Tips for House Training A Dog

Many dog owners find house training a dog to be one of the most difficult training tasks. However, if dog properly, house training a dog will be a rather simple and easy process that will not take very long for you and your dog to master.

The most important things to remember when house training a dog is to always be consistent and to have patience. Dogs are very perceptive when it comes to humans’ feelings and they will be able to pick up your frustration and anger and will l respond even less positively to your house training attempts.

The easiest way to practice house training a dog is with crate training. A crate is a large metal cage (that many owners put comfortable beds in) that is no wider than the dog is long. This is so that the dog does not have a lot of room in the crate to move around.

If he or she can not move a lot, he or she will not go to the bathroom. Then, as soon as the dog is let out of the crate, the owner should take the dog outside and praise the dog when he goes to the bathroom. While house training a dog, a puppy should be left in the crate at night and whenever no one is around.

A puppy should not be left in the crate longer than his or her bladder can stand, however. Most young puppies are able to hold their urine for about four to five hours.

Though crate training is touted as the easiest form of house training a dog, there will still be accidents. Be prepared for them and do not overreact when you find them. If you happen to catch your puppy going to the bathroom where he or she should not, simply say “No” and pick him or her up and place him or her outside on the grass.

When the puppy goes to the bathroom outside, make sure to praise him or her generously. Do not stick a dog’s nose in his or her mess while house training a dog. This simply confuses and terrorizes the puppy.

If you do not actually catch your puppy going to the bathroom but simply find the mess, do not even reprimand your puppy while training your dog. This is because a puppy has a very limited memory and may not even remember going to the bathroom. House training a dog does work, you just need to be patient and work at it.