Training your dog to be obedient
There’s nothing more rewarding than having a pet dog who does what you say. It’s a proud feeling being able to show your friends that your dog sits when you tell it to or that it stops barking when you gesture a certain command. Dogs are not pre-programmed to be obedient and are not pre-programmed to conform to your ideas on potty use, but with the right committed and patient training, your loyal pal can learn a lot from you.
Start with the basics – you want your dog to know its name. Make it easy for your companion, it’s going to be a lot straight forward for your dog to react to a name like ‘Rover’ or ‘Spot’ than it is if you name them something more complicated, for example, ‘Francisco’. Stick to one and two-syllable names. Ensure that you are looking at them as you call them. It’s important to have the dog’s full attention. As soon as they start reacting to their name, it’s time to reward them. This is the key to obedience – reward, reward, reward! Meaty treats always work well.
Time is of the essence when you are training your dog. If you put the time in, you will start to see results. Never punish any bad habits or behavior and most of all, make the training experience fun, for both you and your dog.
As you might imagine, teaching your dog to sit is a milestone in any pet owner’s life. Use a treat in to encourage the dog to sit as you stand up straight in front of it and don’t give the dog the treat until it has obeyed your command. As soon as the dog’s butt hits the floor, release the treat! Repeat this multiple times during the day to really ingrain this in the dog’s psychology.
Once you’ve taught your pup to sit, you’ll feel like you can teach it anything – and why not? Move onto more advanced commands and remember – reward, reward, reward!
Potty training is much about having a regular schedule for dog walks. Assuming your dog is being trained to potty outdoors, ensure you take he or she out at the same times each day. Once the dog knows there’s a walk-break coming up, he or she will be perfectly fine holding on for a while, knowing that relief is close by! But if you don’t have a regular walk schedule, is your dog expected to hold it in for an hour, two….three?? This is potty training 101, it’s simple…stick to a schedule for walking your dog!
And of course on the rare occasions when accidents happen and you find yourself stuck with an indoor pet urination problem to clean up…..you’ll need a good clean-up product like Uricide!
Here are a couple more resources with help on potty training puppies and cleaning up after your dog.
