House breaking

It is a good idea to find out if possible; exactly what the puppy environment was before you brought him home. This will tell you what the puppy was accustomed to messing on in the early stages of life. (i.e. was it a newspaper litter box style, sawdust or shavings as in a barn or pet store, cement floor as in a kennel run, or maybe a grass bottom playpen.) This information will help to determine what will immediately work for your puppy. The most common method of house-breaking is paper training. When using this method, you will need to spread papers, a couple layers thick in a certain area of the puppies most used room in the house. Also, you will need to spread some newspapers in the area of the yard where you want the puppy to make his bathroom. (of course weather permitting) Weight these down with rocks or bricks in the beginning stages. Try to not allow the puppy to have access to the whole house as this is just too much territory for him to be able to handle in the early stages. This only reinforces long term housebreaking. Gradually over the first 4 months, after you have brought him into your home, can you start allow-ing him access to other areas unsupervised. When you catch the puppy in the act, but missing the papers, gather him up in your arms, scold him with a growling BAD PUPPY, OUTDOORS, and take him outside to the designated bathroom area. Do this quickly. Move quickly so your body language give the right message to the puppy as a sense of urgency. Set him down on the ground and repeat in a command voice “Hurry up! “ Hurry up! “ You could use other words rather than hurry up, words of your personal choice, but hurry up sounds bet-ter than “pee pee“. Especially if you're in a public place. When the puppy has done its duty, and only then, start to praise. “Good boy/girl! “, Outdoors -this is spoken in a praising tone. Even if the puppy has finished inside the house, praise him anyway. You are relaying to the pup that messing in the house is bad, messing outside is good. If your puppy doesn't t do anything after 5 minutes, pick him back up and bring him back inside with you.  Supervised housebreaking with proper correction and praise will be much more effective then if puppy is left outside alone after an in-house accident has occurred. With puppy out of sight, clean up the mess with paper towels to remove the access and then deodorize the area with an a neutralizer cleaner available at most veterinary clinics or pet stores. If the puppy is present during the cleanup, he will sense your hostility again and become confused. The positive
Reinforcement with praise outside could be lost.

Helpful Hints to make the task easier:

1. When your puppy wakes up from a nap, even a 5 minute snooze, almost every time he will have to relieve himself. Gather him up in your arms and take him outside to his spot. Repeat the word OUTDOORS to him as your on route to the spot. Place him on the newspapers or prepared area and wait. He may move onto a grassy area near the papers. That's super, that?s the goal. Encourage him with the key phrase that you want to use every time as ?Hurry up?. Whatever term you use, just be consistent. Do not praise with Good boy/girl until the pup is completely finished, then lay on the praise and continue on your way. Use this procedure after a playtime, meal, nap, confinement or first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Keeping a pair of slip on shoes by the door will make an emergency exit more effective for you and the pup.

2. Keep your puppy on a feeding and watering schedule. The best method for puppies 6 weeks to 4 months is to feed 3 times a day if possible. Early morning, late noon, and again in early evening (6 to 7). Allow him access to water during feeding times but restrict the amount so he does not intake too much and become stuffed or bloated. This could lead to a serious intestinal situation, requiring veterinary help. What he leaves in his food bowl, pick it up and place it out of his reach. About 1/2 bowl of water could be left with the pup for drinking between meals. His body will adjust to a feeding schedule very quickly, therefore making house-breaking very predictable. Simply realize that the puppy will have to relieve himself within 5 minutes after he eats so be prepared to make the trip outside to his spot. Be consistent with the scheduling and the task ofhousebreaking will be much quicker. If you need to change the puppy's food type, it is very important that you do it gradually slowly adding the new type to the old, small amounts at a time. Your pup could become Ill if the change is made too quickly.

3. Crate training or room confinement of your pup while you can t be there will greatly help your goal of house-breaking. At first you may feel this is a mean gesture on your part but it actually can be the opposite for your puppy. He actually regards the crate as a den or his private territory. Two to 3 hours at a time is a long enough time span. Once costumed to it, puppies will often retreat to their special den for a nap time even when you are at home. Do not feed or water the pup in his crate; however, do leave several small toys in there for entertainment and companionship. Most puppies will not eliminate in their sleeping quarters so they learn to hold on until they are taken out side. If a crate is not in your budget, use a small room like a laundry room, washroom or barricaded off den or kitchen. A whole house is just too much for puppy to respect in the early

4. When your puppy does get into a mess or does an undesirable behavior, no matter how cute he is in the situation, DO NOT LAUGH AT HIM. This will encourage him to do it again because he may interpret it as a positive attention getting action. Discipline the puppy first then afterwards when you are sure the puppy has an understanding that what ever happened wasn't a good thing, you can gently and slowly give soft pats and gentle hugs. As if to say, ?I still love you but don't do it again?. Don't get real excited and have too happy a face or the puppy may not get the feelings of your true emotions. Remember your puppy is reading body language as well as the tone of your voice and even perhaps the few words he is starting to catch on to. They do learn quick and what you wish to accomplish here is a level of understanding and respect on the learning puppy's part.

5. If your puppy is frantically struggling with you, perhaps he needs a break from the play or train-ing, so a trip outside to his spot is in order.