Housetraining your puppy

GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - When you get a new puppy, it will help to have an idea of how they think and how to make it easy for them to learn.

Unfortunately, puppies don't come with an understanding of our language and house rules; they can simply distinguish between what is safe and what is dangerous.

This is why punishing a puppy for mishaps indoors might backfire big time. Local dog behaviourist George van Huyssteen explains.

Puppies will have accidents when you bring them home. You often get advice that you must hit them with a newspaper or push their nose into their own urine to make them understand that what they have done is wrong. This, however, does not work.

In most cases, they simply learn that it is not safe to eliminate or defecate in front of an owner and will do it only when he is not present. So, although it may seem like it's working, you will only find surprises when you get home, making house training exponentially harder.

Easy way to house-train your puppy

Do not punish your puppy for mishaps indoors. The puppy will only learn that you are not safe to be around, which will hinder the bonding process.

In some cases, harsh handling might even lead to aggression later in life. Instead of punishing the puppy, be proactive and start rewarding him handsomely for going to the correct location.

For this to work well, you need to be with the puppy when he eliminates and give him food rewards immediately after. While you are at home, look for the tell-tale signs of puppies wanting to go, such as sniffing the ground while walking in small circles.

Should you see the puppy behave in this way, take him outside immediately.

It would be best to take your puppy outside:

After every meal
After playing indoors
After taking a nap
After chewing on a bone or Kong
After you see him drinking water
After the puppy wakes up in the morning. Take him out first thing.
Before you go to bed at night, take him outside and give him time to do his business.

If you do this consistently, you will build up a reward history, and the puppy will quickly learn that eliminating or defecating outside is very rewarding. Once in that routine, the puppy will start choosing to go outside, and indoor mishaps will end.

What to do should there be a mishap

Simply clean the accident with an ammonia-free cleaning agent. Should there be the scent of urine somewhere where he had an accident, he will probably go there again, so it is crucial to clean thoroughly.

Dog urine smells like ammonia because ammonia is one of its components.

When you know you will not be at home for a period, you need to confine the puppy in a safe area. Dog crates are popular, but a puppy should not be confined in a crate for more than two hours at a time, and there should be something inside to keep him busy, like a chew toy.

If you have an area like a kitchen, you can also use puppy training pads or paper. However, this might give the puppy conflicting information. Preferably the puppy must learn to keep it in (bladder control), so frequent toilet breaks with loads of feedback from the owner work best.

It might even be a good idea to take two weeks' holiday when you get a puppy to help him through this. Having a puppy should be fun for the puppy and the owner, and in most cases, toilet training happens fairly quickly.

Spend a week or two explaining your house rules in a way the puppy will understand, and you will have a great friend for a very long time.

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