The Dos And Don'ts Of House-Training Your New Puppy
Posted on: 24 March 2015
Adopting a puppy can be a wonderful experience, but one challenge most new puppy-owners face is that of house-training the dog. In order to do so successfully, you're going to need a great deal of patience and time. Ultimately, however, your puppy can be trained to go potty outdoors without an issue. To ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible for you, there are a few things you should know.
DO Know When the Dog Needs to Go
Learn how to recognize the signs that your puppy needs to use the bathroom. This will help to reduce instances of accidents while also helping you with training. Generally, puppies will start whining, walking around in circles, sniffing the floors, and perhaps even heading towards an exterior door when they need to use the bathroom. After you have your puppy in your home for a few weeks, you should begin to better recognize the signs that your puppy needs to go potty and respond to them by taking your dog outside. Be sure to praise your puppy verbally or with a treat as soon as it successfully goes potty outside.
DON'T Punish for Accidents
One of the biggest mistakes new puppy owners make when trying to house-train their dogs is yelling at them or otherwise punishing them when they have accidents in the house. In fact, one of the worst things you can do is to rub a dog's nose in its waste after it's had an accident. Dogs simply aren't capable of understanding what they did wrong after the fact. If you catch your puppy in the act of having an accident, clap or say "no" loudly and immediately take the dog outside.
DO Consider Health Issues
Finally, in the event that your puppy is continuing to have accidents in the house despite your training, it's important to consider the possibility that your puppy could have some kind of health problem that could be causing the accidents. Specifically, urinary tract infections could be causing your puppy to need to go potty more often than normal. If you suspect this or any other health issue, be sure to schedule an appointment at a local veterinary office like Bearss Animal Clinic.
House-training a dog is never a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination, but by keeping these tips in mind, you'll be well on your way to a house-trained dog in no time.
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