What To Avoid When Housetraining a Dog

Housetraining is listed as one of the biggest stresses when it comes to owning a puppy!

You will probably want to pick up some dog accessories to help you easily train your new puppy.

That’s okay! New puppy owners should not have to go to such lengths just to teach their pups the basics. But like all territories unknown, it is quite easy for novice puppy owners to find lots of ways to mess up simple puppy training, especially when it comes to the process of housetraining.

But you do not have to be one of these novices. To help guide your way towards proper housetraining with your new puppy, below are a few common mistakes that many people make, those of which you should aim to prevent:

1. Irregular schedule: Dogs thrive on repetitiveness and a routine schedule. If you fail to follow a schedule when it comes to taking your puppy to go to the bathroom, feeding times, and even bedtime, this can cause a disruption in the learning process.

For example, let’s say it’s Sunday morning and even though your puppy is waiting for you at the door to go to the bathroom at 7:00 AM (his usual morning potty time), and you feel like sleeping in, do not be surprised if you wake up to a puddle of pee or a stinky pile of poop on the kitchen floor. Adhering to a schedule is absolutely critical to successfully housetrain your puppy.

2. Ignoring crate training: Crate training is a safe and effective way to housetrain any puppy. Not only does it work well, but it is not the cruel training protocol that many people think it is. Placing your puppy in a crate when you are not able to watch over him will help your dog to develop control over its bladder.

The third mistake, is punishing your pooch for their potty misdeed! Just like with kids, puppies don’t have a built in sense of how to go to the bathroom. They can’t model behavior like human children but since you don’t scold children when they wet their pants you should not scold your puppy either! Positive, positive, positive is the way to go! Simply do not react if your dog makes a mess. Clean it up and go on. Use Positive direction, meaning if your dog potties on the paper or goes to the door and goes outside, then give them praise and a reward. Yelling, screaming, corporal punishments, etc., are abusive and will cause your puppy to become fearful, anti-social, and aggressive. Dogs do remember experiences by their associations, so if they have positive associations with housetraining, then they are going to yield positive results.

If you need a nice dog crate then get one now.

4. Not cleaning up accidents when the happen: I realize that it may get a little tiring when you constantly have to clean up your new puppy’s poop and pee, but it’s an unfortunate part of the deal you made when you decided to bring home a new dog, especially a brand-new puppy.

Do not make the mistake of getting lazy and leaving his wastes to sit on the floor for any length of time. This can signal to your dog that it is okay to use the bathroom on the floor and he will continue to do so, typically in the same spot.

You may also want to pick up some dog training treats to reward your dog.

Adopt a puppy

If it hasn’t crossed your mind in your search for puppies for sale, you might want to try the internet where you can filter your search down to any type requirement you have. Although a great source to get puppies, the internet abounds with unscruplous people looking to take advantage of unwary buyers.

The last thing to do before you adopt a puppy is plan where your puppy will stay when unsupervised.

Now comes the “other stuff”. Things such as training your new puppy should not be forgotten. puppy training of all kinds ought to be occupying your thoughts well in advance of purchasing a puppy. Don’t wait until the last minute.

As can be seen there are quite a few things to think about before getting a new puppy. Regardless of the amount of work, puppy ownership is a grand experience.