What a great thing it is for the family to bring home a new puppy. We all love playing with the new puppy. One thing no one seems to like about the puppy though, is his using the house as his potty. Try using the crate training method for house training your new puppy-it is definitely the easiest and best way. In comparison with the old way of placing newspapers on the floor, the crate training method is so much easier and quicker.The paper method did work in a manner of sorts, but it was a lot more work and occasionally my puppy would somehow miss the papers. After stepping on a particularly nasty “accident” in the middle of the night that was deviously hidden by the dark, I decided I better look into getting a crate for my puppy.
If you use the crate training method, you won’t have nearly so many opportunities for “accidents” to happen prior to completely house training him. Using the crate training method requires you to keep the puppy in his crate at all times unless someone is actively watching him, and making sure to avoid any accidents. Murphy’s Law says the moment you take your eyes off your puppy, he’ll pick that moment to go potty in the house.
- When crate training your puppy, try to keep his crate in the room you are spending most of the day in. If you work in a home office, for instance, place the kennel in the office with you, so your puppy feels more secure. You can also keep an eye and ear open for any whining that might indicate it is time for a potty break. Except for potty breaks or when you have a couple hours free for a supervised play time you’ll want to keep him in the crate-don’t let him out just because he is bored and whining .
- Watch for signs of the puppy waking up from one of his naps-they always have to go potty right after waking up. He will also need to go within 30 minutes or so after eating or drinking, so don’t put him back into is crate if he has just had a meal until he has first taken care of business.If you always bring him to the same area to relieve himself and reward him for a job well done, you will be positively reinforcing him to go where you want him to learn to go.
- When it is time for the puppy to have a nice break, you can feed him, play with him, and make sure he gets enough exercise and maybe a little early training that he is tired out when he gets back in the crate. You want to tire the puppy out with by playing with him during his break from the crate, so that he’ll be ready to sleep for the next couple hours-that way he is not whining out of boredom.
- The key to making the crate training work best for your puppy is to be very consistent with the training. If you aren’t good about keeping him in his crate when unsupervised, accidents are going to happen. Even after you clean up the evidence, the puppy can still smell those “marked” spots and he will be more likely to repeat the behavior. Remember, if your puppy does have an occasional accident, don’t hit him or yell at him. If you happen to see your puppy about to squat, try to stop him with a firm “No” command, and take him outside to the regular spot. Remember, the potty training should always focus on praise and reward for a good job-using the right spot-but don’t get negative if there is an occasional setback. The better you apply the crate training method the better and quicker results will be and the accidents won’t be a regular feature.
After using the crate training method the first time, I could tell it kicked butt on the old fashioned newspaper technique. Maybe my pup was a quick learner, but within a couple weeks or so, he was house training. I did lose a little sleep at first if he whined at night, but I made sure the puppy didn’t eat late or drink very much before going to bed for the night, so that wasn’t as big a problem as I would have thought. If you always make the crate seem like a den, rather than a place to put your puppy when you are mad at him, he will have a good attitude about going in there, and you shouldn’t have the whining problem some puppies have when in the crate.
So, if you are about to get or just got a new puppy you will be smart to use this crate training method for house training your new pet. You might want to get a copy of the Ultimate Guide to House Training-that’s the book I used to relearn how to go about house training my puppy. This very easy to follow book is a very complete course on house training and caring for your young puppy-check out my review to see how it can help you with your puppy .The Ultimate House Training Guide Review.
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