Is Your Dog Potty Trained Enough?
August 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
House Training a puppy or adult Dog is such an essential issue for its owner that even a single exclusive tip turns out to be extremely helpful.
The first step in making your Dog fit for polite company would be to potty train him. Some see this training as a hassle and some as a challenge.
For me, it is part of bringing up a pet.
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There are a few things you need to know before you actually start potty training a puppy or adult Dog. I enumerate these below:
- You need to understand your dog’s body language. Watch for signs that will indicate to you when your pet wants to eliminate.
- If you own puppies, remember that they need to go potty at fairly frequent intervals – as soon as they wake up, after short naps, after play-time, after meals, before and after being crated and finally, before retiring for the night.
- Take your Dog for walks at the time that he usually does his potty. Take him out to the yard and then to the same place there every time he needs to answer nature’s call.
- Praise your Dog after he eliminates at the right place. Some Dog owners even give treats to their dogs. But remember to do this every time he does it right. He will relate the rewards to his having “done it right” and zero in on the spot where you want him to defecate regularly.
- With time, you can try signal training. This is so that you know when your doggie wants to go. You can hang a bell at his level near the door and teach him to push it with his nose or pat it with his paw on his way out.
- Until your Dog has been fully potty trained keep him under strict vigilance. Do not let him roam around the house freely.
- Use a crate. A crate-trained Dog is usually very happy to get his own den. The advantage of crating is that dogs do not soil the place where they sleep. So, he will naturally not eliminate inside the crate.
- If you have a small dog and if you live in a high-rise building or in a place that does not have a proper backyard, you can try litter pan training. What you do is create a space for your pet to eliminate in your house itself.
- Use positive reinforcements while housebreaking puppies or adult dogs. Do not scold or hit him as you will gain nothing by doing that. He will only associate punishment with your return from outside. If you catch him in the act, a stern ‘NO’ or ‘FREEZE’ will do. It will startle the Dog enough for him to stop pooping.
- Be prepared to return to a soiled home if you are keeping your Dog home alone for more than 4 hours as separation anxiety is quite common among home – alone dogs.
- Accidents will happen. It is unusual for a trained adult Dog to work against its house training. But medical problems or health disorders may lead to sudden accidents.
- Many dogs mark their territory. These can be a leg of a table or a particular wall. Intact male and female dogs mark their territories by urinating. Use deodorizers to spray on the places where your Dog has marked.
- If you are patient and are ready to accept that house training a dog takes time, even months sometimes, you will end up having a good housetrained Dog.
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Now we will move on to how to potty train puppies and adult dogs.
Potty Training A Puppy:
Irrespective of breeds, housetraining a puppy is considered to be one of the biggest challenges by dog owners. If you think housetraining your puppy simply involves a steady supply of old newspapers, then think again.
A puppy does not develop full control over his bladder until it is over 4 or 5 months old. Since they are growing and developing rapidly at this time, puppies eat more, burn more calories and need to eliminate more frequently than an adult Dog.
After each nap, meal, drink or play, take your puppy to his designated area (indoors or outdoors, wherever you have decided) and stay there until it eliminates. Then bring him to his crate.
Repeat this situation everyday until he has developed a habit out of it.
Click here to subscribe to a FREE course on housebreaking a puppy.
Potty Training An Adult Dog:
The best way to housetrain an adult Dog is to begin all over again.
Observe him very closely. Maybe even maintain a diary of where he goes and when. Whether he is pooping when you are home or only when you are outside; whether you can time yourself to be home when he feels the need to go outside.
You can try dog crates, but be careful to introduce him gradually to them.
Click here to subscribe to a FREE course on potty training a dog.
Remember, commitment, consistency and intelligent use of positive reinforcement will make you the owner of a perfectly housetrained Dog. Don’t expect miracles. You will only be disappointed.
Get this FREE course on potty training a dog.
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Paper training your dog
August 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Paper training your dog: How to paper train your puppy, or your dog, and other common problems
What is paper training? Paper training is a specific form of house training for your dog: you’re teaching her where in the house is appropriate for her to eliminate (pee or poop). When you paper train your dog, you teach her to only eliminate on newspapers (chosen for their absorbency, readily available, and cheap cost) which you gather up and throw away after each use.
