Crate Training Dogs and Puppies and House Training Are The Most Basic (and important) Lessons to Teach Your New Dog

Crate Training Dogs and Puppies or House Training? Both are challenging tasks, but rewarding. Because it is essential you get these basics under control. Have you already purchased or adopted a puppy? Have you adopted an older dog that is not house trained? If so, here are some pointers:

One of the reason WHY dogs make such great pets, is that we can train them to do their business outside.

Crate Training Dogs and Puppies has become a "standard" method of training, today. Most people try crate training as a supplement to house training. It's a good idea. But please, remember, a crate is not a prison. Dogs should not be in their crate for more than 4 hours at a time, except for sleeping at night. Away from home during the day? If possible, seek help from a friend, family member or hire a professional dog walker. Your dog may need to be relieve itself at every 4 hours. Some dogs can hold it a little longer. Puppies may need to go outside every two hours.

House Training begins with putting your dog on a schedule. Immediately after eating or drinking, take the dog outside, and the very second the dog begins to do its business, give it lots and lots of praise. Good dog! What a smart doggie! Give lots of praise and pets. You may also want to give the dog a treat. Some people say, "Make potty" or other such words, to begin training the dog to go on-command.

Always keep an eye on your dog. If she begins doing her business in the house, interupt her and take her immediately outside. Verbally correct her, but don't frighten her.

Puppies will have accidents. So will adult dogs, especially if they are ill. Do not punish, hit or verbally abuse the dog when it has accidents, and never rub its nose in the accident, as an attempt to shame it.

We have 4 dogs, and only one was successfully crate trained, a golden retriever. The pug was hard to house train, it took her much longer to "get it" than the others.

The best advice about crates is that it should be large enough for the dog to stand up and turn around in. Too large, and the dog may decide to soil a corner of the crate on a regular basis.

My Pug wouldn't take to the crate. It was a perfect crate, the right size, clean, and had a nice soft mat. Despite all that I did right, she urinated and pooped in the crate without regard to any of the "standard advice" about crate training. She just didn't get it, and instead she was happier being "confined" to a small area of the room.

If you confine your dog to a small area, allow room for sleeping and playing. Some people, if they are going to be away for prolonged periods, create a place where the dog can eliminate, such as a corner of the confined area, or a "sod box". Pet suppliers sell "sod boxes" or you can make one using a kitty litter tray. Place rags with the dog's urine smell inside, and the dog will get the idea that this is the place to go.

City dwellers and high rise apartment dwellers that cannot easily or safely go out at night for walks, may effectively train their small dogs to go potty outside on the deck or balcony, or inside on a towel in the bathroom.

I lived in the city when my adorable Pembroke Corgi was a puppy, and I tried a "doggy litter". It was a good looking device, (similar to a kitty litter), but the puppy thought the pellets were playthings. Instead of doing potty, she played with the litter and ate it. So I trained her to use a mat on the balcony, and this was convenient for us both.

Once your dog "gets it", and your dog is past the puppy stage, regulate its eating and drinking schedule. Our four dogs eat twice a day (I know that once a day is enough, but I enjoy the twice a day feeding). Water is placed for the dogs to drink before their afternoon dog walker comes at lunch time. The dogs can also drink water during the afternoon until someone gets home at dinnertime. Water is strictly restricted after 7 PM.

The type of dog food you offer is important. Puppies usually continue with the same diet as given by the breeder. If you are on your own about this decision, select a high quality puppy food, and if the dog tolerates it well, most owners stay with the same brand into adulthood.

Many dogs' digestion systems are touchy, and even changing brands or mixtures within the same brand, can cause changes to the dog's stool.

There are so many dog foods on the market - it may be hard to decide what's best. Talk to your Vet, a trainer, dog walker or even other dog owners. Dog lovers are happy to share their experiences and will give you advice.

How about when you dog has accidents in the house? Clean the area thoroughly and treat the area with an odor-removing product like, "Nature's Miracle". Dogs prefer to return to the scene of the crime, and may even attempt to define their own territory, such as behind the sofa, as their potty.

Bottom-line: Watch your dog. Confine your dog. Get your dog on a feeding and potty schedule.

Many people who work should not get a puppy, because it will be almost impossible, without lots of hired help, to successfully train the puppy into adulthood. Consider one of the many adult dogs needing adoption. Animal shelters will give you lots of advice about matching an adult dog to your needs.

Dogs are highly adaptable and intelligent, and they want to please you. How easy will it be to train your dog? It depends upon many variables including the dog's age, the dog's breed, feeding schedules, and access to being walked and watched.

My Dogs Wouldn't Crate Train

The Corgi cried and barked incessantly.

The Pug peed and soiled her crate, even though it is said that dogs will not do this. This problem was so bad, that I had to bathe the poor baby pug when I got home from work, and she was literally covered from head to toes in the stinky yucky stuff. (And she would be howling in her crate). This happened even if she was left in the crate only for a couple of hours.

We also crate trained a golden retriever, and she thought the crate was wonderful. She had no problems adjusting, and she did, like the books say, regard her crate as her den.