Dog Training Basics

Posts Tagged ‘housebreaking’

Puppy obedience is something that starts suprisingly early in their development. The amount of respect and puppy obedience in training is determined by the actual owner you purchased from.

Puppies, according to studies, are not ready for any training until at least three weeks of age. Their entire world revolves around their mother, eating and sleeping. By the 21st to 28th day of a puppies life they begin to leave the blanket and search for somewhere to do their business. Now, dogs begin to gain an awareness of the environment surrounding them, and to respond more directly to external stimuli. Lessons that an animal learns at an early age will have a greater impact on their obedience training as a whole.

Getting Puppies Started with Encouragement

When you want your pet to do the right thing, the best thing to do is to not use punishment as a form of readiness. A great solution is to use positive treats and reinforcements. When you are needing to use negative stimuli for your puppy it should be limited to no and block any bad actions from your puppy with using your hands. You should not hit or otherwise hurt a puppy as it is counterproductive.

Puppies should receive positive affection and praises each and every time they correctly respond to a command. If not praised, puppies will lose enthusiasm and interest in obeying you. After your pet does a command correctly and you praise and caress them, they will then learn that following these things are fun and rewarding. Puppy obedience will also be developed as he learns that repeating proper actions will reap rewards. Using a positive reinforcement and a treat will strengthen the dog’s understanding and increase’s the dog’s willingness to follow commands.

Persistence Mixed with Great Timing

Timing is everything when it comes to puppy training. Details such as actions, movements, and corrections will affect the puppy’s ability to follow commands. Younger dogs may be confused by discipline, so it is critically important that puppies understand the link between their disobedience and the resulting disciplinary correction.

For instance, a puppy who’s chewing on a bone or toy in another room is unlikely to act in response to the command “come,” and if no one brings him to the trainer, he will learn that the command is the same as “ignore.He will find out that “come” means that he should head for the trainer and that it will also bring in the goodies if the puppy is told to “come” under controlled situations, like when he’s on a leash and is gently pulled toward the trainer then praised.

Puppy obedience training is best taught in easy exercises, one by one. It’s a whole lot easier to enlist in a training programs that is separated into phases rather than trying to teach your dog everything at once. Bring your patience with you when you are training and use positive reinforcement.  Slowly your puppy will learn to obey.

Now that you have brought your new dog home it is time to start the housebreaking. 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. Truthfully, you cannot expect a dog who has been allowed to have full run of the house to suddenly accept new rules and adapt quickly to housebreaking.

It Is Never Too Late

If you have already allowed your dog to run free without rules you can still correct the situation. It is never too late to start dog training your puppy, unlike the common belief out there. Whether your puppy is young or old you can still include housebreaking into his/her daily routine. Whether your problem is dog chewing, dog biting or dog growling, you need to focus on the unwanted behavior that is your highest concern. After housebreaking them on the first behavior, then you can move on to the next.

In order to make sure that your pet never becomes one of those aggressive dogs you always hear about on the news, you have to start housebreaking as soon as possible. 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
* In the event that you are utilizing pee pads, choose a single spot and make sure to place the pads only there
* You should praise your pet when it displays good behavior
* 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. Puppies should not be expected to hold their bladder the way that older dogs can. Even if they really wanted to, younger puppies just are not able to hold their bladder until they become a bit older. This will cause more accidents in the house that are not the fault of the puppy. So leaving food and water out all of the time is counterproductive to your goals in housebreaking.

If the puppy goes to the bathroom in some other place in the house, the pee pad should be put there. At this stage, housebreaking is just acclimating the puppy to the pad with respect to going to the bathroom. Once your pet is used to this, you may progress the housebreaking by moving the ‘pee pad’ a small distance every day until it is eventually located where you want it.

Even though housebreaking can take a long time, it is very important. You certainly do not want your puppy or dog going to the bathroom everywhere. You also want to make the housebreaking process as easy as possible for your dog so it does not become discouraged. House puppy training is very important.  If you need help doing this, you should seek it. Just know that housebreaking takes time, no matter who is in charge of doing it.

Canines bark, so a puppy barking is a completely normal phenomenon. It is normal that puppies bark, whine, and at times howl, just like it is normal for birds to sing. If you are one devoted dog owner, you’ll know you will experience barking, whining and howling at any time. It would be totally impossible and unfair to wish to train your puppy to stop barking at all. It is best for all, including your dog, if the barking can be controlled.

Why Dogs Start Barking

Dogs who are confined or alone a lot without exercise store up energy and need an outlet for it. A dog who is alone all day is more likely to take up barking as a hobby because there is nobody to control him and make him stop. Pretty soon, barking will become an enjoyable habit for him or her. Many dogs, once they start barking, do it because they think it’s fun and enjoyable.  

You may have trained your dog to bark too much by accident. You always obey when you hear your dog speak. “Woof” and you open the door to let them out, another “woof” and you open it again to let them in. A puppy quickly learns that barking earns him a snack; they bark and they get rewarded. A puppy gets attention from you by barking.  For this reason, it is easy for barking to become a habit.  After all, the puppy wants your attention, and if he barks, he gets your attention. And sometimes, it is very easy to forget to provide positive reinforcement such as praises and treats for your dog when they are not barking.

Exercises and Puppy Barking

To minimize puppy barking and for you to get some peace and quiet, you have to realize that most of the time; puppy barking is really due to the boredom, loneliness, frustration and fright that your puppy feels. These entire situations can be eased and improved when you spend more time with your puppy. A well-exercised, happy, and contented puppy is more likely to spend the whole day sleeping when you are not home. Be sure to give your dog some of your time.  He needs your attention and the benefit of training, exercise, and play.

Puppy obedience training is just as boring mentally for dogs as it is for their owners. Most puppies and dogs enjoy, wild rapid paced and exciting games such as “come here,” “sit,” “stay,” “heel,” but you can make it more rewarding by saying come here for a hug, a massage and other praise and treats. Don’t let your puppy get bored with training.

For dogs living in the backyard for the majority of the time, they probably need some “social” exercises. To keep the puppy barking to a minimum, it may be necessary to take them on a walk. Daily walks will be an adventure for them to investigate and find out about those sounds and smells that excite them while they are in the yard. Running around the yard like a crazy dog is a normal thing for a dog or puppy to do, but it does not count as puppy exercise. What they are doing is equivalent to the human’s pacing and fidgeting as well as other nervous activities. Give your puppies fun things to play with and occupy themselves with such as chew toys for puppy biting and a digging pit for dogs.

Dogs, like humans, are naturally social animals. Like humans, they also seek friends and companions. Your dog needs to be taken for walks and exercised every day or every week as well as to let them socialize with other dogs. Romping, playing, and dog training together all day will tire them out easily and will help them sleep happily while recovering from the hard play and great exercise session.