What a great thing it is for the family to bring home a new puppy. Everyone wants to enjoy playing with their new puppy. One thing no one seems to like about the puppy though, is his using the house as his potty. Make the whole house training process easier by using the crate training method for house training your new puppy. I used to do it the old fashioned newspaper on the floor way (with predictably “crappy” results).The paper on the floor technique was a sloppy way to go about it, but better than nothing. The dark night I stepped on one of these misses, deviously hidden on the way to the bathroom by my sneaky puppy, was the night I decided to give crate training a try.
You will avoid having the accidents that will inevitably happen with other house training systems. To properly use the crate training system the puppy must stay inside his crate unless someone is paying attention to him (for example during playtime, or feeding he should always be supervised). Murphy’s Law says the moment you take your eyes off your puppy, he’ll pick that moment to go potty in the house.
- When crate training your puppy, try to keep his crate in the room you are spending most of the day in. For example, if you are at home working in your office, keep him in the crate in your office with you. By being close to the puppy you’ll know when it is time to take him out for relief. Except for potty breaks or when you have a couple hours free for a supervised play time you’ll want to keep him in the crate-don’t let him out just because he is bored and whining .
- Your puppy will always need to go potty very shortly after waking up from a nice nap, so be alert for when you hear him wake up and make some noises. Remember, after a puppy eats and drinks, he’ll need to go potty within the next 30 minutes, so don’t return him to his crate till after that occurs.If you always bring him to the same area to relieve himself and reward him for a job well done, you will be positively reinforcing him to go where you want him to learn to go.
- When it is time for the puppy to have a nice break, you can feed him, play with him, and make sure he gets enough exercise and maybe a little early training that he is tired out when he gets back in the crate. If he is tired out, there is a good chance he might sleep the next 2 hours and not have any boredom issues before it is time for the next fun break.
- The key to making the crate training work best for your puppy is to be very consistent with the training. If you aren’t good about keeping him in his crate when unsupervised, accidents are going to happen. Once the smell is in the carpet or on the floor, it will be harder to stop these accidents from reoccurring in the future. Don’t yell or hit your puppy if he does have an accident, as this negative behavior will only serve to intimidate and confuse the puppy. If you do catch him in the act you should firmly say “No” and try to get him to finish outside in his spot if possible. Remember, the potty training should always focus on praise and reward for a good job-using the right spot-but don’t get negative if there is an occasional setback. The better you apply the crate training method the better and quicker results will be and the accidents won’t be a regular feature.
I found the crate training method worked much better than the old newspaper on the floor technique. In fact, it took my latest puppy only about 2 weeks to become house trained. The puppy whined some the first few nights, but because I didn’t feed it or give him much water before bedtime, I knew he was just bored-only let them out for potty breaks at night or they are training you to let them out when they whine. Don’t use the crate as a punishment tool-you want him to view the crate as his safe and comfortable den, and for him to have only a positive attitude bout being in there.
So, if you are about to get or just got a new puppy you will be smart to use this crate training method for house training your new pet. You might want to get a copy of the Ultimate Guide to House Training-that’s the book I used to relearn how to go about house training my puppy. This excellent book gives you a very thorough blueprint on how to overcome the house training hurdles new puppy owners must face(check out my review).The Ultimate House Training Guide Review.
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