Home And Gardens Advice

Successfully house training a dog can be a daunting task for the inexperienced yet it really isn’t too difficult with a little planning.

Bringing a dog into a home and getting it accustomed to respecting things like furniture and territory should be part of an overall game plan which you will need to have established well before you introduce it to your house.

House Training Tips

Let’s assume you are starting from scratch with a puppy. Here are a few things you can do to acclimatize your canine to living inside:

1. Puppy proof your home. By this, you will need to make sure certain hazards such as loose and exposed electrical cords are out of harms way. Dogs love to chew and a cord is an inviting prospect to an inquisitive pup.

2. For the dog’s safety and your sanity, pick up and hide any hazardous stuff as well as personal items such as shoes and plants.

3. Young puppies won’t know the difference between spoiling your rugs or carpet from looking for a spot in your yard to do what comes naturally. Rugs in particular are always a target so remove them until such time as the dog is trained!

4. Baby gates are a great way to keep your pup from wandering into areas you don’t want it to. When house training a dog, close off bedrooms or rooms in the house you don’t want it to wander into.

5. Dogs can be overcome by boredom and one way to keep them occupied is to provide them with plenty of toys. They love to chew and rather than them chewing on your shoes, provide them with toys such as rubber balls and rubber bones. Also, rotate them regularly so boredom doesn’t also set in with particular toys.

6. You need to establish some solid ground rules. For example, will you let the dog climb on your furniture or bed? Where will it sleep? Where will it eat? You’re the boss and house training a dog begins with setting strong ground rules early and sticking to them.

7. Dogs will quickly establish a favorite spot in the house. You need to assess whether this will suit you. A dog’s bed is usually a sign for the animal that this is it’s own area. Before bringing your pup into the house, you decide where it’s most appropriate for the dog to spend most of it’s time. One way of doing is is by laying it’s bed down in the area of your choice. Then there’s no arguments.

Don’t forget to add obedience training to it’s curriculum. When the pup is at an age where obedience training will be beneficial, make plans to enroll it in school. Obedience training is an important part of successfully house training a dog.