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Northern Virginia Based Dog Trainer Sets Second World Record

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Northern Virginia Dog World Record Holder


Celebrity dog trainer in Northern Virginia, Nicholas White, who is the owner of globally recognized dog training business, Off Leash K9 Training, set his second world record for the most off leash commands performed in just 5 days of training; during his private 5-day training program in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns, White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns – setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days, according to the World Record Academy. During his private 5-day training program in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns, Celebrity dog trainer Nicholas White White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns - setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days.

  Photo: During his private 5-day training program in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns, Celebrity dog trainer Nicholas White White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns – setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days. (enlarge photo)



Celebrity dog trainer, Nicholas White, who is the owner of globally recognized dog training business, Off Leash K9 Training, set his second world record for the most off leash commands performed in just 5 days of training.

During his private training in Baton Rouge, LA with Belgian Malinois Molly and her owner Paul Burns; during White’s 5-day training program, White spent over 40 hours working with Molly and Burns – setting a new world record for 14 commands outside and off leash in just 5 days.

All commands listed below:
1. Come
2. Sit
3. Down
4. Focused Heeling
5. Place
6. Send Away
7.Down From A Distance
8. Watch
9. Stand
10. Heel Command (going to left leg on command)     11.Through Command (going between legs)
12. Touch
13. Sit In Motion
14. Down In Motion

With Molly being a high drive and high energy Malinois, White said that teaching her the “watch” command was the most difficult command to teach her. “Watch” requires a lot of attention and focus from a dog, which is more difficult for high energy dogs.

“Molly was afraid of loud noises, so we spent a lot of time working with her to get her over her fear of fireworks and loud noises.”

On the Net: 
Off-Leash K9 Training’s website

Off-Leash K9 Training’s Facebook page

“The average dog would take weeks or more to be able to master 14 commands outside, off leash, with distractions. An amazing training system; combined with consistency, time, reinforcement, and a highly intelligent dog, Molly was able to master these in only 5 days.

Molly’s owner, Paul Burns, said, “I truly cannot believe everything Molly has mastered in such a short amount of time.”

My Dog Hates Having His Nails Cut or Collar Touched

Confidence Building in Dogs, Dog Training General, Puppy Training,

Dog hates nails cut northern virginiaOn a daily basis we hear stories about dogs who hate having their feet touched or their nails cut, this is generally due to the owners or breeders not doing “body desensitization” with their pups at a young age.

If you have a new pup, it’s highly important for you to do body desensitization drills with this pup starting as soon as you get him/her (8-weeks old).

There are 11 key “target” points that you need to focus on:
1-2: Left Ear and Right Ear
3: Muzzle (open the mouth, check teeth, grab muzzle, etc)
4-7: All 4 paws and nails
8: Neck (collar area)
9: Tail
10. Hugging the dog
11. Brushing the dog

We have dealt with a ridiculous amount of dogs who are collar and feet sensitive and reactive; seemingly, these are the two biggest areas where we have seen this issue. In THIS VIDEO, you will see a 6-year old Basset Hound who I just finished giving a private seminar for who was very “feet aggressive.” These owners were not at fault for this, due to the fact that they rescued the dog at a later age; however, whoever the breeder was (or original owners) are generally responsible for this behavior.

I would say on a weekly basis at our dog training facility in Northern Virginia, we deal with at least 1 dog who is collar reactive; meaning, it is a dog who is friendly but will react negatively if his collar is touched or handled. The main reason that these target points can be an issue is that a child (or stranger) who sees that your dog is “friendly” will not know that these specific areas “set them off.” If this happens, you may be left with an “unexpected bite,” I would HIGHLY recommend clicking that link and reading my blog on how dogs almost never bite “unexpectedly.”

So, what’s the solution to prevent this?

It’s so ridiculously simple to prevent, that it annoys me that dogs become reactive! When you get your puppy, immediately begin doing these 11 key things above on a DAILY basis (and even multiple times per day).

