New Puppy House Training Tips

When a new puppy arrives at a new house, everyone will get very excited. In order to get the puppy to adapt to the new location fast, it is always good to do a bit of preparation.

One of the top listing challenges for dog owner (especially new dog owner) is house training. The whole training process will be a lot easier if the owner is equipped with some fundamental knowledge and has a positive attitude.

The BIG day...

What is the first thing you must do when the puppy arrives?? Bring it home and show the puppy where your lovely bed is?? OR bring it outdoor first??

Well, you are smart if you bring your puppy outside. Just think…with all the excitement of the car journey, sights and sounds from new faces. The puppy will have to have its toilet break. This is the best time to show her where to have the toilet break outside the house, rather than indoor. The more the puppy relieves herself outdoor, the more likely she will want to do it outdoor again.

This homecoming is a great opportunity for you to set a precedent for toilet behaviour...

• Take the puppy to its regular toilet area and put her down on the grass.

• Wait while she sniffs around; do not disturb the puppy by petting or playing with her at the moment. You would not want the puppy to associate this area as a play zone. She has to learn that this part of the area is for toilet breaks only.

• When she begins to relieve herself, say out the command you wanted to associate with toilet breaks: “GO pee” or “Toilet Time” or whatever command works for you. It is best if the command is short and easily recognizable. Remember to use the same vocal command every time so that your puppy can easily memorize the meaning of the phrase.

• After the puppy has finished, showered her with praise and affection and give her a little treat.

When you take the puppy inside the house, house training regime that you have planned earlier should start immediately.

As far as house training goes, crate training is widely accepted to be the most effective and efficient ways of house training a dog in a short time.

What is Crate training?

Crate training basically uses an indoor kennel (or crate) to confine the dog when you are not actively supervising it.

How does the training work?

Crate training uses the principal that all dogs dislike to soil the place where they sleep. Now you are using a crate to restrict your puppy’s movement in her sleeping area. The puppy will instinctively “hold it” until she is let out of the crate (unless you leave her in the crate for too long)

Sizing the crate is important here. If it is too big, the puppy will be able to use one end as a bed and one end as toilet. This will defeat the whole purpose of crate training.

How do I choose a crate?

It is always cost effective for you to choose a crate that is big enough for the puppy to grow in it. It should be big enough for it to grow into an adult and be able to stand up comfortably, enabling the dog to turn around an able to stretch out. BUT it should not be so big that the dog can choose one part of the crate as her bed and the other part as her toilet.

As adult dog is considerably larger than a puppy, it will be necessary for you to partition up the interior of the crate to reduce the space. A wire grille or a board will do just fine.

If you are creative and hardworking enough, you can make a crate yourself and replace it once the puppy grows up.

How to House Train your dog using a crate?

The puppy should be kept in the crate at all times unless she’s sleeping, eating, having toilet break outside or you are playing with it (active supervision).

You have to be consistent in this training regime or else all the hard work will go down the drain. You cannot let your puppy wander around the whole house unless you are focusing your complete attention on her.

If you let her wander in the house and she relieves herself. The puppy might think you are encouraging her to relieve herself indoor. REMEMBER…each time she does this, she will soon do it again…and again…and again...

Set a routine for crate training…for example:

• 7am: Wake up and puppy goes outside with you for a toilet break.

• 7.25am: Breakfast time

• 7.45am: Go outside again for another toilet break…with you around of course.

• 7.50 - 8.45am: Playing time, puppy is out of crate to be played with and gets cuddle…etc

• 8.40am: Outdoor for toilet break again.

• 8.50 – 11am: Puppy goes back to crate for a nap

• 11am: Puppy comes out of crate with you to outdoor for toilet break

• 11.05 – 12.30 pm: Playing time, puppy is out of crate to be played with and gets patted…etc

• 12.30pm: Lunchtime

• 12.45pm: Puppy goes outside for toilet break

• 1 – 3.30pm: Puppy goes back to crate for a nap… and so on throughout the day.

Crate training generally takes one to two months (depending on the breed of your dog and how much time you spend on the training process.) As the puppy grows older, you can begin to reduce the amount of time spent in the crate – but beware of doing this too soon!

Other crate training rules

• Your puppy will not be too happy to get into the crate for the first few times. She wants to be outside, being play with and get attention and affection and to hang out with you (of course). But you have to be FIRM as this training is for her own good. In a surprising short time. She will come to accept the crate as her own personal area where she can go to relax and get uninterrupted sleep. You must persevere, do not give in to whining or crying.

• The best location to place the crate is the hub of the household, anywhere near people tends to congregate. As your puppy is part of the family now, do not make her feel isolated or excluded just because she is in the crate.

• Make the crate a welcoming, inviting place for her to go. Lay some thick blankets or towels on the floor; place some toys and something for her to chew on as well. Always leave the door open once she is outside, but once she is inside. The door should be securely shut.

Some toilet facts about puppies that will come in handy

• Puppies’ bladders and bowels are so small and weak that they have only a very small window of opportunity between knowing that they need to go, and having that need become an immediate reality. Because of this, it’s important that you take her outside as soon as she wakes up (she’ll let you know she needs to go out by pawing the door and whining), and within ten minutes of eating or playing.

• Behaviours that indicate she needs to go outside include sniffing the ground and circling. Again, because she is only little, she won’t exhibit these warning signs for very long – so as soon as she starts, take her out straight away. Better make the trip to the yard than having a wet patch (or pile) on the carpet!

• You can roughly calculate the maximum amount of time a puppy can be crated is by using this equation: her age in months, plus one. So, a three-month old puppy can be crated for a maximum of four hours. However, this is likely to be physically pretty uncomfortable for her (not to mention hard on her emotionally and psychologically: it’s tough being cramped up with nothing to do), so you should really take her out at least once every two hours during the day. If she’s sleeping, of course, just let her sleep until she wakes up naturally.