Custom Pets Dog Training

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Teaching your puppy to eliminate outside or in a litter box can be one of the easiest parts of training, if you’re careful to heed the following rules: 1. Don’t expect too much. A rule of thumb is that most puppies can physically hold their bladders about one hour longer than the nhe number of months they are old. For example, a three-month old puppy can go for maximum of four hours, and a couple hours longer at night. 2. Regulate his feeding schedule. Don’t free-feed your puppy. Give him two or three meals per day, using the portions recommended by your veterinarian, and pick up his bowl after 30 minutes, whether or not he has finished. This will allow you to more accurately predict when he’ll need to go outside. 3. Confine him in a small place. Most dogs will not willingly soil the area where they sleep and eat, so when you’re not home, or when you can’t watch him every second, you must confine your pup in a small area. A crate is good, or a small, uncarpeted room you can block off. Do not lock your dog behind a door; the problems this type of isolation can cause a puppy could last his whole life, often causing a pattern of destructive and sometimes dangerous behavior. Instead, put up a child gate so that the pup can see out and still be part of the family. If your puppy was forced to soil his sleeping/eating area before you brought him home (for example, if you got him at a pet shop), potty training will be much more difficult. You will probably not be able to use the confinement method; instead, keep him in an area where it’s okay for him to eliminate, such as the back yard, during the training process. 4. Take him out regularly. For a eight-week old puppy, take him out every two to three hours at first, then gradually increase the duration between potty breaks, adding an hour per month. Also take him out after a nap, after he eats, and after he plays. Stay out with him to be sure he goes; otherwise, he is likely to get distracted and forget to go, and may squat as soon as he comes in the house! 5. Watch him when he’s not confined. When you’re home, and your puppy is loose, you must literally watch him every single second. You can actually tie his leash to your waist while you move around the house, or tie him to the couch leg if you’re watching TV. If he sneaks away and potties without you knowing it, you have allowed him to learn that going potty in the house is safe sometimes, and you have prolonged the whole housebreaking process (“I wonder if it’ll be okay this time?”). DO NOT punish the puppy if you find an ‘accident’, even if it only happened 10 seconds ago. Punishment in this situation is counter-productive, because the dog has already been reinforced for the behavior; the relief of emptying his bladder has already occurred. 6. Interrupt him as he begins to eliminate in the house. If your puppy squats, immediately make a loud noise to interrupt his behavior - yell “Hey!” or hit a wall with your hand, or something on that order.

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