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Basic dog training begins with the successful house breaking of the dog. How would anyone describe a successfully housebroken dog? There is one simple description. An housebroken dog will never use the house as his or her toilet. There is still a lot of misconception and misunderstanding about a dog and its toilet habits. Many people still firmly believe that by sending the dog out into the backyard at regular intervals during the day, they are house training the dog. What they do not realize is by merely taking it outside, or letting it outside, does not mean that the dog knows why it has been taken out or let out. The root of that problem is communication. A dog by nature, would love top please you, its owner, but it cannot, because it does not know how to communicate with you. The theory behind house training a puppy is all about devising a means of preventing it from doing its dirty business inside the house, by giving it the opportunity of doing it outside. This can only be successful if at the same time the dog is taught how to communicate with you and goes outside when it is told to go and or tells you that he has to go outside. Dogs are creatures of habit and they learn from association. Our training if consistent would help it quickly learn to associate the outdoors with the act of relieving itself. We must learn to take advantage of the wonderful natural instinct of the dog’s desire to keep its sleeping area clean, and not to mess in it. This is where the crate enters the picture. Make the crate the dog’s den and its bed. If the crate is the correct size, the dog will never soil it, if it cannot get out. It will restrain itself till let out. We must also capitalize on the fact that dogs are pack animals by nature, and den animals by instinct. Leave a dog free in a house and you would notice that it would pick its own den, under a desk, behind a couch or in a closet. A dog crate is the ideal and perfect, natural den for the dog. Make it its bed. It also serves as a safe, place to keep the pet whenever necessary, for its safety your peace of mind. When first introduced to the crate and locked in, puppies may raise hell, but they would quiet down and accept it eventually without any problem. If you are one of those humans who think that confining a puppy to a cage is cruelty, please think again. By confining a puppy to a crate we are actually catering to its basic instincts. Cast your mind to the wild, and ask yourself where would a dog sleep at night, out in the open? Where anything and everything can attack it or harm it? No, it finds a secluded spot, a cave, behind the trunk of a fallen tree where it has a feeling of security and protection. The proper use of a crate merely satisfies the dog’s basic desire and urge to feel safe, protected and secure. As mentioned earlier some puppies would scream their living heads off, and carry on at that for quite a few number of days, but that is something you would have to put up with if you want to house train him. You have to get him or her used to the crate, else spend a lot of time scooping up dog crap from your carpet. Remember that the puppy will get to realize that its screaming is getting it nowhere and soon stop, as long as you ignore it. Whatever you do, please DO NOT LET THEM OUT OF THE CRATE WHEN THEY ARE SCREAMING. If the screaming bothers you that much place the crate with the puppy in it in the garage or the basement, or leave the house for a few hours, the puppy will get tired and stop yelling. Like little children small pups will naturally sleep 15 to 18 hours a day. This is normal. They quickly learn that the crate means taking a nap. You have just completed the first step to house breaking your puppy, You have made it accept the crate. More on crate training later. |
Posted under House Training Puppies
This post was written by Noel DCosta on August 28, 2009
