The Dog Site

One of the first things you will want to do with your new puppy is housebreaking him. One that can only lead to confusion for the dog later on is giving your new dog a little time to get to know the family and the house before laying down the law. Your dog will be confused if you have allowed it to run free with no discipline, then all of a sudden expect it to be well-behaved.

It Is Never Too Late

You are still able to fix the situation even if you have let your dog run free with no rules. Unlike a popular belief out there, it is never too late to start dog training with a dog. Whether your puppy is young or old you can still include housebreaking into his/her daily routine. Whether it is dog chewing, dog biting, or dog growling that you are dealing with, it is important to pick out the behavior that concerns you the most. Start housebreaking on those behaviors and once you have accomplished those then you can move on to something else.

You should start housebreaking your dog as soon as possible to ensure that your pet does not become aggressive. If the largest problem that you have at this time is potty training, then make that your first item to work on.

Tips for Housebreaking Your Dog

* Restrict food and water to the appropriate meal times
* Keep peed pads in one area
* When your dog is good, praise them
* Don’t hit the dog if he misses the pee pad
* After fifteen or twenty minutes of giving the puppy something to eat or drink, it needs to be taken to the pee pad

A lot of people leave water and food out for their dog all day long. While this is an okay routine for older dogs that can hold their bladder, it is not advisable for puppies. Young pups are not able to hold their bladder for very long, even if they wanted to. This will result in a lot of accidents around the house for which you really cannot blame the puppy. So leaving food and water out all of the time is counterproductive to your goals in housebreaking.

If your puppy always misses the pee pad and continues to go to the bathroom in another part of the house, simply place the pee pad in that spot. At this stage, housebreaking is just acclimating the puppy to the pad with respect to going to the bathroom. Once they are used to it, you can continue with housebreaking by slowing moving the pee pad every few days towards the spot you eventually want the pads to reside at.

While this housebreaking process may seem like it takes forever, it is extremely important. You don’t want your dog using the bathroom everywhere. You would also like an easy process of housebreaking for your dog to prevent it becoming disinterested. Get outside help in puppy training if you need it. No matter who is in charge of doing it, just know that housebreaking takes time.

When you first set out to teach your pet dog or puppy to come, there are a few tips and tricks that Im going to share with you, to make it more successful!

I have adapted these free techniques from the outstanding ‘Secrets to Dog Training‘ by Daniel Stephens. You can go to it here if you wish to read more now.

“Come dog”

Firstly, and possibly the most crucial, is that you should never call your dog over if you are going to do something that he might class as ‘negative’ to him.. Some common examples are things such as tying him up, wetting him (if he doesnt like that!), locking him away, hitting him or yelling at him etc..

Dont call over and discipline your dog for things such as running off, when he comes over. You dont want your dog to learn that doing as you say, is a punishment.If your dog already knows bad associations with come, like he thinks it equals 'run now!' or if your dog starts to ignore you, try using a new command that sounds diffferent. 

Forget your old come command and teach this exercise using a new, clear word. 'Here' is a common one, but the alternatives are endless, so long as it suits you and it works.

In the ideal case, your dog should hear your command, cease what hes doing and sit in front of you! For best results, you should master teaching this exercise as two seperate pieces.

The two exercises are best taught seperate, untll your dog has them both under control. When this happens, combine them together.

“Come sit in front of me”

Start with putting your dog on a short ish leash. Get your dogs attention, hold a favourtie treat of his/hers in your hand and take 3-4 quick steps backwards with the treat held in front, around nose height.

With your waiting dog in front, you can hold up a tidbit of food so that he is motioned to sit and wait.

Command him to sit, and when he sits to your satisfaction, give him the treat by lowing it to his mouth. Never let him try and jump to get it!

Next, try the whole thing again while keeping your ground instead of moving back. Try phasing out the food guiding, switching to a reinforcing 'come and sit' command. This gets your dog to learn to accept praise as a reward.

You can read part two of this article, for free, as my website (that has hundreds of other free dog training tips) here, at dog commands.

If you want a well trained dog that is used to obey commands and listens to you in all kind of situations you need to train your dog and if it is possible you should start training when he or she is still a puppy. A well trained dog is of immense importance to both you as the dog. If your puppy does not learn to do his business outside of the house or to listen to you in dangerous situations like a busy road, you and your dog will not have a happy long life together. Dog training is there for a very important part in the life of your pup.

If you are on for serious dog training, then you should first acquaint yourself with the right set of training accessories and equipment. If you enroll your dog in a training school, then the training accessories usually come with the training fees. However, if you plan to train your dog at home, then you can purchase training accessories at various pet shops or dog schools. There are also many training accessories that are sold on the net. Training materials are usually sold separately but there are some who offer items as a complete set. If you are blessed with carpentry skills and overflowing creative juices, then you can also opt to create your own set of training accessories.

Dog training with an obedience instructor can vary in price and it usually takes place in a class. If you do the dog training yourself it is usually free and you can do it from your own home. You will soon see for yourself how effective a crate will make your dog training easier! Many people find this part of dog training to be more common in puppies.

Crate training for puppies is generally the first step. Choose a crate that is just big enough for the adult dog to lie down. The crate is the equivalent of your dog’s den or cave; it is Fido’s personal space. The crate helps you limit your new pup’s access to different parts of the house until he learns all your house rules. It keeps him away from destructive activities like chewing, destructive playing and accidental soiling. A crate also helps you transport your dog safely to a vehicle or to places where he can play. A dog that is trained properly will come to think of his crate as a safe haven where he can rest, drink and feed without fear. A play pen that attaches itself to the crate is a great way to encourage your pup to play in an environment that is safe and secure. This will help you give your pup the desired exercise without worrying about him misbehaving, getting hurt by oncoming traffic or hurting someone else accidentally. As your dog grows, you will have to train him to behave in and out of doors. He will have to learn to sit, stay and fetch on command. You will need to use several techniques to get him to listen to you. Using the appropriate toys and treats, you need to reward good behavior. But you should never punish bad behavior. The trick is to encourage your dog to do the things he wants, with a lot of encouragement, love and rewards. Trust and mutual respect rather than the old school methods of harsh corrections and punishment should be the key. Training sessions should ideally be short, consistent and filled with fun.

There are also many different places to go for your dog training. Dog training can also protect your dog. A dog that has been properly trained won’t go chasing after a bouncing ball into traffic. Despite the differences there are some basic things in common for training all dogs. No matter why you have a dog he should at least have some very elementary dog training. No one wants a dog that isn’t housebroken who runs away or into the street that won’t sit come or stay when you want him to.