Friday, February 19, 2010

Training A Puppy Is Entertaining For The Entire Household

By Greg Stannionis

What is it about puppies that makes them so irresistible? The first time you bring a puppy home, everyone rushes in excitement to greet their new family member. Then, when the new puppy has an "accident" on the rug, everybody seems to disappear. This is when you have to start training a puppy.

Many people find toilet training a puppy to be a frustrating and maddening experience, but it needn't be. If you educate yourself about dogs and their behavior, you can learn how to train your dog without causing either the puppy or yourself too much anxiety.

All animals are born with certain instincts. Other things they have to learn. Dogs have a natural instinct to relieve themselves out of doors, away from their den. This is why your puppy will show distress before it makes its little "mistake" on your carpet. It knows that something is wrong, but doesn't have a clear idea about where the right place is to go.

On top of that, your new puppy can't "hold it in" for very long. It knows something is about to happen and will run around the room, whimpering and sniffing until finally it can't wait any longer. Punishing your puppy for this would not be appropriate, because it has done nothing wrong. Laughing it off would also be inappropriate, because it needs to be shown the right place to go or it may decide that it got it right the first time!

Do not teach it by punishment. Rubbing its nose in the poo and yelling at the dog aren't going to do any good at all. Instead, remove the waste and take it outside, where it belongs. Leave it there so the puppy can sniff out its location the next time. Clean the area indoors where the puppy relieved itself and remove all traces of odor using an appropriate cleaning solution.

Now you will have to keep an eye on your puppy and catch it before it goes, rather than after. You will easily notice the signs of distress and the times it needs to go. Take it outside as soon as it is clear that it is time. After the puppy has "done its duty, " offer it a reward and an encouraging pat. Let it know that you, the leader of the pack, approve of its good behavior.

By nature, dogs are pack animals. While their charms may be hard to resist, the puppy must learn who is boss early in life or it may grow up thinking it is the boss and be very hard to train later in life. Dogs, like humans, learn best by reward. Harsh punishment results in neurotic behavior in dogs just as it does in humans.

If you start training a puppy right from the beginning, you will have a much easier time of it. You and you dog will be great companions for years to come.

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