House training

A dog or puppy is either housetrained or not. If your dog is sneaking off to another room and having an accident, you will have to take some of his freedom away until you can solve the problem. The longer you allow this type of behavior to exist, the harder it will be to modify. Unless you can catch him, it really does not do any good to drag him off to the site of his mishap and try and punish him. Keep him in sight if he is bold enough to try something in front of you, say "No," get his attention and take him outdoors quickly so he can finish eliminating in the appropriate area. Remember, it is your house. He has to earn his freedom through good behavior and this is your responsibility. To train your dog to eliminate outdoors, start by establishing an elimination spot. In the morning, take him straight from his crate in the to his outdoor elimination spot. State commands like "go potty" or "lets go." After he does his duty praise him and then bring the dog inside for food and water. About 15 to 20 minutes after the meal, take the dog outside again for elimination. Take your dog to his "spot" at each elimination time. Maintain a consistant feeding and drinking, and elimination schedule. One of the most commonly made errors in housetraining is rushing too quickly ahead of your dog. Too much freedom too quickly can cause some confusion. If your dog experiences an accident or two, you will have to back up and slow down, remember you will only have about 3 seconds for your dog to make an association with the action he has just done. So make sure you catch him in the act as it is happening. Providing your dog or puppy with a crate that is way too large may allow him to relieve himself in one end and sleep in the other. Placing food or water in his crate will allow him to fill up his bladder and bowel and he will have no choice but to relieve himself in his crate. Make sure you take your dog or puppy outdoors to eliminate on a regular schedule and especially prior to being left for prolonged periods of time. Even well-trained dogs sometimes have accidents. Clean the accident area with a pet odour neutralizer so your dog won't be tempted to repeat his mistake. Here are some tips to help prevent accidents:

Preventive training means you try to prevent your dog from exhibiting inappropriate behaviour by keeping an eye on him when he is with you, or by keeping him in his crate or a puppy/dog-proofed area when you cannot keep an eye on him. The methodology behind this type of training is if your dog does not get an opportunity to exhibit an unwanted behaviour, you do not have to modify his behaviour. This type of training requires more participation from the owner as far as constant supervision and consistency, but in the long run preventive training is far less stressful on both owner and dog. This training method has two advantages:

1) sets you up immediately as the pack leader.

2) expedites the bonding between you and your new friend.

If you bring your new puppy home and just turn him loose in your house, in a matter of maybe five minutes he will have carried off as much as he could stuff in his little mouth, and chewed up what he could not. On the other hand, if you choose to train in a preventive manner, you would only allow your puppy or dog in the room you are in and you would have a supply of proper chew toys ready for him when the need arises. If you catch him chewing on something he should not have, such as your draperies, you would distract him by saying "NO" in a very firm tone of voice and then offer him a proper chew toy along with praise so he will associate the praise with the appropriate chew toy. Remember dogs/puppies understand about three tones of voice along with body language and eye contact. For example:

High-pitched, excitable tones would be very effective for motivating your dog/puppy (for coming to you when he is called or for heeling properly). This tone also reminds him of his litter mates (this is why children have a difficult time winning the respect of a dog/puppy, they sound like equals to the puppy).
Matter-of-fact tones are excellent for giving commands to your dog/puppy (same tone as a bark - calm, direct, no urgency).
Lowered tones, which would simulate a growl from mom (which means whatever it is you are doing, stop it now). Remember, yelling or striking your dog/puppy will only confuse him and cause him to mistrust you.

Dogs/puppies do not understand being hit or grabbed. They will only learn they cannot trust you or to fear you. They will understand direct eye contact, tones in your voice or your body language, so use it to your advantage. Direct eye contact can mean you are looking at your dog lovingly and he will exchange your glance. Or when giving a dog a good long stare in the eyes after he has just jumped on you and you have told him "OFF" the stare means "I mean business."What about body language? Do you have a puppy that cowers when you approach him, maybe even squats and urinates just a little? You do not hit him, so why does he do this? The way you move toward a dog can be a threat in itself. Are you a lot bigger than the dog? Do you move quickly? Do you bend towards him? Why not try to encourage the dog to come to you, squat down on his level so you are not so threatening; use a piece of his dog food or a favourite toy to convince him to come closer. Pet him when he gets very near you (do not reach out), make sure you praise him for showing courage.All too often people console their dog/puppy when he shows signs of being frightened, which is a normal human reaction. However, to a dog/or puppy, this only confirms his fear. For example, your child drops a metal lid from a cooking pan onto the hard surface of the kitchen floor. Before you can blink an eye, your dog/puppy has thrown himself under the nearest piece of furniture shaking uncontrollably. Instead of pulling him out and consoling him (which would be the same as saying to your dog/puppy "It's okay to be afraid"), try enticing him out with a treat, laugh, be positive. Your dog/puppy will pick up on your mood. Show him he has nothing to fear.

Matter-of-fact tones are excellent for giving commands to your dog/puppy (same tone as a bark - calm, direct, no urgency).

Lowered tones, which would simulate a growl from mom (which means whatever it is you are doing, stop it now). Remember, yelling or striking your dog/puppy will only confuse him and cause him to mistrust you.