Great! You had a new puppy “Oscar” in your family and everyone in your family is getting excited with this cute puppy of yours. However, what’s happen next is that you find this puppy soiling all over your home and you are eagerly searching for an answer on what is the best way to train a puppy?
The first training that you would need for your new puppy is house training. House training is essentially controlling when and where your puppy goes to eliminate. You also have to set up a regular feeding schedule and regular walks with your puppy.
Establish a routine in your house training program is a must. Eating at the same time every day will allow you to anticipate when your puppy needs to go for his potty. If you take your puppy outside to eliminate, take him to the same spot every time. You want to associate that area as his potty spot.
When you take your puppy outside to his potty spot, be sure to give him the command before you go to the potty spot. With repetition, your dog will learn to associate the command with the act of going to potty.
Never rub it’s nose or you will run the risk of getting your puppy too excited (and accident-ing), especially during early training.
If your puppy is a really young puppy, you might want to buy him a crate. Purchase a crate that is not too big, just spacious enough from him to stand, sit and roll over. A big crate will encourage your puppy to eliminate in it.
The reason that I like to use crates is that dogs are den animals. They want to be in a small, cozy place, and not exposed to too much change and stimulation. That is exactly what a crate does to your puppy. It’s his home within your home. He can hide away and get away from a whole lot of new stimuli. All he needs is to go into his crate.
Puppies have a very difficult time holding their urine before they are 12 weeks old as their muscle control isn’t fully developed. Your puppy will also not be able to tell you when he needs to go for potty until he is older and has learned some control. It may be a bit of work at first for the crate training, but it could save you a lot of messy clean up in the house.
Potty training can be a lot of work at first, but think of it as helping your puppy to learn how to control his bladder and bowels. If you’re patient and with the right crate training technique, it won’t be that hard at all.
Some tips to keep in mind while potty training your puppy:
1. Always be patient with your puppy, as this will take time. They are just learning and are in the beginning stages, so expect that there will be accidents.
2. Make sure everyone in your home helps with the potty training as this will make it easier for you and your puppy. It’s best to clean up areas where accidents had occurred.
3. Cleaning products are necessary as it would clean up his urine scent so that your puppy will not revisit the area for his potty again.
Clicker training is yet another one of the simplest types of training for a dog because there are very few tools or materials needed. All you need to do is to click and offer your puppy a treat if he is doing something that you like. Since your dog is so enticed by the treats, the click “tells” him that the action is a reward for his behavior. Before you know it, he would had figured out that a click is a reward. This is why clicker training is so easy to carry out.
Despite the ease of clicker training, some dog owners would still hesitate to adopt this training due to the slight connotation that the clicker is a dangerous toy for the dog. This is not true however.
The clicker is dependent on giving a positive reinforcement to the dog. If you click and give a treat every time, eventually the dog will come for the click alone. Therefore, the clicker is more of a trigger that helps to facilitate the behavior that you want your dog to exhibit.
If you are into reverse psychology, you can also work on tricks. Try a “shake” and “stay” command for a dog that is trying to get a treat and you will be surprised as how he will follow your instructions. This works because your dog views you as his pack leader and would wants to please you. Of course, to get his treat as well.
Reward and punishment can be evaluated in behavioral concepts. Dogs are reward oriented. They want to eat their treats and will quickly associate good behavior with getting a treat. Never ever punish your dog for any accidents as that will cultivate fear in him. Simply correct his behavior and when he does the right action, reward him.
Unused excess energy can lead to destructive behavior, so burn off your dog’s energy by playing activities that are enjoyable for him. If you haven’t been doing this already, try exercising your dog every day. You’ll notice that your dog will get tired quickly, and when he comes home, he will simply nap for the rest of the day.