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Puppy House Training Tips

One of the biggest problems people have with their dogs is house training. Because it’s a question asked a lot of me, here are several factors to consider when thinking about house training. They are: Praise, Routine, Behavior Watching, the “Don’t Pee Where You Sleep” factor, and Marking.

First, Praise. Especially when your dog is new, you have to lots of praise when you take your dog out to pee. Your dog needs to associate “outside” “pee” and “good” –yelling, scolding, etc. can work against you.

Second, Routine. Dogs LOVE routine. It keeps them in balance, they know what’s going on, and they don’t have to be worried or confused. If they already make the association that “it’s good to pee outside,” and they know they’re going on a walk soon, they won’t pee inside!

Third, Behavior Watching. When training your dog, look for behaviors like circling, sniffing, or sneezing. Gizmo would sneeze a LOT right before he would try to go inside. When we caught him doing that, we’d watch him, and direct him to the appropriate place. If you’re good at watching behavior, you get a lot more chances to correct behavior in-progress, and you won’t be tempted to scold.

Fourth is the “Don’t pee where you sleep” factor. Dogs don’t like to pee where they sleep, generally. So, one useful technique is to put a dog in a small area, like a small crate, and slowly give them access to larger and larger areas. You want them to end up gradually feeling like your house is their house. What you DON’T want them to do is to think a certain room is *their* “outside” that it’s ok to “go” in.

Fifth, Marking. Dogs, especially unneutered males, will mark their areas. If they’re peeing in small amounts, on vertical surfaces like curtains, sides of sofas, etc, then it could be that your dog is marking its territory instead of relieving itself. If this is the case, you need to consider neutering your dog. You can also clean the area very well with non ammonia-based or vinegar-based cleaners. Those smell like pee! That’s what you don’t want. You can move furniture around or feed your dog near the problem area. You want your dog to think of that spot as “his” — not something he has to protect and claim by marking.

If you need more tips, I got several of these from The Ultimate House Training Guide. Good Luck!


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Help! Pug Chases Cars!

Kathy just posted in the forums about her pug Lexi who chases cars.

She says:

The [dog] park is surrounded on 3 sides with streets. Everytime a car goes down any of the streets she goes absolutely crazy. She runs in circles, too quickly gets to the end of her 14-foot leash and gets all stressed out. I am afraid that she will snap the leash or somehow get away from me and be injured or killed. I do not know what to do to correct this behavior. I have tried making her sit and watch the car, I have tried treats when she does not go crazy. Neither one worked.

When we lived in Florida Lexi had this same behavior; however, she was in a fenced yard so I just looked at it as a chance for her to excercise. We lived on a curve and she would actually run fast enough to get from one side of the backyard to the other before the car made it to the other side of the house.

When we moved up here I am very pleased (until 3-4 days ago) that she did not have the same behavior. Well, that is not the case now.

I NEED HELP BEFORE SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS TO MY BABY.

If you have any advice, please visit the forums!