THE PUPPY MUST EARN HIS FREEDOM
Supervise the puppy constantly when
he is loose in the house.
Confine the puppy properly whenever you cannot supervise
him.
Types of acceptable confinement include:
- Small portable dog crate, safety
fenced backyard or kennel
- A small area in the utility room or
kitchen that has been
boarded off so the puppy cannot injure himself or destroy
property. - Bathroom with floor
protected.
REWARD THE PUPPY FOR RELIEVING HIMSELF OUTSIDE
Take the puppy outside (on a leash) and
praise the puppy when
he relieves himself outside. Take the puppy to the same area
of
the yard for bathroom purposes. Use a verbal cue such as
"Hurry
up", "Go Potty," "Do your business", etc. Say this in
a gentle
quite tone of voice. In the beginning this will mean nothing
to the
dog, so do not become upset when he fails to respond. After
2-3
weeks, he will start to understand if his eliminating if followed
by
warm, sincere praise.
Keep his bathroom area picked up
except for the most recent stool.
Give the puppy approximately 10
minutes to relieve himself. Do
not form the habit of waiting 20-30 minutes for the puppy to
eliminate.
After he is consistently relieving himself within 10 minutes,
gradually
over a period of several weeks shorten the time to 5 minutes. DO
NOT REPRIMAND THE PUPPY FOR FAILING TO RELIEVE HIMSELF!
HAVE THE PUPPY ON A SCHEDULE FOR HIS MEALS AND
OUTDOOR BREAKS.
Feed the puppy all it will eat in
10-15 minutes 3 times each day.
Do NOT leave food down all day for him to nibble on.
Continual input leads to continual output! If the
puppy is
fed on a precise schedule 7 days a week, his bowel movements
will become very predictable.
FEED A HIGH QUALITY FOOD.
High quality foods product much less
stools. You get what you
pay for in dog food. High quality foods are priced higher
because
they have much better quality (and digestible) ingredients.
Cheaper
foods use poorer quality ingredients which are much less
digestible
and therefore produce more stools. House training will be
much
easier if you feed the best foods available. For best
results when
feeding these foods, they should be fed exclusively - not mixed
with
other foods to cut your cost.
