"Housebreaking Dog"

The absolute first thing your puppy must learn is housebreaking: No, no, you don’t teach your dog how to break into your house when you forget your keys. Housebreaking means he must learn where and when he may do his business.

Besides being substantially advantageous to the hygiene of your household, dogs benefit from having rules and a routine – as pack animals, they look for duties issued by the pack leader and naturally enjoy keeping schedules. Here are the steps to housebreaking your dog:

1. The best age to begin housebreaking your puppy is between 8 and 12 weeks old.

2. Experts suggest incorporating a crate in a young dog’s training process. (To housebreak an older dog, skip this section.) A crate usually resembles a cage, with a locking door and see-through bars, and should be big enough for the dog to move around in. While it sounds like a miniature jail cell, crates should not be used to punish your puppy. The idea is to make the crate into a doggy bedroom – someplace where your puppy can play and sleep. He should never be confined in his crate for more than two hours at a time. Read more…