This is how it should break down for you and your pup:
Touch and hold the left paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the right paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the back left paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the back right paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the left ear, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the right ear, praise or treat.
Stroke the tail, praise or treat.
Rub around the collar area, praise or treat.
Rub around the muzzle area, praise or treat.
Hug and hold the dog for a few seconds, praise or treat.
Give the dog a light brushing, praise or treat.

If you did this simple drill on a daily basis, not only will your dog NOT become reactive but they will LOVE you doing these things! Why? Because your dog has associated you touching these areas with a reward and/or verbal praise (or even both).

This routine LITERALLY takes about 20-30 seconds to complete; therefore, there are really no excuses as to why you should not be doing this with your pup. Simple things such as these when combined with picking the right dog, socialization, and confidence building, will help ensure that you have a stable and confident pup.

If you do these 11 things with your pup: your vet, your groomer, and everyone who meets your dog will love you for it.

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-Nick White
Owner/Founder
Off Leash K9 Training

Puppy Training Tips in Northern Virginia

Puppy Training,

Sweet-puppy-with-bunny-puppies-14749075-1600-1200

Below are some of the puppy training tips we give at our facility in Northern Virginia on a daily basis.

We were just nominated “Best Dog Trainer” and “Best Puppy Trainer” by Northern Virginia Magazine for 2014.

General Dog Training Tips

1. Pick Wisely When Selecting Your Future Pup

Whether selecting your prospective pup from an expert breeder or from a family reproducing a litter for the first time, the criteria are the same. Search for puppies raised inside with a lot of human socialization and particularly around individuals who have had experience in puppies’ training.

2. Problems in the Future Result from Early Problems that Were Not Corrected

Barking, digging, and running away are all common issues of pre-adult pups which have been assigned to a life of restriction and being left attended in the yard (boredom). Housetrain your pooch, give him a job to do, and afterward you may leave him to run freely inside. Remember, a bored dog is a destructive dog.

4. The Clock to Train Your Puppy Starts from Day 1

When your puppy returns, the clock is running. Inside only three months, your puppy will need to meet six urgent developmental due dates. On the off chance that your puppy neglects to meet any of these due dates, he is unrealistic to attain his true ability. As far as your canine’s conduct and disposition, you will most likely be playing get up to speed for whatever remains of your pooch’s life. Most critical of all, you basically can’t stand to disregard the socialization and bite inhibition, both of these are vital for having a well-rounded dog.

Pooch Training Development Tips

There are six vital developmental due dates that you need to remember

1. Your Doggy Education (before seeking)

When you search for your ideal puppy, you have to comprehend what kind of canine you are actually searching for, where to get it, and when to get it. You can read about this in my blog, “Picking the Perfect Dog.”

2. Assessing Puppy’s Progress (before choice)

When you select your puppy (normally at eight weeks of age), you have to know how to select a great breeder and how to select a great puppy from that breeder. Particularly, you have to know how to evaluate your puppy’s behavior properly. By eight weeks of age, your puppy should be used to being inside the home (of the breeder), exposed to different types of commotions; your puppy should have been handled by a wide variety of people: particularly men, kids, women, different races, and strangers; your puppy’s housetraining and ought to be underway; and your puppy ought to as of recently have a simple understanding of basic conduct and manners.

3. Errorless Housetraining (before homecoming)

You have to guarantee that an errorless housetraining and chewtoy-preparing system is initiated the very first day your puppy gets back to your home. This is so critical throughout the first few weeks, when puppies naturally take in great or negative behavior patterns that set the point of reference for weeks, months, and off and on again years to come. You can read our blog on “House Breaking”

4. Socialization with People (by 12 weeks of age)

The Critical Period of Socialization finishes by three months of age! This is the pivotal developmental stage throughout which puppies figure out how to acknowledge and interact with different dogs and individuals. As a dependable guideline, your puppy needs to have met at any rate a hundred distinctive individuals before he is 16 weeks old. Your goal should be to get your pup to encounter as many different races, sizes, and ages of people as possible.

