Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Training Tip - House Breaking and Crate Training
House breaking and crate training is not rocket science. It is merely getting the pup in a habit. Remember, raising pup is not about training him, it is about habit formation. If we can get the pup in the habit of eliminating his waste (urine and feces) outside, then you will have the house breaking whipped.
I was once told that if we control the food and water, we control the pee and poop. That is pretty much as simply put as it can be. If we feed and water on a schedule, stick to the schedule, and not allow free grazing of food and water, then we will eliminate the accidents that occur in the home. To start out, anytime we take a pup out to eliminate, always take them to the same spot. They will quickly learn that this is where they go to eliminate themselves. Place the pup on the ground and use a bathroom command. What, a bathroom command? You have to be kidding me! Seriously, create a command, I use “Get it Done”. The words you use are not important but having everyone in your house using the same exact command is. If we repeat this command while pup is walking around sniffing the ground, and then praise him, “Good Boy, Get it done, Good Boy”. We will quickly teach pup the meaning of this command.
There are certain times that you must take pup outside to eliminate to ensure successful house breaking. Anytime you feed or water pup, take them outside immediately following, and then again 20 to 30 minutes later. Anytime pup is asleep on the floor, in your lap, or in it’s crate, and he wakes up, take him outside to the desired location, give him the bathroom command, followed by praise. Other than after food, water, or naps pup needs to go out typically about every 2 hours. This will vary on each individual pup and you will have to adjust accordingly. Remember, take pup to the same spot every time and always use your bathroom command.
If an accident occurs in your home, and you put puppies nose in it and smack him with a news paper, you will accomplish two things. 1) Pup will learn to eliminate in the house where you cannot see him. 2) pup will be deathly afraid of newspapers and as an adult, will likely destroy the morning paper before you get a chance to read it and you will sit back and wonder why. If you catch pup in the act of eliminating in the house, quickly pick him up and hurry outside to the desired location, put pup on the ground and give him the bathroom command, followed by praise. If you do not catch him in the act, then all you can do is clean up the mess and go on about life. Follow these simple rules and house breaking will be a breeze.
Another key element to house breaking is crate training. Dogs typically do not eliminate where they sleep, so typically, pup will not eliminate in the crate unless he is left too long or not taken out right after he is fed or watered. Crate training serves other, more important purposes though. One of the Vets I used to work for, would always tell all new puppy owners that at any time that you cannot give pup 150% of your undivided attention, put him in the crate. If you are going to be tied up helping your child with their homework, cooking supper, working on a project for work, or doing laundry, put the pup in it’s crate. Anytime you put pup into the crate, say “Kennel or Kennel Up”. Pup will soon quickly learn this command and also learn to love the crate. It becomes a safe haven for them. So why do we want to keep the pup in the crate so much. There are two main purposes. 1) If pup is running free in the house, there is too many things he can get into that can cause bodily injury, destruction of your belongings, or even cause death to the pup. 2) If pup is running loose, there is nothing, absolutely nothing good that will come of it. Remember, raising pup is about habit formation, and all pup will be doing is forming bad habits. It will also make your job of house breaking a whole lot more difficult. Pup will be running around, decide it needs to urinate, and relieve himself behind the sofa. Meanwhile you are off in another room doing other things and may or may not discover it until the dirt build up on the spot catches your attention. Once this odor is there, it is not only hard to get out, but pup will always smell it and think of the spot as his place to eliminate. Now you have a bad habit on your hands that you now must stop. Do not train into a dog, what you have to train out later.
A side note: As a breeder, as part of my primary socialization program and to give a pup a head start on crate training, I took a tip from my good friend John Huddleston of OTM Boykins. I start them out getting acclimated to a crate around 4 weeks. John told me how well it worked for his pups in getting them acclimated to a puppy crate. He told me that he not only transports the pups in a vehicle in a crate, but he also put a crate in the whelping box or outside play pen with them.
I take the door off the crate, and put a towel in there for absorbancy, should they have an accident. By sitting the crate in there, they get used to the crate itself, and
they are able to wander in of their own accord and at their own speed. I find that quickly, the entire litter will be inside curled up asleep with a sense of security. The crate acts as a den, like in the wild, thus their sense of security.
Around 6 weeks of age, I start breaking the litter down into smaller groups, with each group sleeping in it's own crate at night, but within the whelping box. This helps with the any separation anxiety a pup has when it first leaves the litter to go to it's new home. The entire crating process also helps simplify the crate training phase for the new owner.
