This is a lovely topic that I know lots of people have to deal with. I had a friend who brought her cute little puppy over and while it was roaming through my house it did a little spot on the carpet in my hallway out of view of me. Since then every time I miss the signs that my dogs need to go they do their business right there! On that same spot! So annoying to say the least!
In this article we will look at how to house train a dog. Whether you have a puppy or an adult dog that is not behaving the way you would like, the method is the same. It is simply a question of teaching the dog to poop outside and not in the house!
1. If you are starting with a puppy, you will first need to establish how you reward good behavior. Usually this is done by saying 'Yes!' in an approving voice, and giving a treat. When the puppy understands that 'Yes!' comes with a treat, you can begin the house training.
2. Encourage the dog to go in the backyard any time he shows signs that he wants to use the bathroom. Just like us, dogs often urinate or have a bowel movement right after waking up or eating, during or after exercise and play, and any time anything exciting or stressful happens. So at these times, watch the dog carefully for signs that he is about to urinate or worse. Most dogs have particular behavior that they will always repeat. This may include circling around, sniffing the floor, squatting, etc.
3. When you have him in the backyard, stay with him and lead him to a particular place that you have picked out (or even better, a place that he has picked out himself and used before). Always go to the same place. Wait there with him. If he goes ahead and does his thing, you can speak praise to him while he is doing it and then reward him immediately that he is done.
4. If nothing is produced in the yard, have him come back in the house. Continue to watch him carefully and call him outside again as soon as he starts those pre-bathroom behaviors.
So those are the four steps - you can see how simple it is. But there are some more points that you should know before you get started.
- If you have an adult dog that was house trained but is now too sick to make it outside when he needs to go, you can put newspaper on the floor in a certain place. With a very sick dog you may want to have a place in every room. Then you will need to show him what it is for by picking him up and placing him on the newspaper every time that he looks like he is about to make a mess (or even after he has started). Be very gentle and reward him for producing his waste there. And don't leave your daily newspaper on the floor until after you have read it!
- If you have to leave the dog alone in the house while you are out, leave him somewhere that you will not mind if he makes a mess, and train him to use newspaper as above.
- Never punish or talk angrily to a dog who has messed in the house, or show that you are unhappy about the mess. This will not help at all. If he even understands why you are upset, he will just hide from you when he wants to do it, e.g. going behind furniture. Result: you never know when he is about to go so you have no chance of training him. Plus you will often have a bad time finding and cleaning up that hidden mess.
Please go ahead and bookmark this page so that you can often refer back to these seven easy steps while you put the method of how to house train a dog into practice.
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