5. Bite Inhibition (by 18 weeks of age)

Bite restraint is the absolute most paramount lesson a pooch must take in. Grown-up puppies have teeth and jaws that can damage. All creatures must figure out how to restrain utilization of their weapons against their own particular kind, however pups must figure out how to be delicate with all creatures, particularly individuals. Household canines must figure out how to restrain their gnawing to all creatures, particularly to different pooches and individuals. The limited time window for creating a “delicate mouth” starts when they are born (playing with other litter mates) and it continues through about 9-months old.

6. Avoiding Adolescent Problems (by five months)

To guarantee that your balanced and decently educated puppy remains a courteous, overall well-mannered, and friendly pooch all around adulthood, your canine needs to meet new individuals and new puppies all the time. As such, your pooch needs to be taken to new places and continuously meeting new dogs and people. Your puppy may be taken for rides in the auto and to visit companions’ houses as routinely as you like.

In the event that you recently have a puppy and feel that you are behind, don’t lay down and surrender. You must recognize this and know that you are well behind and that your puppy’s socialization and training are presently a critical hurdle you must begin to jump. Promptly try your hardest to get up to speed. Call our dog training facility in Northern Virginia for help.

You can see over 550+ before/after videos of dogs we have trained, many of which are pups that are 5-months old. Do not let young age be an excuse for your pup’s horrible behavior and/or manners.

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How To Prevent Submissive Or Excited Urination

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We always get questions about owners’ dogs submissively or excitedly urinating during our puppy training classes in Northern Virginia.

What we hear all of the time is, “My puppy does this anytime my husband comes in the room, I swear he has never hit him or did anything to him.” People automatically assume that this is a fear-based response, this is simply not true.

First we will discuss why submissive urination occurs, and what you can do to start fixing or addressing this issue. This generally occurs in puppies, as you all know, dogs are pack animals (read blog on Pack Leadership), and a new puppy generally is viewed as the lowest member of the pack. So, some puppies show their submissiveness to who they view as the higher member of the pack by rolling over onto their backs or submissively urinating. So, don’t be alarmed and automatically assume that it has anything to do with your puppy being afraid of your or fearful of you.

Some of the things that can trigger submissive urination are:
-Scolding a puppy loudly
-A loud noise
-Using body language that intimidates your puppy
-Sometimes, the higher pack member simply walking into the room can trigger this, as well

Generally, this is something that your puppy will outgrow by the age of one. However, there are many things you can start doing with your puppy in order to prevent this sooner:
–Confidence Building and Noise Desensitization Drills
-Obedience Training
-Socialization

When submissive urination occurs, try not to scold your puppy for this behavior, this can just increase the problem.

All of those things will help you in having a highly confident, happy, and well adjusted dog that can quickly get you over the submissive urination phase.

The next thing is excited urination, which can both be one in the same; however, a dog can show excited urination without showing submissive urination (and vice verse).

Excited urination is generally an automatic response that younger dogs will give when uncontrollable excitement occurs in the puppy.

Some of the triggers for excited urination can be:
-Owner comes home from being gone for an extended period of time

-New person comes over to the house

-When the puppy is highly excited, someone starts petting or touching them

Just like submissive urination, many of the solutions to addressing the issue are the same.
–Confidence Building and Noise Desensitization Drills
-Socialization
–Obedience training is important for this, what we like to do at our dog training facility in Northern Virginia is put the excited dog into a sit command and then we will pet them. If they jump up from the sit, we will immediately pull our hand away, put them back in the sit, and then praise. Generally, a dog will not urinate in a sit position, so this is a way we use obedience to control the behavior. Additionally, I would recommend not touching the dog until you have visually seen him/her calm down. If you pet them when they run up excitedly, chances are, they will urinate.

If you stick to these rules in dealing with your dog’s submissive or excited urination, you should see a drastic change in a short amount of time.