What options other than paper training do I have for my dog’s house training? There are two ways of effectively, efficiently, and rapidly house training your dog. Paper training is one; the other is something called crate training.
Crate training is based on a dog’s basic dislike of soiling where she sleeps, and involves restricting the dog’s movement (by putting her in a crate, or small indoor kennel) whenever she cannot be actively supervised.
The difference between crate training and house training.
Paper training and crate training aren’t the same thing. Crate training is where you train your dog to only go outside; paper training is where you train your dog to only go on newspapers.
You cannot train your dog to do both at the same time – the two are mutually exclusive. She’ll get confused, and you’ll only prolong the training process.
You can choose to use paper training as an intermediary step for eventually only eliminating outside (although not everyone recommends this: it’s easier on the dog, and more effective all around, to choose one method and stick with it.)
Why should I choose paper training instead of crate training?
Crate training and paper training are both effective ways to house train your dog. In general, it’s accepted (by most dog trainers and vets) that crate training is the fastest method of house training your dog; but it requires a considerable investment of time and effort, which is not an option for everyone.
Paper training is the best option for you if:
- You don’t have easy access to a yard (for example, you live in a hi-rise apartment block.)
- It’s not easy for you to take your dog outside for other reasons (for example, if you are elderly or ill.)
- You have a full-time job, or other time-consuming commitment which can’t be gotten around (meaning that you’re not able to spend the large amounts of time supervising your dog that crate training requires.)
- You’re planning on training your dog to go outside the house eventually, but not just yet (for example, it’s the dead of winter with four-foot snow drifts outside.)
Crate training is the best option for you if:
- You have a medium to big dog
- You are able to spend a lot of time during your puppy’s first weeks of house training in actively supervising her, and are available during the day to let her out of the crate at two- or three-hour intervals
- You want to train your dog to go outside the house right from the start
Paper training isn’t suitable for all dogs: it really only works for small males and small-to-medium females, since a dog larger than these just produces too much waste for the newspaper (and you!) to handle.
How to paper train your dog:
First, pick a convenient area of the house for your dog to use as the elimination area. Because she’s going to be peeing and pooping in this area, it’s best if you can choose somewhere without carpet: most people choose a corner of the kitchen or laundry (since these rooms usually have tiled or linoleum floors, making hygiene a non-issue.)
Spread newspaper thickly in a corner of this room. At first, you’ll need to make the newspaper area pretty big, since your pup has no idea that she’s meant to go on the paper at all.
To make sure that she’s able to eliminate only on the paper, you’ll either need to restrict her movements to the papered area of the floor (which you can do by erecting barriers to keep her in – if the room you’ve chosen is large or busy, this is probably the most user-friendly option for you), or paper the whole floor (which is a viable option if the paper-room is small and there’s not much thoroughfare.)
At first, your puppy will eliminate pretty much at random on the paper. It’s important for the paper-training process that she only gets to go on the paper – you need her to form a strong association between the feeling of paper under her toes, and relieving herself.
After a week or two, you can begin to shrink the papered area of the floor, allowing her more access to unpapered surfaces (leave the barriers where they are for now so she doesn’t get the chance to eliminate anywhere else.)
Do this gradually, a couple of sheets at a time. If you’ve given her enough time to get used to the paper, she should naturally restrict her elimination areas as the papered area shrinks.
NOTE: If at any time she begins to eliminate off the paper, then increase the size of the papered floor surface to the size it was when she was still eliminating only on the paper, and give her more time to get used to it before beginning to reduce the papered area again.
There’s no need to panic: this doesn’t mean that the paper training isn’t working, it just means you’re moving a bit too fast for your puppy’s capabilities. Most dogs take a couple of months (eight to twelve weeks) to get used to the paper training method. Until she’s reliably going on the papers only, you should restrict her access to the rest of the house unless you’re actively supervising her- which means 100% of your attention is focused on the pup.
In general, a good rule of thumb is that your puppy is confined to the papered area unless she’s sleeping, eating, or being played with/actively supervised.
Things you should do are:
- Praise her effusively whenever you see her eliminating on the paper. Wait ’til she’s done (so you don’t distract her!) and praise her, pet her, and give her a treat.
