Doggy Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘puppy training tips’

potty training a puppy

Old newspapers are one of the staple items you need to keep in stock when potty training puppies. Newspaper is absorbent enough to take care of a little excrement, tough enough to prevent solid waste from seeping to the floor, and soft enough not to hurt the puppy or damage the floor as the puppy settles in to do its business. All this from recycling the news of yesterday.

Old newspaper then has quite a few roles to play when it comes to the potty training a puppy. It can serve these unique roles as:

Potty-training material
Because of newspaper's inherent absorbency and toughness, it does a pretty respectable job of holding and keeping excrement. You typically put the stuff under a dog's potty grill to catch the urine or feces. Once it has done that, you can discard the soiled material into the garbage can at day's end. You could even lay out the newspapers on the floor in a cinch if you have to, but try not to use this method of potty training for long. It's possible that a puppy could grow up to be a dog that will do its business on any kind of papers left on the floor, so you must be very careful if you choose to potty train a puppy using old newspaper.

Material that can be used for cleaning
The very same qualities that make it as good potty-training material also makes it excellent at cleaning up after your puppy's accidents. You simply need to place it on wet spots to absorb the pee, while you can actually pick up solid fecal matter with the paper while wrapping it up in the process. Just remember not to wipe away with newspaper, as you will end up spreading the mess all over the floor. Use it to absorb moisture and pick up fecal matter, and you won't have any problems in the soapy cleanup.

Material that can be used for bedding
Another thing you could use old newspaper for is as a sleeping surface for your puppy. Being soft and insulating, newspaper makes for a very comfortable bed for your puppy. One thing you can do is cover the newspaper with an old cloth or sheet to protect the newspaper from puppy claws to create an affordable and effective place for your puppy to sleep. You should replace the newspapers once a month at the very least for a fresher and less smelly surface.

And one more thing about using newspaper as bedding material: make sure not to use the old newspaper for potty-training, since dogs do not like to excrete on their sleeping surfaces. If you choose to use old newspapers for potty-training and bedding materials, separate one from the other and to never re-use them for a different purpose.

Old newspaper is indeed a very versatile item to use when potty training puppies because it can be used for cleaning material and bedding material,. Newspaper is plentiful and cheap, meaning that you do not need to spend a lot of money while training your puppy to do its business the right way. When you remember all of this, you may just save some money

If you want to train your puppy in the most efficient way from the start, there are two methods for training your puppy which you need to pay close attention to. They are being the pack leader and the method of positive reinforcement. Each of these methods will be explained in this article and you will see how you can use them to train your puppy dog effectively.

On bringing a puppy into your home, you should have some knowledge of the dog's natural instincts and of its life as a pack animal. The pack has its own dynamics and the principle of dominance is crucial within it. Within a pack there is a hierarchy and at the top is the alpha pair. They will not allow any other dogs in the pack to breed.

The alpha dogs eat first and take a higher vantage point when sleeping. Dogs like to sleep on beds or sofas for this reason.

If you want to set off on the right foot and avoid behavior problems in your puppy, you absolutely must position yourself and your family as the pack leaders or alpha dogs in your home. In order to do this, you should avoid letting your puppy onto your bed or sofa.

Your whole family should let your puppy see you eating something (such as a biscuit) just before you give him his food. You should make it look as if you are taking the food from the dog’s plate.

You should be calm and assertive. Speak with authority and be decisive. Closely associated with the idea of the pack leader is the concept of positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement means that you reward a desired behavior in your puppy or dog and ignore an undesired behavior. Negative reinforcement and punishment are not recognised as effective methods any longer by virtually all dog trainers.

You can use small treats as positive reinforcement. Praise and affection can also be used. It is vital that you do not reinforce undesired behaviors. Why do undesired dog behaviors happen? One of the most important reasons is owners reinforcing these behaviors without being aware of it. Whether you like it or not, puppy training occurs whenever you are with your puppy, not just during a training session.

For example, if your puppy jumps up at you when you come into a room and you give him attention and affection, you are reinforcing his "jumping up" behavior. You should ignore him whenever he engages in an undesired behavior. This means you should look away or turn away and not give any attention. You may find this difficult and this is why so many people encourage bad behaviors in their dogs.

You will find that positioning yourself as the pack leader in your home forms a bedrock for all your puppy training and positive reinforcement gives you a method to encourage the correct behaviors in your puppy and to avoid potential dog behaviour problems.

For more information on training your puppy, visit the Training Puppy Tips website.

Does your puppy’s barking drive you or your neighbors mad? May be you are at the end of your tether and do not know what to do. The first mistake that people make is to think that they can stop their puppy from barking completely. It should be understood that barking is normal for puppies. This is how your puppy communicates It is only when the barking is excessive and inappropriate that you should be concerned.

The fact is that puppies bark for a reason and so it is important to find what the cause is before taking action. Puppies can bark because they are lonely, bored, anxious, frustrated or frightened. They also might be hungry, need to pee or simply just need to go out for some exercise.

If your puppy continues to bark excessively or inappropriately, then you should use commands like “stop” or “enough” in a stern voice. If your puppy just carries on barking, it may be a good idea to pull them away from what they are barking at and give a correction. This could be a quick pull on the collar.

