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Myth #6 - "Rub a dog's nose in its 'business' to housetrain it!"

That only makes your dog afraid of you.

Instead of learning to potty outdoors, it will find hidden places to go in the house and avoid relieving itself in front of you, even outdoors.

Punishment is often overly harsh and used incorrectly. The best way to train any animal is to reward the appropriate behavior.

To successfully housetrain a dog, always take it out on leash so that when it potties outside, you will be right there to reward it with a treat, praise, a favorite toy or playtime afterward.

Crate training for the first two years also helps to stop any accidents while you are out or at work. Some say that it's mean, but the dogs think of the crate as their den and a safe place to sleep while you are not there.

It also helps to cut down on the chewing damage during the puppy brain years!

paws paws paws

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.

Posted by Lara O'Keefe (Hunter's Creek, Melissa) on 03/29/2009 01:40 PM

Comments (6)

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6 Comments on Myth #6 - "Rub a dog's nose in its 'business' to housetrain it!"

MAR

Lara, excellent advice. People are still promoting the rub their nose in it training technique. As you said it just makes the dog afraid. I personnally don't like the use of crates. Too many people put their dog in the crate at 8am and it stays there till 6pm. I find that cruel. I used to babygate pups in the bathroom or kitchen, lots of room to play, not too much room to make a mess.

Hello Lara,

Great advice on housing training a puppy. I also agree with Terry about crate training. Love the photo of the beagle pup - so cute! Thank you for your post.

Rita

Great post! I agree with you Lara. It is the human who needs to be trained! If you give your dog food or water, they will digest, based on their size, in the same time frame nearly every time. For little dogs, as soon as 10 minutes. Take them out when they should need to go and don't come back in until its done! Reward them for icing on the cake and it won't take long before they connect the dots. I love the picture too by the way!!

Terry - I agree that they should never be in there for that long. The baby gates may offer a good solution. Just make sure that there is nothing in the cabinets that could make them sick. Also cover the corners with Bitter Apple. My puppy ate a shark bite sized hole out of our wall!

Rita - I just love that picture too!

Sara - it is amazingly simple like you said to house train. We just have to be smarter than them!

MAR

Lara, my first dog ate some drywall and got really really sick. We can do all we can, but they have their ways of getting into trouble eh?

APR

Terry, there is no avoiding some kind of trouble until they pass 2 years old! They have to grow out of the puppy brain!

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