- If you catch her in the act of eliminating off-paper, this is actually a great opportunity for training development. Interrupt her with a clap, loud verbalization (“Ah-ah-aaaah!”), or slap your open palm loudly on the wall. This will startle her – in most cases, she’ll actually stop mid-toilet and hunch down. Scoop her up immediately and put her on the paper.
- When she finishes, praise her hugely and give her a treat.
- If you come across an accident after the fact (a wet spot or pile on the unpapered floor), you’ve missed your window of opportunity to teach her not to do this. You can’t tell her off in this case, because she won’t understand what she’s done wrong; all you can do is clean it up and supervise her more carefully.
- If this is happening a lot, you’ve given her too much freedom in the house and not enough supervision: restrict her access to the unpapered floor, and step up the supervision.
- Feed her at specific, scheduled times (for example, a meal at 8 am, 1 pm, and 7 pm) to encourage her to develop an “elimination timetable”.
For further information on house training your dog, including a detailed look at paper training and crate training, check out The Ultimate House Training Guide.
It’s the complete dog-house-training guide. The Ultimate House Training Guide and comes highly recommended.
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Training Your Dog to Listen to You
August 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Training Your Dog to Listen to You
Why Won’t My Dog Listen To Me?
This is a common question that most first-time Dog owners ask me. Before I answer your question, let me ask you a few instead:
- Do you use cookies, collars, head halters or clickers to make your Dog listen to your commands?
- Do you have to raise your voice every time you want your Dog to listen to you?
- Does your Dog always come or sit on command – anytime and anywhere you want him to?
If your answers are mostly in the negative, its time you seriously reconsider your role as a sincere Dog trainer and an ideal pet parent.
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Get Your Dog To Listen To You
Before you begin any training, you must first establish yourself as the “ALPHA dog” of your family. Your Dog must know that you’re the leader of the pack and it is YOU who is in charge.
Here is a list of simple DO’s and DONT’s that you must follow if you want to be the Alpha:
- Always go out or come in through the door first – remember you are the leader;
- Always eat first – give your Dog something to eat only after you’ve finished your meal;
- Don’t circle around your Dog when he is lying on the floor – make your Dog move out of your way instead;
- Don’t let your Dog set the rules – pay attention to him when you think fit and not whenever he demands;
- Don’t permit your Dog to sleep with you in your bed – demarcate his sleeping area clearly.
Once you successfully established yourself as the Alpha, training your Dog and making him listen will be a lot easier than you can imagine. Remember, if your Dog does not learn to “listen”, all your training efforts will be in vain!
Does your Dog know his name? Does your Dog look at you whenever you call him by his name? This is the first and the most critical step involved in Dog Training. If your Dog doesn’t respond to his name, you cannot have his attention for teaching him any other commands.
To make sure that your Dog recognizes his name, take a treat in your hand and hold it away from your body. Call your Dog’s name. He is most likely to look at the treat in your hand. Continue calling his name untill he turns and looks at your eyes. Give him the treat immediately. Repeat this exercise by holding the treat in the other hand. Once you’re sure that your Dog has learnt to recognize his name, just call his name and reward him for looking at you by petting or with a hug.
You must understand that Dogs respond far better to positive reinforcement than they do to coercion or force.
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Basics of Dog Training
August 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Basics of Dog Training
It’s essential for Dog parents like you to know certain basic factors that determine your relationship with your Dog and can go a long way in training him effectively.
Before you begin training your Dog, it is absolutely essential that you build a loving bond with him. This is important as it helps you to understand his needs and instincts and also allows your Dog to have complete trust in you.
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How To Bond With Your Dog
Building a bond with your Dog is the first and the most crucial step involved in training him successfully. As soon as you bring your Dog home, you must first try to develop a caring and loving relationship with him in order to win his trust and confidence.
When Dogs are secure in the knowledge that they belong to the family, they are more likely to respond better to their owners’ training commands. Just like with any relationship, there must be mutual trust and respect between you and your Dog.
Trust takes time to develop and respect comes from defining boundaries and treating any breach of those boundaries with firmness and fairness.
Without enforceable limitations, respect can’t be developed. And when there is no respect, building a bond with your Dog is almost impossible.
4 Golden Rules To Building A Relationship With Your Dog :
- Spend quality time together;
- Take him out in the world and experience life together;
- Establish and promote a level of mutual respect; and
- Develop a way of communicating to understand each other’s needs.
