Potty Training

We offer some training:

Some minimal training is available on certain puppies that are at LEAST 10 weeks of age or older. Training will consist of crate training, "quiet" in the crate, basic leash training, potty outside on a leash/ on command,  sit and sometimes fetch it the puppy has the natural desire to do so, plus limited house and sometimes doggy door training. Rates are $150 per week. Still please keep in mind that many young puppies still do have short attention spans and will still be "kids" even after training has been started. YOU will need to continue your puppies training as soon as it gets home. 

#1) DO

Please see Cesar Millans training videos before purchasing any dog. You need a realistic view of what dogs really need. "The Puppy Whisperer" Book and the "Dog Whisperer" book are NOT BY CESAR MILLAN nor are they the same as the Dog Whisperer TV eposodes by Cesar Millan 

#2) DO

Keep your puppy on Purina Puppy Chow for at least 2 weeks after getting your puppy. Puppies battle various parasites and stresses. Changing their diet WILL cause diarhea that will further stress out their immune system, can lead to a secondary infection in the intestinal tract if coccidia is present, can cause puppies to go off of food because they are used to a certain type. When you decide to change AT LEAST 2 WEEKS later, gradually add the other food in until you are left feeding only 100% the desired food.

#3) DO NOT

Limit your puppies food!!!!! Limiting a puppies food will cause long term phsychological issues for your puppy/dog. This causes your puppy to always be hungry, never full. A hungry puppy is more likely to eat faster, eat more, over eat, become a lifetime glutton, protect or guard its food for fear that it won't have enough, be more edgy throughout the day......can get aggressive. DO NOT LIMIT your puppies food! If you have an adult dog that is well trained and it eats out of boredom.......TAKE IT FOR A WALK!!!!! Dogs should not have to "worry" about when or where their next meal is comming from.

Okay, about potty training.......

First off let me start by saying that I am not an expert by any means on any thing. I seldom go by "the books" but rather tend to "watch and learn" I tend to watch what the dogs, kids, cats, husbands, friends, horses, neighbors.......(and the list goes on) do and get to understand behavior patterns. This "watching" helps me to understand things better and helps "me" to deal with them as individuals. I am not perfect and do not claim to know it all. Therefore........if you disagree with me in any way.....that is fine. I don't really need to hear about it in a rude way. :o)

Now, remember I do not read "the books" so that has been thrown out. They may or may not agree with my personal approach. I believe that most potty training issues are from "human error". Please do not blame the dog for your failure to train.

#1) Do not let the dog potty on the carpet!!!!! Do EVERYTHING nessesary to prevent this! When pet urine gets into the carpet it stays. No matter how well you clean it........the pet may continue to use it as a toilet. Then the house will smell terrible and ultimately the carpet will need replaced. Hopefully by that time the dog is fully potty trained. If not........here we go again. This is not the dogs fault. It is your fault for allowing it to start in the first place.

#2) Puppies begin to develop an "instinct" to not potty in their bed somewhere between 4-10 weeks of age. This is different for each puppy but it is a general guideline. If you plan to crate train a puppy before it has developed this instinct you "may" begin forcing it to potty in its bed. A puppy that is too young to start this crate training or that is left in the crate for too long will regress back into going potty in its bed. You want to avoid this or you have to go back to square one and retrain.

#3) When getting a puppy that is less than 12 weeks of age, consider this........get a house crate that is approx 36" X 24" You can use a wooden box, pen, crate ect. Whatever works for you. Anyhow, make 50% of the puppies area "litter box" (Yesterdays news pelleted cat litter works GREAT as puppies typically don't eat it, it has little dust and is not too messy) On the other side you can place a food and water dish and a rug or blanket. If a puppy potties on the food side....clean it up. You may put his stools in the "litter" to let them know "where to go". You may see this as a waste of time or think it is teaching them to use a litter box. However I see it as reinforcing and building that natural instinct to not potty in the bed, also to not frustrate new pet owners by having a teenie baby couped up for long hours in a crate to prevent accidents in the home. This is done only while waiting until that perfect time that the puppy can hold it for 6-10 hours in a crate and chooses to do so. This is a low pressure, low stress way to keep the owner happy (only changing a litter box for a couple of weeks) and not stressing out a puppy that isn't quite ready to hold it. All the while working with those "natural instincts" and encouraging them.

#4) When you are ready to move the puppy to the training crate it should be not much larger then the size of the puppy. This will prevent (only if your puppy is ready) your puppy from messing the crate at one end and sleeping at the other.

#5) Okay, now your puppy will likely be ready to hold it for 6-10 hours. This means you can still likely get some sleep at night. :o) The best way to start crate training is at night. Say you are going to bed at 10:00 p.m. place the puppy in the crate by your bed (so you can hear him if he has to potty) It is a good idea to practice putting him in a crate during the day for 15-30 minutes at a time as many puppies will bark LOUDLY in a crate. Simply slap the top of the crate and say "no" do this over and over until the puppy stops. When he stops......you stop. When he does it again, you slap the top of the crate again. This will take a few times to master it so I would recommend doing this before "official" potty/crate training.

Okay, so you are all going to bed now.......when the puppy wakes up and whines or barks (hopefully at least 6 hours have gone by if you have already trained him to the crate) you get up.........take the puppy from the crate.....do NOT put the puppy on the floor! Carry the puppy outside to potty. All the while saying "go potty outside" Pet the puppy while saying "go potty outside" if you catch the puppy in the "act" thus establishing a link between the "command" and the "act".

As soon as the puppy is finished, bring him back in. You may walk him on a leash through the house now if you would like. Put him back in the crate if it is not time to get up and if it is time to get up........let the puppy play in the house (NOT on the CARPET) for about 20-30 minutes. Then it is time to play outside, be penned up or crated again. "I" prefer the "pen" so the puppy isn't in a teenie crate all the time. After awhile.....put the puppy in the crate again for 2-5 hours. You want to be sure he has to potty when you let him out of the crate so you can establish that verbal command with the act link. Try to never have an accident in the house but be SURE not to let a puppy on the carpet ever.

Good luck to you!

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