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At What Age Should I Start Training My Puppy (Dog) -Northern Virginia

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At our dog training facility in Northern Virginia, we do a puppy training/consultation program as early as 8-10 weeks old. However, we really do not put too much focus on “obedience” per se at that age, we focus on things that we consider more important for puppy development; such as, bonding, socialization, pack leadership, crate training, confidence building such as object desensitization and noise desensitization , and if you have a dog who interested, properly playing tug with your puppy.

In my experience, when you have a puppy who is not yet old enough to enroll him/her in a formal obedience training program, those things I listed above should be your focus! As I say all of the time, I would much rather take in a 6-month old dog who is highly confident and well socialized than I would a 6-month old dog who is skittish and low confidence but knows 25 commands. As you will see in our before and after videos on Youtube, we can take a dog who knows absolutely nothing and give them amazing obedience in a very short time. However, fixing aggression, low confidence, skittishness, etc can take much more time. So, with your puppy, focus on the fundamentals and the actual obedience portion is the easiest part.

With a puppy, everything should be fun, positive, and motivating! There should be little to no corrective based training, at all. You should always end your training sessions leaving your puppy wanting more; meaning, you should never keep pushing your puppy until they lose interest in whatever you are trying to accomplish with them, always stop when they are still wanting more. This is a simple technique we use in order to build motivation and drive with your puppy.

Once you have all the developed all of foundational-based training with your puppy that were mentioned above, it’s time to bring them into a formal obedience training program. At Off-Leash K9 Training, we do not start our dog obedience training programs in Northern Virginia until the dogs are least 5-months old.

By the age of 6-months, you are left with a well socialized, highly confident, motivated, driven, problem-free, and well-trained dog that you can enjoy for the rest of your life!

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What Are The Best Dog Training Methods – Northern Virginia

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Many people have tried many different tricks and techniques with their dogs and they still wonder, “What is the best dog training method for training my dog?”

There are several training methods that can be used to train your dog. One of the most common and popular methods is reward-based or treat-based training. This training involves finding something that your dog really likes (ball, hot dogs, treats, tug) and using that as an incentive to get the dog to perform the desired command. The marker and treat training we discussed in the previous chapter is based on this method.

The pro to using this system with a dog who already knows the commands is that you have a dog who is very motivated for the reward. Therefore, they are voluntarily complying with your verbal commands in order to obtain the reward. The benefit of using this method to teach a dog a new command is he is very motivated, focused, and eager to please in order to obtain the reward. Often when using a food reward, the dog will be eager to continue training and learning for long periods of time. Look at it as giving a small kid one small piece of candy at a time every time he or she does something good. It is not enough to get full, but it is enough to make them want more. Another major pro to this system is that anyone can do it with no special knowledge or devices needed. Simply watch a video, grab a pack of hot dogs, and you are all set. That is why this is the most common method of training—any amateur can use this method to train a dog.

Anyone who has used this method for training can tell you that despite its numerous benefits, there are also several problems with it, as well. One of the main complaints with reward-based training is reliability. Remember, this system is based on the dog complying because he wants to get the reward. However, there will come a time when your dog does not want the reward or he is distracted by something more interesting than the reward. At that point, you have lost all obedience because your dog is no longer enticed to perform for the reward. As an example, if you are outside, off-leash with your dog and he spots a squirrel, a bird, or another dog, it will be much more interesting than the treat in your hand. When he is faced with a decision to go for the treat or take off after the squirrel, almost always the “prey” object will win. He will take off running to get the better reward and return when he loses interest in the item that initially distracted him.

The other problem with this system is that there is no consequence for disobedience, meaning, when your dog takes off down the road and will not come back, there is not much you can do in order to give him a consequence for bad behavior. Imagine training a child solely based on positive reinforcement; you get a treat if you do well, you don’t get a treat if you misbehave. The child would disobey fairly regularly. Your dog will do the same.

