Dog Training - Effective Housetraining For The Small Dog
House training small dogs is an easy matter to undertake especially if you understand the canine's natural instincts and tendencies. Once you know this, it is just a matter of taking in the observations you have and using it to do effective house training. Basically, fogs are clean animals. If they can, that's if they are not caged, they will avoid dirtying their sleeping and eating areas. Dogs eventually develop habits of the places where they want to eliminate their wastes and you can use this habit to effectively house train small dogs.
There are two important process in house training small dogs. First is to establish the place where the dog will spend most of her time sleeping, eating and playing. You have to be the one to establish this small confining space as the dog's living area, whether it be in your living room, kitchen or garage. You must make the dog understand and feel that this is her comfort zone so you have to expose her to a lot of activities in this area such as playing and eating. To make it more comfortable for the dog, you can even give her a special bed that she must identify to be truly hers. Take note that at the beginning, your dog may eliminate waste in this area but as soon as she realizes that it is her special place, she will avoid doing so in the future.
Next step in the process is to establish the dog's toilet area. If you want your dog to eliminate in a particular area, then you must be able to accompany her to this area every time she wants to eliminate her wastes. One way to predict how often your dog will eliminate is to have a regular feeding schedule. You also have to make sure that your dog will have access to the place where you want her to eliminate so that in the event that you cannot be there to accompany her, she will go there on her own. Healthy dogs have control over their bladder and bowels for about eight hours. Also remember that you must not confine your dog to her den for so long that she will end up soiling it. This might pose to become a problem in the future as it might be a habit for her already and you will need to put in more efforts of housetraining her.
Once you are confident enough in your dog's abilities, you can now extend her living area into not just that special room, but also the rest of the house, as well. You can start this with your supervision until she gets the hang of the whole thing. House training small dogs is even made more effective if you give your dog praise and reward every time she eliminates in her toilet area. It is also important not to scold your dog for accidents and mistakes as these actions usually confuse the dog and deters the house training process.
Have a great "dog training" day,
Dr. Alfonso