Giving praise such as “good” is important when your puppy stops barking so that he knows this is a correct behavior.

If outside and your puppy is barking to come in but you do not want him to come in yet, you can use a command such as “stop” or “enough”. You should do this in a stern voice through the door. Puppies can hear through the door. Remember not to open the door until you are ready to let them in.

If this does not work then you could kick the bottom of the door from the inside. This makes a loud noise which can startle your puppy. this method is quite effective.

Another idea is to hang out the window and squirt water from a spray bottle or hose. This gives your puppy a reason to stop. The more you do this, the more your puppy will get a negative reinforcement for barking.

When your puppy stops barking, do remember to give praise. You must be consistent in praising positive behavior and giving a negative reinforcement for unwanted behavior.

Now that you know the reasons for your puppy barking, you should be able to take the best action in order to have a quieter life!

Visit the Training Puppy Tips website for more detailed information on stopping your puppy barking. You can use the same techniques for stopping your puppy growling.

Every successful puppy or dog trainer follows clear principles to make their training effective. However, some do not succeed in training their puppy. I will now discuss the most common errors they make when training their puppy.

1. They don’t set themselves up as the alpha dog.

One effective method of dog training is based on our knowledge of the instinctive behavior of dogs within a pack. A rule the dog pack adheres to is dominance. There is a heirachy within the pack. At the head of this are the pack leaders, a male and a female.

They are the first to eat, they lead the hunt and when they sleep, they take the higher ground.

To be successful in dog training, we need to position ourselves as the leader of the dog pack. Don’t allow your puppy to be on a higher level than you, for example on your lap. Also before you give your puppy his food, take a token amount of your food so that he see you eat first.

A calm and assertive manner is important for successful training. It is important not to be anxious or indecisive.

2. They don’t take not of the concept of positive reinforcement.

We must clearly understand that we must reinforce desired behaviors in our dog by giving treats or attention the instant our dog engages in the behavior. We can link a verbal command with the behavior as it occurs and give a treat immediately after it.

Negative reinforcement such as shouting at a dog or punishing him in some way is nevertheless giving the dog attention and since he craves attention, the attention can act as a positive reinforcement rather than a negative one. It has been found to be ineffective. What is effective is to ignore the dog when it engages in an unwanted behavior. We may need to physically intervene if we need to stop some destruction going on, but we should keep the same calm and assertive manner and not interact any more than we have to.

3. They make dog obedience training sessions too long.

Sessions are best kept short so that your puppy’s energy and attention are good. It is best for puppy to learn in short stints. We should make the sessions only ten minutes for young puppies and up to twenty minutes for older ones.

4. They underestimate the amount of time and energy required to train a puppy.

Puppy training requires a commitment of time and energy in order to be successful. The owner will need to have great patience and to be persistent. He will also need to be very consistent.

5. They think that training only occurs during an organized training session.

Training is an ongoing process, not only in training sessions but all the time. The owner needs to ensure that everyone who comes into contact with the puppy always behave in a consistent manner i.e. always ignoring undesired behaviors and positively reinfornce desired behaviors.

It is important to keep training sessions fun and enjoyable for your puppy. They should never become a chore.

For more detailed information about training your puppy or dog, see my reviews of the best dog training guides.

If you are going to be bringing a puppy home that hasn’t been house trained, you can use this step-by-step guide. If you follow the nine steps described here, you will be successful in house training your puppy. Consistency and persistency are vital in this process.

1.The right size of dog crate is vital. Make sure you get one before your puppy arrives. This means it should be large enough so your puppy can lie down in it and turn around in it but not much larger than that. This will become your puppy’s nest and his natural instinct is to never soil it. If the crate is too large, he may soil it away from his usual sleeping position. You have been warned!

2. Make sure you are available for at least the first couple of days, so that you can remain with your puppy. He’s going to need taking outside a lot to begin with – from every thirty to sixty minutes.

3. You may want to limit the puppy’s access to certain areas of the house until he is house trained.

4. There are certain times when he will predictably require taking outside, so take him out at these times: when he gets up in morning, when he wakes up from a nap, after he’s been exercising (for example, playing hard), after eating or drinking and before he retiring to bed at night.

5. When he arrives you are going to need to take him outside every thirty to sixty minutes, until you start to recognise the signals that he wants to poo or pee. The signal may be sniffing, circling or backing up.

6. Once you see the signal that he wants to relieve himself, you should take him outside as fast as you can and wait until he does his business.

7. When he does his business, immediately give him lots of praise and attention.

8. If you need to attend to other matters, you could leave the puppy in his crate for up to an hour. You should always do this if you cannot pay full attention, at least until he is well house trained. Firstly, however, your puppy must be content to stay in the dog crate. To do that give him small treats while he is next to the crate and gradually lure him inside with them. Once he’s been in a few times, shut the door very briefly and then open again. Gradually increase the time with the door shut. You can also put an interactive toy or a dispensing toy in the crate to keep him occupied.

9. If he does his business in the house, just ignore him when he does it but be sure to clean it up and clean the area thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner or hot biological washing powder solution. If you don’t, your puppy will still smell it and be tempted to do his business there again.

For more information about puppy crate training and house training your puppy, visit my Training Puppy Tips website.