One of the first things asked by new puppy owners is, "What am I going to do about potty training?" The good news is that it's much easier than you think. Here are three tips for apartment training a puppy and saving your carpet before the trouble begins.
1: Designate An Indoor Bathroom
When you first bring a puppy home, they're much too young and frightened to understand the concept of housebreaking. You need to give them a safe, clean area where they can do their business without fuss until they're psychologically ready to take the next step. Newspaper in the corner works in a pinch, though some pet stores also sell puppy pads.
2: Don't Punish Accidents
Just like flies are more attracted to honey than vinegar, puppies respond much better to positive reinforcement than negative. Don't yell, scold or "rub their nose" in their mistakes. Instead, lavish praise on them for doing it right, which will give them a much greater incentive for repeating their good deeds.
3: Be Consistent
Nothing will throw off a dog's training more than conflicting or wishy-washy demands. Set your boundaries, make your rules and then stick to them. Don't let laziness or indecision set a precedent where your puppy knows he can get away with bad behavior. These habits will follow him into adulthood, and then where will you be?
These are just a few useful tips in house-training your new dog. As long as you remain patient, disciplined and loving, your pooch is sure to catch on quickly!
10 comments:
This is a great review for anyone who is the proud human of a new puppy. Nicely done!
Good tips! My dog is 99.9% good, sometimes she has to go when we are out of the house for a very long time, and she will go.. There is nothing we can do, she has to go!
All very good advice! I don't remember how my first dog was trained-my Dad did that. My second dog apartment trained my 2nd dog--and my third came already trained!
Great tips! We don't have a dog yet, but my son is begging for one and we'll definitely need to remember these.
This is good to know! We don't have a dog yet, but plan to get a puppy when we have more space. I'm a cat person, so I know nothing about training puppies.
I wish I could train my rabbits too
I should make Matt read this post! Our dog is 4 and still has accidents in the house. She is a Pomeranian and we still can not seem to break her from them. We have tried everything and he cannot help but get mad at her at this point. Training has definitely been tough.
Great tips, it's not always easy but being consistent is key.
It sure wasn't one of my favorite things training pets. Consistency is definitely important!
My old boss sent her pup to potty training school, lol. Graduation cap and all. I'd rather do it at home, thought it's certainly not pleasant at times. ;) Thanks for the tips.
Post a Comment