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How To House Train A Puppy
By Alan Leach
Once the first flush of excitement about having a cuddly new puppy around the house has subsided, you may be left with the increasing anxiety that this bundle of fur gets a perverse pleasure from relieving himself everywhere but outside the house! Learning how to house train a puppy is a key skill for any potential puppy owner, unless you have the money to spend on carpet cleaners.
Learning how to house train a puppy is not difficult, but it does take patience and consistency. Patience because you may find the puppy occasionally makes mistakes around the house and your reaction to these mistakes is crucial. When learning how to house train a puppy, you must be careful not to rebuke him too harshly if he has an accident indoors. Chances are, you will scare him into trying not to relieve himself full stop, leading to a host of issues later on in life, both physical and mental. The best thing to do when the inevitable happens is to give a sharp ‘no!', before taking him outside the house.
It often helps when learning how to house train a puppy to watch for warning signs so that you have time to react at crucial moments. By noticing his behaviour prior to reliving himself, you give yourself time to take him outside. Learning how to house train a puppy means gradually conditioning his behaviour so that he understands outside is the only place to relieve himself. Just like a new born baby, a puppy does not know outside is any better than inside, unless you have taught him consistently.
Also just like a baby, learning how to house train a puppy entails learning how to get up regularly in the middle of the night. While you may be able to do this short term, the love you feel for the puppy could very quickly disappear longer term if you find yourself getting up two or three times a night. One way around this is to provide a litter box inside the house during the night, although this might send mixed signals to the puppy in that you seem now to be saying it is okay for the puppy to relieve himself inside. Even so, a consistent approach by you should ensure the puppy equates the litter box with relieving himself, but, by withdrawing this in the day, the puppy will understand he should go outside.
Puppies (just like humans and other animals) respond to rewards and motivation. When learning how to house train a puppy, reward him with a treat every time he relieves himself outside, at least in the early part of training. Remember though, that a reward can be praise and petting as well as other kinds of treats. Your puppy is sure to respond to this positive reinforcement of a good behaviour.
Consistency is key when learning how to house train a puppy. If you allow the puppy to relieve himself inside even once without punishing him for doing so, you are sending very mixed signals about what you expect. The most important t thing is to be consistent in your approach. The puppy may only have you to show him what is right and wrong and the puppy will follow your example as well as reacting to praise and punishments suitably. If the puppy is not learning as fast as you expected, it is almost certainly a problem with the way you train and not the puppy's fault.
A patient and consistent approach when learning how to house train a puppy will pay off in the long run as you can use the same approach when you train your dog as it grows up. Making a good start when you house train makes later behavioural training much easier.
See Also:
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