If you have a dog that lives indoors with you, it is absolutely vital to have them trained. When family or friends come over to visit, you don’t want your house smelling like a barn. In reality, training your puppy does not have to be a terrible task. If you follow the simple tips below, your puppy should be well on its way to being properly trained in a relatively short timeframe.
#1: Start training your puppy as soon as you get it.
This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. They original thinking is that their new puppy is too young to learn or that they should wait a significant time period before trying to train the puppy. While it is true that a 6 month old dog will learn quicker than a 6 week old puppy, you don’t want your new dog to get used to relieving itself in your house.
Generally, they find one specific area to do their business. They will routinely go back to that same spot once they have made that choice. Breaking them of that can be more difficult than if you were to help them decide on where they need to go. In this case, put paper where you want their restroom breaks to occur.
#2: Be consistent in your efforts
You should be consistent in what steps you are taking to train you new puppy. By reading the steps below, if you throw different things into the mix, you may find your puppy having difficulty understanding what it is that you want it to do.
Whether you picked up other tips elsewhere, or have for whatever reason opted not to follow the ones mentioned here, at least be consistent on what it is you are doing. The free time, confining, food, praise, should all be consistent on a daily basis.
#3: Clean accidents thoroughly and quickly
As mentioned previously, dogs will eventually have a specific area that they designate to be the restroom. The smell of their own scent in the area is what will give them the idea that this should be the spot for them. They are not capable of understanding that you just laid new carpet.
So that your dog is unable to find this place each time it is in your house, you should ensure that you clean the accidents your dog has as well as possible. Use carpet cleaner and diluted vinegar to ensure that you get the smell out. Keep in mind, just because you can not smell it does not mean that your dog can’t.
Also, any accidents the dog has should not be left there for significant periods of time. This causes the smell to linger and maybe even settle into your floor. As soon as your dog has the accident, clean the spot thoroughly.
#4: Supervise your dog properly
Based on the tip above, I hope you understand that you will likely encounter some accidents along the way. They might be a little bit too quick on the trigger to reach them before they relieve themselves behind the recliner.
The idea though, is that when your dog has free time you should be watching him. If you see your dog beginning to squat, looking nervous or pawing at the floor, you should immediately pick him up and set him on the paper. You may have to do this several times.
It is understandable that you will not be able to spend all day and night watching your new puppy. The best way to handle this is to confine the puppy into a kennel when you are not able to supervise him.
#5: Food and Water at regular times
This falls in line with being consistent, but it is worth repeating. The food you give your dog should be the same type of food all the time. Changing to different types of food, or giving table scraps can be hard on a dog’s stomach. A good quality hard dog food is good for the dogs’ teeth and will give it harder stools which makes it much easier to clean up if it does have accidents.
Also, you should avoid just sitting food and water out so that the puppy can eat whenever it wants. Instead, give the puppy its food and water for fifteen to twenty minutes. It will quickly learn that it must eat when the food is available, but also, you will be able to regulate your dogs’ stools. Knowing the estimated time for when your dog will need to relieve itself is going to be crucial to your success. If you don’t know, you may have a hard time catching him and training him where to go.