However, reward-based training is fun for you and your dog and it is a cheap, easy, and fast way to start teaching your dog a wide variety of commands with almost no expenses or specialized experience needed. You will be able to teach your dog commands and get decent results with obedience, but you will never have an amazingly obedient dog with this system.

Another popular training method is the prong collar. The prong collar is lined with metal prongs along the interior of the collar. The prong collar is designed to replicate the way the mother would correct her pups in a litter. Or how the alpha-male dog in a pack would correct lower-ranking members of the pack, which is giving a quick nip on the neck. When your dog does not comply with a command, give a quick jerk on the prong collar. Increase intensity of the jerk until your dog complies.

The pro to the prong collar is it is more reliable for obedience than the reward-based system. Using the prong collar, you can still use the reward-based system to motivate the dog, however, now you can use the prong collar to give an instant correction when the dog doesn’t listen with the reward-based system. A scenario would be if you had your dog’s favorite ball and you tell him to sit. If he doesn’t, you give a quick jerk on the prong collar and repeat the command. The prong collar gives him a less than pleasurable feeling and he complies with the command. If he does not comply with the command, increase the intensity of the jerk on the prong collar and repeat the command. This is done until the dog complies. Once he does, give the reward. The dog quickly learns, “If he says sit, I have to do it, so I might as well just do it the first time and get the reward.”

In my opinion, there are a few flaws with using the prong collar. One of the biggest is consistency of the correction given, meaning, is your dog being corrected at the same level of correction each day? If you correct your dog with the prong collar, is your correction (jerking on the prong collar) harder or gentler than when your wife corrects your dog with it? Or, when you corrected your dog when he really started to get under your skin, did you correct him much harder than you did yesterday for doing the exact same thing? When it comes to training, there has to be consistency in order for the dog’s learning to be maximized.

The second major problem with the prong collar is when your dog is off-leash and away from you. If he is 100 yards away and you call him to come and he doesn’t, what do you do? Now, you are back to the same problem you had with the reward-based training—off-leash reliability. Even with the prong collar, neither an instant correction nor a consequence can be given once he is out of your reach.

Overall, prong-collar training is safe, cheap, effective, and very humane when done properly. It is much more effective and reliable than reward-based training, however, it still has a couple of shortfalls.

My preferred method for training dogs is the electronic collar (e-collar). The e-collar comes with a remote control that the owner carries. It is based on almost the same premise as that of the prong collar. It gives a subtle stimulation to the dog’s neck area that can be increased in intensity until the dog complies with the command. Modern e-collars are very safe, reliable, and effective when used properly. In fact, almost all police, military, and personal protection dogs are now trained using the e-collar. When using the e-collar, we also use reward-based training for the dog, generally in the form of a toy or praise.

The e-collar has numerous levels of stimulation so its use can be tailored to a specific dogs’ temperament and the level of distraction encountered. When the e-collar is used properly, the dog does not view it as a punishment, but views it as a training tool, much like a leash. More important, they actually grow to love it because they associate the e-collar with going outside, off-leash, and having fun. Where other training systems fall short, the e-collar picks up. The range of e-collars vary from 400 yards to two miles. With this system, if your dog is off-leash and you call him to come and he does not, you still can give an instant correction that increases in intensity until he complies with the command.

The e-collar is safe, very effective, and humane when properly used. The shortfalls of the e-collar is that they are much more costly than the other training methods; an average e-collar costs around $200. It is highly recommended that you seek a professional trainer before utilizing this training device. The e-collar can make a disobedient dog perform with amazing precision in a very short time, however, in untrained hands it can completely ruin a dog.

Overall, when choosing a training method for your dog, decide what is most important to you—cost, functionality, or reliability. Whatever method you choose, keep in mind that practice, patience, and consistency are important to achieve great results using any method.

