Puppy house training requires a great deal of attention during the first days after your puppy is brought home. If at all possible you should arrange that you are at home for a couple of days at least, so that you can give the attention to house training successfully.
What is required is consistency and persistency. Your puppy will need to be taken outside every half hour to hour. Accidents will happen but you should endeavour to have him outside before he has an accident inside the house. This means taking him out regularly and keeping a watch for the tell-tale signs:
? Sniffing
? Circling
? Backing Up.
Each puppy has his own routine but as soon as you recognize his sign for wanting to pee or poo, you should immediately pick him up and take him outside.
There are various times when you should definitely take him outside as these are times when he is likely to need it:
? First thing in the morning when he wakes up
? Last thing at night before he goes to his bed
? After eating or drinking
? After playing or obedience training
? When he wakes up from a nap
? Anytime after he gets excited.
So, how does the puppy crate come into this? A dog has a natural instinct to have a den and also to not soil its den. You can provide your puppy with a crate and if you associate it with pleasure, it will become his den.
The crate should only be large enough that he can lie down in it and turn around in it. I recommend the plastic variety of dog crate. If the crate is too large, he could make a den in one corner and still soil another part of the crate.
The advantage of the crate is that once you have your puppy used to it and happy to stay in for a while, then you can leave him in it when you can?t pay full attention to him. He will not soil the crate. As soon as you take him out of it, you can take him outside to relieve himself if he needs to.
The third and final method I am covering is crate training. This is a more specific training method but will make house training your puppy so much easier. Dogs have a natural instinct to have a den which they will not soil. You can make use of this instinct to make house training an easier process.
You will need to get yourself a dog crate which is just big enough for your puppy to lie down in and to turn around in.
To get your puppy used to the crate, you can use positive reinforcement. Firstly, give him treats while he is next to the crate. Then gradually put a treat slightly inside the crate while he watches ? to entice him part way into the crate. Gradually put the treats further and further inside until he is all the way in.
When he has been in a few times, you can shut the door and immediately open it again and give a treat. Gradually increase the time the door stays shut. You can put a favorite toy inside the crate so he has something to occupy him. Using this process, your puppy will develop strong positive associations with the crate and will be happy to stay in it.
