Housebreaking Exercise

In all my years of living with dogs and training them, I have never made such interesting observations before in connection with dogs watching a television screen. Such things are fascinating, aren't they? I hope that you, my readers, will also enjoy such fascinating times as you watch your own dog's reactions to things like these from day to day.

Although the dog's number one sense is his sense of smell and his second sense is that of hearing, his third sense, sight, is most interesting to study. So watch your dogs use their eyesight, and read all you can on the subject. There's so much to learn.

Apart from showing your new pet both the inside and outside of your home, the most important thing is to begin housebreaking. This is quite simple if you go about it the right way. First of all, restrict your puppy to one or two rooms of the house so that you can keep a watchful eye on him. Don't let him have the complete run of the house, otherwise he might go to the toilet in various rooms without you knowing it until much later. Not only will you be kept quite busy cleaning up the mess, but it will become a dirty habit if he is allowed to do it in the wrong places. So you will need to take him outside regularly to a certain place in your backyard, either by carrying him or leading him there on a leash, and encourage him to go to the toilet by first using words like "Get busy" several times. As soon as he has finished, show how pleased you are by saying, "Good dog! Very good! Oh, you are a clever dog!" Note carefully that the praise should be given as soon as he has finished and starts to walk away. It is not advisable to praise him during the time that he is relieving himself. If you say, "Good dog!" when he is perhaps halfway through, he may suddenly leave off going to the toilet and come over to you, wagging his tail as if to say, "Am I really a good dog?" In so doing this, he might still have half a bladder full! So when he starts to relieve himself and continues, just keep saying slowly and quietly, "Busy! Busy!" as many times as is necessary until you actually see him cease to do anymore and walk away. Then you can praise him feeling fairly sure that he has emptied himself completely. Beneful dog food coupons can work very well here...  Here's a good place to get them. Then bring him inside again. In quite a short time your dog will understand why you have taken him outside. And later, if you watch carefully, you will see him go to the back door. This is his way of telling you that he wants to go outside to do his business.

Naturally you can expect to have a few accidents in the home, very often on the carpet! If you catch your dog in the act, say "No!" and take him outside immediately and stay with him until he has finished outside. If you have discovered the accident some time after, it is too late to correct your puppy. Just clean it up thoroughly and watch the dog more closely in the future. Never scold the puppy by rubbing his nose in the mess. You will do more harm than good by treating your puppy in that way. Such treatment is likely to make the dog worried, and he will probably make more messes.