Friday, March 13, 2009

Start With Potty Training


The very first thing any puppy needs to learn is housebreaking. Of course there will be accidents, but if there is constant observation the amount of accidents will be reduced. When a puppy walks around slowly with their nose close to the floor it is a good indication they are about to pee or poop. You should start by constantly taking or inviting the dog outside. This will help them learn quickly that there is an outside for relieving. As soon as any relieving is done praise the dog and give her a treat.  Africa seemed to learn this pretty quickly. We just kept putting her outside in hopes that she had to go and every time she went we would immediately give her a treat. When we weren't watching like she would and found her crouching to go in the house we immediately swapped her bottom and carried her outside. Again when she went outside we gave her lots of praise. If you miss the accident it doesn't do any good to get after the dog. They don't remember which is why you have to catch them in the act or just clean it up and hope to catch your dog next time. We figured out that Africa would get lazy and sleepy after a nap and we had to guide her or take her outside otherwise she would tend to have an accident. 

1 comment:

  1. When I was trying to heousbreak all eight pups at once it was interesting. I just took them out every 45 minutes or right after eating, naps or hard play. For a while all I was doing was escorting puppies in and out.

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