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House-train your dog - it’s easy

Thursday, April 12th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

Dogs can be quickly house trained. Dogs may not be very quick learners. You need to maintain your calm and patience at the initial stages. Your endurance will be put to test during the training period, so you need to be prepared to devote the time required for it.

Develop a habit of taking your dog for walks outside on a frequent basis to allow him to do his nature calls. Good times to take him out are early morning, after food and before you retire to bed.

Keep a close eye on him during the initial stages. Observe the signs displayed by the dog when he needs to pee or poop. Typically, your pet will start getting restless and will start sniffing or scratching the door. Immediately take your dog out, and after he finishes the act, praise him for his good behavior.

Similarly, if your pet relieves himself inside the house, do not hesitate to scold him for his wrongdoing. However, do not spank your dog for it, as he is still in the training period. Physical punishment will not result in any positive outcome; instead it will make your pet to hide their mess in future.

The smile rule to be followed while toilet training your pet is - praise him when right and scold when wrong. Remember, house training may take time, but once your pet becomes trained in it, he will keep it in mind forever. Result? You will say goodbye to all the pee and poop cleaning that you used to do, thanks to your pet dog!

Establish a toilet area for your dog

Just like toddlers need to be house trained, similarly puppies need to be trained to urinate and defecate at the right place.

Before you begin to house train your pet, you need to determine the suitable place for your dog to relieve himself. The place can be either inside or outside the house. However, outdoors are more appropriate for such activities, taking the hygiene factor into consideration. While deciding on the place, make sure that the place is convenient and hygienic. Also, it should not result in dirtying the neighbor’s garden or the streets in general.

It may not always be feasible to take your pet outside every time it wants to relieve himself. For such times, you can allocate a particular place within your own house. However, do take into consideration the factors of accessibility and sanitation while choosing the “poop place.”

Having determined the appropriate place, you need to train your dog to use it when needed. For outdoors, you can make a schedule to take your pet out for a walk. The most apt time to take him out is - early morning, after meals and before you hit the bed.

For the indoor place, it would help if you would bring your pet again and again to his “poop place”, thus familiarizing him to it. Every time your pet feels like attending nature’s call, lead him towards his “poop place”. After many attempts, if your pet doesn’t recognize his “poop place”, try the trail method or the scent-trace method.

You will need to give your dog some time to learn, while being patient. Eventually, your pet will recognize his own “poop place” and learn to relieve himself at the right spot, every time.