I was once told that if we control the food and water, we control the pee and poop. That is pretty much as simply put as it can be. If we feed and water on a schedule, stick to the schedule, and not allow free grazing of food and water, then we will eliminate the accidents that occur in the home. To start out, anytime we take a pup out to eliminate, always take them to the same spot. They will quickly learn that this is where they go to eliminate themselves. Place the pup on the ground and use a bathroom command. What, a bathroom command? You have to be kidding me! Seriously, create a command, I use “Get it Done”. The words you use are not important but having everyone in your house using the same exact command is. If we repeat this command while pup is walking around sniffing the ground, and then praise him, “Good Boy, Get it done, Good Boy”. We will quickly teach pup the meaning of this command.
There are certain times that you must take pup outside to eliminate to ensure successful house breaking. Anytime you feed or water pup, take them outside immediately following, and then again 20 to 30 minutes later. Anytime pup is asleep on the floor, in your lap, or in it’s crate, and he wakes up, take him outside to the desired location, give him the bathroom command, followed by praise. Other than after food, water, or naps pup needs to go out typically about every 2 hours. This will vary on each individual pup and you will have to adjust accordingly. Remember, take pup to the same spot every time and always use your bathroom command.
If an accident occurs in your home, and you put puppies nose in it and smack him with a news paper, you will accomplish two things. 1) Pup will learn to eliminate in the house where you cannot see him. 2) pup will be deathly afraid of newspapers and as an adult, will likely destroy the morning paper before you get a chance to read it and you will sit back and wonder why. If you catch pup in the act of eliminating in the house, quickly pick him up and hurry outside to the desired location, put pup on the ground and give him the bathroom command, followed by praise. If you do not catch him in the act, then all you can do is clean up the mess and go on about life. Follow these simple rules and house breaking will be a breeze.
Another key element to house breaking is crate training. Dogs typically do not eliminate where they sleep, so typically, pup will not eliminate in the crate unless he is left too long or not taken out right after he is fed or watered. Crate training serves other, more important purposes though. One of the Vets I used to work for, would always tell all new puppy owners that at any time that you cannot give pup 150% of your undivided attention, put him in the crate. If you are going to be tied up helping your child with their homework, cooking supper, working on a project for work, or doing laundry, put the pup in it’s crate. Anytime you put pup into the crate, say “Kennel or Kennel Up”. Pup will soon quickly learn this command and also learn to love the crate. It becomes a safe haven for them. So why do we want to keep the pup in the crate so much. There are two main purposes. 1) If pup is running free in the house, there is too many things he can get into that can cause bodily injury, destruction of your belongings, or even cause death to the pup. 2) If pup is running loose, there is nothing, absolutely nothing good that will come of it. Remember, raising pup is about habit formation, and all pup will be doing is forming bad habits. It will also make your job of house breaking a whole lot more difficult. Pup will be running around, decide it needs to urinate, and relieve himself behind the sofa. Meanwhile you are off in another room doing other things and may or may not discover it until the dirt build up on the spot catches your attention. Once this odor is there, it is not only hard to get out, but pup will always smell it and think of the spot as his place to eliminate. Now you have a bad habit on your hands that you now must stop. Do not train into a dog, what you have to train out later.
A side note: As a breeder, as part of my primary socialization program and to give a pup a head start on crate training, I took a tip from my good friend John Huddleston of OTM Boykins. I start them out getting acclimated to a crate around 4 weeks. John told me how well it worked for his pups in getting them acclimated to a puppy crate. He told me that he not only transports the pups in a vehicle in a crate, but he also put a crate in the whelping box or outside play pen with them.
I take the door off the crate, and put a towel in there for absorbancy, should they have an accident. By sitting the crate in there, they get used to the crate itself, and
they are able to wander in of their own accord and at their own speed. I find that quickly, the entire litter will be inside curled up asleep with a sense of security. The crate acts as a den, like in the wild, thus their sense of security.Around 6 weeks of age, I start breaking the litter down into smaller groups, with each group sleeping in it's own crate at night, but within the whelping box. This helps with the any separation anxiety a pup has when it first leaves the litter to go to it's new home. The entire crating process also helps simplify the crate training phase for the new owner.
# posted by Clay Black @ 7:19 AM 
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