-o-ropes, and whatever else you think your pup will enjoy that won't hurt him. Some of the things my dogs thoroughly enjoyed when they were puppies were cardboard boxes, ice cubes, apples, carrots, empty milk cartons, empty ice cream cartons, and just about anything that we would've thrown away. If it wasn't going to hurt them, we'd let them chew on it for awhile before we threw it out. ...