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How Do I Train My New Puppy – Northern Virginia

Puppy Training, , , , , ,

 

Bringing home a new puppy is like Christmas every morning, until you realize that you need to house train your puppy. You know, those mornings when you wake up to a mess in your floor. Many people wonder, “How do I train my new puppy?” House training a new puppy can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Between getting up at night to take them potty, to learning proper ways to teach them how to potty outside, and not in the house, it can become overwhelming for new owners. At our puppy training classes in Northern Virginia, we do a puppy consultation to help get you and your dogs on the right path.  Here are some helpful hints to ease the transition from new puppy to house trained pet.
Hint #1: Practice Makes Perfect: Like little kids, potty training a puppy is all about perseverance. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Taking your puppy out once an hour, and more often they smaller they are, will give your puppy a chance to relieve themselves outside. It will also teach them, with continued success, that going potty outside is preferred. 
Hint #2: Be Prepared: Have a crate readily available when you bring home your new puppy.  A crate is imperative in the house breaking process.  Your dog should be in the crate unless he/she is being “directly” supervised.  A new puppy should spend a good portion of their life in the crate.  So, ensure during the phase of house training your puppy, if you do not have DIRECT supervision, they should be crated. As I say all of the time, “A crib is just a crate for a baby.”
Hint #3: Get Help: Like most humans, we all think we need to be the doers of everything. We don’t want to appear weak, needy or incapable; so instead of asking for help when we need it, we overload ourselves. If you’re schedule is packed, and you don’t have time; or if this is your first puppy, get some professional help. Find a puppy trainer in Northern Virginia to give you some advice on how to get your puppy trained and house ready. You may find you even want to give your pup a few obedience lessons as well just for good measure. 
Hint #4: If He Goes, You Go: Puppies usually aren’t the only ones who need a little training. Especially if you’ve never had a pup before, it will inevitably do you some good to learn a lesson or two. Your best option, and your first one, should be to find a qualified dog trainer in Virginia, who can coach you and your new pup on how to interact with each other. While your puppy is learning everything he needs to know to be a great pet, you’ll be learning the tools you need to be a great master and companion.

Hint #5: Cut Off Water Early:

If you are average person that goes to bed around 10:00pm or so, you should cut off your puppies’ food and water around 6:00pm-7:00pm.  This ensures that almost all of the food and water has passed through his/her system before bed.  This way you don’t find yourself waking up as much in the middle of the night.

Hint #6: Start Confidence Building Drills and Socialization:

If you look throughout the blog, you will see our articles on confidence building drills such as How To Get Your Dog Over A Fear Of Noises, Object Desensitization, and Socialization and why they are imperative with a young pup.

 

Whether this is your first attempt at training a puppy, or you’re an old pro, it never hurts to have some help along the way. Whether that’s an extra pair of hands to clean up, a pair of legs to run your pup outside or a trainer to help you both out, you’ll both be better off in the end. To find a qualified professional in your area, try an internet search for K9 Trainers in Virginia, or go to www.offleashk9training.com

 
Nick White
 

How To House Train (Potty Train) A Puppy – Northern Virginia

Puppy Training, ,

 

dog training 2

First off, congratulations on your new perfect puppy! Many people do not realize how much work some puppies can be for the first six months of their lives, and that’s just the beginning. As you’ve learned, house breaking a puppy can seem impossible. Essentially, it is like having a newborn baby in many ways as you may have already figured out. Puppies require constant attention and, just like babies, are more than likely waking you up in the middle of the night.

In general, with crate training for your dog, your puppy should be almost completely housebroken by the age of four to five months. This age can vary depending on how effective you are throughout this process. Remember, your dog does not decide how long it takes to be house-trained, you do. We go over this subject daily for our puppy training in Northern Virginia.

You are probably wondering, “Where do I start?” First, get a crate, preferably one with a divider so you can expand the living space for your pup as it grows. It is nearly impossible to house-train a puppy without using a crate. Housebreaking a puppy is based entirely on the crate-training system. Crate training teaches a puppy the crate is its spot to go; it’s the equivalent of its home. More important, it becomes a location to hold your puppy during the housebreaking process when he cannot be directly supervised.