Building a bond with your Dog will not only help you manage him better but will also make your Dog calm, quiet and an extremely well-adjusted pet.
Love Your Dog and He Will Love You back
Once you’re succesful in building a bond with your Dog, you can rest assured that training him and teaching him new and clever tricks will be a cakewalk.
Learn how to bond with your Dog with this free mini course.
How Your Dog Learns…
Your Dog’s learning period can be divided into five phases:
The Teaching Phase – This is the phase where you must physically demonstrate to your Dog exactly what you want him to do.
The Practicing Phase – Practice makes Perfect. Once a lesson is learnt, practice with your Dog what you have just taught him.
The Generalizing Phase – Here you must continue practicing with your Dog in different locations and in an environment with a few distractions. You can take your Dog out for a walk, or to a nearby park and command him to practice whatever you’ve taught him.
Practicing the learned lessons in multiple locations and in the presence of small distractions will help him learn and retain lessons better .
The Testing Phase – Once you’re sure that your Dog has achieved almost 90% success….he responds correctly almost every time you give a command, you must start testing his accuracy in newer locations with a lot of distractions.
Example: Take him to the local shopping mall and ask him to obey your command. He may not come up with the correct response the very first time you do this, but you must not lose hope.
The idea is to test your Dog to see how he responds in an environment which is new to him. Set-up a situation where you are in control of the environment and your Dog.
There are only 2 possibilities:
- Your Dog succeeds!!! (Trumpets please!)
- In case your Dog fails, re-examine the situation. Review and/or change your training. Then try testing again.
Keep on testing until he succeeds. Follow the rule of the 3 Ps – patience, persistence, praise.
Internalizing Phase – Finally, comes the extremely rewarding phase where your Dog does everything he is taught to do even without your commands.
Remember:
- Never scold your Dog if he fails. It’s not his fault. You have failed as a trainer!
- You must be patient and persistent for your efforts to show rewards.
- Appreciate and love your Dog when he does it right! A little encouragement will work wonders for your Dog.
- Dog Training is easy when you do it right.
Learn how to train your Dog better with this free mini course.
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How Well Is Your Dog Groomed?
August 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
The reason one should groom his/her Dog is simple – your dog’s physical state influences the way he feels and the way you look at your dog. Extreme cases, where lack of proper care, cleaning and grooming can directly affect the behavior of your Dog, are not rare.
Proper grooming not only infuses a healthy glow to your dog’s appearance, but also helps develop his self-esteem; while it makes you a very proud parent, when you show off your Dog to others.
The first step involved in dog grooming is: Brushing!
Brushing has been universally acknowledged by expert dog groomers as the single most important step in grooming.
The benefits of brushing are many. To name a few:
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Better blood circulation
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Shinier and healthier coat
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Better bonding
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Even if you know how crucial brushing is for your Dog’s health and well-being, we all know that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing anything. And without doubt, you would like to do everything the RIGHT way when it comes to your Dog.
Yes, there’s a method to follow while brushing your Dog.
Here are FIVE steps to successfully brushing your Dog that will prove to be extremely useful:
- Brush against the growth of the hair first with a slicker brush and then with a medium or wide-toothed comb.
- The slicker brush removes all the loose hair and the comb takes care of the tangles.
- Brush your Dog along the hair growth and make sure you reach the skin as you brush his way.
- Then use a flea comb over the coat to get the fleas and remove any remaining tangles. Part the coat and start from the root and then comb through.
- If your Dog’s paw pads are hairy, then clip them using electric clippers. Do not clip the hair in between the pads. Clip only the excess hair.
Brush your Dog’s hairs to prevent it from matting. Matting can be a very painful experience.
Regular brushing untangles the matted hairs on your Dog’s coat. Since this is a risky job to do, the best way out is to prevent them from forming in the first place. And doing this is simple: just brush and comb your Dog regularly. If and when you see any mats or tangles, use a detangle solution and a medium-toothed comb.
Don’t wait until your Dog is dirty or matted to introduce him to grooming. That would make him associate the experience with unpleasantness. Moreover, many dogs learn to see their routine brushing as an alternate form of petting, i.e. another source of affection and attention.
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Copyright (c) 2009 TrainPetDog.com