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Puppy training tips

Getting puppy training basics ingrained during the first week the puppy is home is critical. It is obvious that you need certain physical items such as a dog bed or crate, food and water bowls, good quality puppy food, collar, leash, toys, etc. We sell a booklet on puppy training that is very helpful as a ready reference on how to deal with certain situations and explains how they think.

From the moment you get them home you need to try and get them on the right track. That first night can be tricky. Provide them with a warm but safe place to sleep away from the rest of the house hold. If they cry try to resist going to them in the night.

Decide who is responsible for feeding and cleaning up after her. Don't deviate from the schedule. Routine is especially important for your puppy. Don't spend all your time with them. If they are going to be alone during the day or night, they need to start getting used to it now. If he/she wakes up from a nap and whines, resist the urge to run in and comfort her.

Since puppies are so impressionable, it is important to begin explaining the rules right away. Don't give them special license to get away with anything just because she is a puppy. If you allow them to have her way about certain things now, they will only be confused later when you decide to change the rules. Puppies learn very quickly with proper instruction.

Never hit your puppy or give harsh reprimands. They don't mean to misbehave - they are just doing whatever comes naturally. Instead, show your puppy what kind of behaviour you want. Teach her to play with her toys. You want them to chew their toys rather than the furniture so spend time with them directing them towards their toys and reward them with praise and attention. Let your pup know how happy you are and how good they are when they chew their toys rather than your hands for instance.

Remember the golden rule of behaviour training –behaviour rewarded is behaviour repeated !!

Then, when you see them chewing your furniture, firmly tell them, "Off!" and immediately show them one of their own toys. Encourage them to play with and chew on it. Praise them profusely when they do so. If you don't catch them in the act, anything you do will confuse them. You need to catch them within about 5 seconds of the event for reward /punishment to be associated with at event. The only way you can instruct your puppy is to be there. If you can't be there, don't allow them to have access to places where they can get into trouble.

Puppies are susceptible to many canine diseases until they are fully vaccinated; so don't take your puppy outside until we say it is OK. This will depend on the time of the year as well as the area you live in to some extent.

Your puppy's emotional and mental health is just as important as their physical health. We recommend puppy socialization classes to help with their very important early development. The first 16 weeks of a pups life is equivalent to the first 3 years of a child.

Puppy socialization classes give your puppy an opportunity to meet a variety of people and dogs in a controlled situation and maximize their chances of being a well-adjusted adult dog. They need to learn how to act properly around other dogs and people. Dogs that are not socialized may grow up to be aggressive and excessively fearful.

Puppy toilet training tips

Provide constant access to the toilet area. If you are home, take your puppy there regularly-every 45 minutes is not too often.

If you are not home or cannot tend to the puppy, then you must make sure he cannot make a mistake. It's actually not really a mistake because he doesn't know any better. With young puppies, when the urge comes, they go - it usually doesn't matter where they are or what they are doing. If we didn't put nappies on human babies, they too would soil floors. Confine your puppy to a dog-proofed area and line the entire floor with papers.

Confine your puppy to a small, 'puppy-proofed' room or crate and paper the entire floor.  Alternatively incontinence pads can be used instead as they are obviously very absorbent. Put his bed, toys and food/water bowls there. At first there will be no rhyme or reason to where your pup eliminates. He will go every where and any where. He will also probably play with the papers, chew on them, and drag them around his little den. Most puppies do this and you just have to live with it. Don't get upset; just accept it as life with a young puppy. The important thing is that when you get home, clean up the mess and lay down fresh papers.

While your puppy is confined, they will develop a habit of eliminating on paper because no matter where he goes, it will be on paper. As time goes on, he will start to show a preferred place to do his business. When this place is well established and the rest of the papers remain clean all day then gradually reduce the area that is papered. Start removing the paper that is furtherest away from his chosen location. Eventually you will only need to leave a few sheets down in that area only. If he ever misses the paper, then you've reduced the area too soon. Go back to papering a larger area or even the entire room. Once your puppy is reliably going only on the papers you've left, then you can slowly and gradually move his papers to a location of your choice. Move the papers only an inch a day. If puppy misses the paper again, then you're moving too fast. Go back a few steps and start over. Don't be discouraged if your puppy seems to be making remarkable progress and then suddenly you have to return to papering the entire room. This is normal. There will always be minor set-backs. If you stick with this procedure, your puppy will be paper trained.

If the weather is nice, the area safe, etc, you can confine the pup to a small pen outside. Don't leave your pup out in the sun, wind, heat or cold. Be sure to provide shelter and water in the confinement area. It's ideal if the pen is set up on dirt, grass, gravel or concrete. The idea is that no matter where the puppy eliminates while confined, it is on something that resembles his toilet area. Your goal is to never allow your puppy to eliminate on carpet, tile, hardwood, or anything that resembles the flooring in your home. Once they have been in a spot they then regard it as acceptable to toilet their again.

 
Praise and reward your puppy each and every time possible for toileting in the right spot.

Feed your puppy at regular times. Take them to the toilet straight after eating.

Use a crate to help your puppy develop self control. They are reluctant to toilet in their sleeping area but remember when very young they have limited capacity to “hang on”. Any breakdown in a well established pattern may however may signal a problem such as a urinary tract infection Confine him for gradually increasing periods of time when you are home to monitor him.

Be patient. It can take them up to 6 months to be housetrained!!!