Pick a crate big enough for your dog to lie down, stand up (without his or her back touching the top of the cage), and spin around in a circle. Do not put a small puppy inside a large crate. They should have not have much more room than described above. I always recommend getting a large crate that has the adjustable divider in it. This way, you only need to buy one crate and can adjust the space as your puppy grows. If you find your puppy is going to the restroom inside the crate, you may want to reduce the size of the space. Often, if the crate is too large in relation to the size of your puppy, he does not have a problem going in the back corner of the crate because he can get far enough away from the mess that it doesn’t affect him as much.

Your puppy should be in its crate a lot for the first couple of months it is home with you. Don’t feel bad about keeping him in the crate. To put it into perspective, a crib is simply a crate for babies. You put babies in their cribs to protect them from themselves. A puppy should be looked at the same way.

Take the initiative with your puppy. As a general rule, your puppy will have to go outside approximately 30 minutes after eating or drinking. So if you know he just ate or drank a lot of water, take the initiative and take him out; do not wait for him to go in the house. Also, it is a good idea to take him out after a good play session in the house. If you are playing tug, chasing the ball, or getting the puppy really excited, it is always a good idea to take the initiative and take him out after these sessions, as well.

Using a keyword phrase during housebreaking is very important. From the first day you get your puppy, start to implement a keyword while your puppy is going to the restroom outside. Most people prefer the phrase “go potty.” So any time your pup is sniffing in the grass when you take him outside, repeat the key phrase “go potty.” As soon as your pup uses the restroom, immediately praise him (verbally, physically, and/or with a treat). Over time, he will associate the key phrase “go potty” with the act of going to the restroom, about a month into the housebreaking process. After this period, if you see your pup start to display that he is going to go to the restroom in the house (tail up, sniffing around in circles, etc.), repeat that phrase he has been hearing from day one, “Do you have to go potty?” He will recognize that key phrase he has associated with going outside and will run to the door, indicating that he does indeed have to go out. This is the first step of progress for housebreaking.

Use a bell on a string to teach your puppy to let you know that he has to go outside. Tie a bell to the end of a string and hang it from the doorknob at approximately your pup’s chest level. Every time you take your pup outside, ring the bell with his paw. Praise him immediately and open the door. Doing this every time you go out teaches the dog that ringing the bell equals the door opening. Over a period of time, your pup will learn: “If I have to go outside to the restroom, I ring bell and the door opens.”

The most important thing to effectively housebreak your puppy is total supervision. I will state it again, because it is that important: total supervision..What does that mean? Simple; it means if your puppy is not inside its crate, you or another member of the household should be directly supervising him. Until the pup is completely housebroken, there should never come a time when he is in a room alone. To put it into perspective, if you are downstairs with your puppy and decide to take a shower, even if it is just five minutes, put your pup inside its crate. Again, think of your pup as a baby. If you have a baby and you are going to jump in the shower or leave the room to fold laundry, would you leave a baby just sitting in the living room by itself? No, you would put it in the crib. Again, a crib is simply a crate for babies. When doing our puppy training in Northern Virginia, we generally realize this is people’s biggest mistake, lack of supervision.

If, while supervising your pup, you see him squat and start peeing or pooping, immediately give a loud verbal, “No!” Pick him up, immediately take him outside, and set him down in the yard. Then repeat that key phrase, “Go potty.” As soon as he finishes, give praise (verbal, physical, and/or a treat) and take him back inside. There should never be any punishment involved. Rubbing his nose in it, hitting him, rolling a newspaper—these are all things that are proven ineffective. More important, it just breaks down the bond between you and your pup. Physically punishing a puppy for going to the restroom in the house is like spanking a one-year-old for going in their diaper.

