Housebreaking Puppies - Doing It Right From The Start
Housebreaking Puppies - Doing It Right From The Start
Housebreaking puppies is sometimes a very frustrating experience for new dog owners. Sometimes you come home and find that your puppy is using your house as his own personal potty! It can be very upsetting after a long day at work to come home and find your puppy's "presents" all over the house.
Puppies don't come with manuals.
The most important thing you need to remember when housebreaking puppies is that he doesn't know any better and yelling at him won't make the problem go away - it'll only make him scared of you. That's why positive reinforcement is the way to go!
But what IS positive reinforcement?
-Positive Reinforcement means that you must praise and reward you puppy for going outside, while offering a distraction when he goes where he's not supposed to go (i.e. your new living room rug!).
If your puppy goes on your floor, you need to make a loud noise - such as clapping your hands or banging a couple of pots together. Don't look at your dog while you do this because they will eventually begin to associate this with fear towards you. Only do this if you caught your puppy in the act - DON'T do this if you've just found his mess, because he won't associate the loud noise with the mess.
Then take your puppy outside, saying "Outside, outside!!" When your puppy goes outside, praise him over and over and give him a treat for a job well done!
Remember that yelling at your puppy won't get you anywhere - and it'll take more than one or two times for your puppy to catch on. You must be diligent and persistant, and most of all understanding.
Housebreaking puppies is one of the most difficult parts of owning a puppy... Most puppies don't come housebroken! Many puppies are turned into the shelter each year because their owners give up after a few tries. Some puppies learn immediately while others take a little while to understand - it just depends on the puppy! But no matter what, any puppy can be housebroken with lots of diligence and patience on the owner's part.