Many people ask, “What if I didn’t catch him in the act, but noticed he went to the restroom in the house?” Very simple, do absolutely nothing. That’s right, do absolutely nothing. Write it off as a failure on your part, clean it up, and move on. Again, do not punish the puppy. You failed him, he did not fail you. You violated the biggest rule in housebreaking: You failed to give him total supervision. This is so important it is worth mentioning once more: If you do not physically catch your dog in the act, chalk it up to a loss on your behalf and move on. Make it your goal to catch him every single time. For every time your pup goes in the house without being caught in the act, you add a few more days to the housebreaking process. So, if he is going in the house a couple times per day without getting caught in the act, the housebreaking process can be really prolonged.

Your puppy should sleep in the crate every night when you go to bed (again, because if you are sleeping, you cannot directly supervise him). When you first wake up in the morning, take him from the crate straight outside and use the key phrase (“Go potty”). If your puppy does not go to the restroom, take him back in the house and put him back into the crate. Approximately 15 to 20 minutes later. take him out of the crate, back outside, and repeat the process. Repeat this until your puppy does go to the restroom outside. This does two things: It prevents him from coming back in and minutes later going to the restroom in your house and will teach your puppy that he has to go to the restroom or he will keep going back into the crate until he does. After a few days of this, he will just go outside the first time you take him out. After he goes to the restroom outside, bring him back into your house and leave him out of the crate, remembering to directly supervise him.

We recommend that you do not put padding in the crate until the pup is housebroken and more mature. We stress this point daily at our dog training in Northern Virginia, Off-Leash K9 Training. We feel this is important for a couple of reasons. Most important, if you are gone, your puppy will more than likely chew, shred, or eat this padding/bedding at some point, which can become a choking hazard for a small puppy. Additionally, often puppies who have padding in the crate will still urinate in their crate because the padding acts as a sponge and absorbs the urine. Therefore, it does not bother them to urinate there; the padding acts as a diaper.

What about puppy pads? I think puppy pads are a bad idea, especially if you have a puppy that will grow into a large dog. Puppy pads teach the puppy it’s okay to go to the restroom in the house, however, only in this specific area. I find it much easier to teach them it’s never acceptable to go to the restroom in the house. Additionally, as the pup grows into a larger dog, do you really want them going to the restroom inside your house? They may go in a specific spot, however, the smell usually permeates the whole house.

Another important thing to remember is to never let your dog out of the crate if he is actively barking or whining. This will teach your dog that if he barks and whines long enough, you will let him out. It is like the child who throws a fit in the middle of the toy store, and then the parents buy the kid a toy. The child simply learns that if he makes a big enough scene, he will get his way. Dogs learn the same way. So never let your dog out of the crate if he is actively barking or whining. Doing so rewards bad behavior. Your pup should learn that he gets out of the crate only when he is quiet. Just to clarify, your new puppy may whine in the middle of the night to let you know he has to go out. It is then acceptable to let him out of the crate, take him outside, use the key phrase, then come back in. However, once your puppy is old enough to hold it throughout the night (generally around three to four months of age), never let him out based on whining or barking.
During the housebreaking process, we usually recommend cutting off food and water around 7 p.m. This is done to ensure that all of the water has passed through the pup’s system by the time you go to sleep (assuming you are going to bed around 9 p.m. or later). If you cut off food and water at around 7 p.m., it will minimize having to go in the middle of the night. Additionally, do not put food or water in the crate with the pup; again, this will cause him to have to go to the restroom in the middle of the night.

Never use the crate as a place to punish your puppy, as hard as it sometimes may be. If you start using the crate as a place of punishment, the pup will start to hate it, will not want to go in, and will no longer see it as its “home.” Rather, he will see at is a prison. The crate should always be looked upon as something positive. The crate should be seen by the dog, as you see your bedroom, as a place to go, get away, and relax. It is also a good practice to feed him in the crate or give him a treat every time he goes in, again, associating it with something positive. When we do our puppy training program in Northern Virginia, we always stress the importance of this.

If you follow all these principles, you should have a very short housebreaking process and a dog that loves going into the crate.

Nick White
www.offleashk9training.com
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