Archive for the ‘Housebreaking’ Category
After we lost our 11 ½ year old Belgian Sheepdog we decided we wanted a Rough Collie. Three weeks ago, we picked up our new female Rough Collie named Sophie. One of the first dog training challenges for us to take on was housebreaking after all who wants that mess in their house.
As she is the only dog in our house with no peers to help train her, we wanted all the help we could get. One of the training items we picked up were dog doorbells. These are great! You just hang them on the doorknob and every time we take Sophie outside to do her business, we jingled the doorbells. It only took one week for Sophie to catch on and three weeks later we are accident free!!
One the first training exercises you will embark on as the proud owner of a new puppy is housebreaking. A dog crate can cut that time in half when sized correctly. The crate should be large enough for your dog to stretch out, get up, and turn around, but not so large that they can curl up in one corner while leaving three-quarters of the crate empty.
Dogs will not defecate where they sleep or eat and having the right size dog crate is essential for housebreaking. However, do not expect your new puppy to hold his business for eight hours when they first come home. Successful housebreaking still takes time as new puppies will need to relieve themselves every half hour for the first week or two so be prepared.
What a dog crate can do for housebreaking is ensure that they will ask to go outside when the time comes instead using their dog crate or your carpet. Again, this depends on buying the right size crate. The best investment is a life style Midwest dog crate. These dog crates have a movable panel that allows you to add more space as your new puppy grows.
With only four days left until Halloween, have you purchased your dog Halloween costume. With so many choices available for every size dog why not let your pooch be the life of the party! On a related note, if you are walking through the neighborhood with your kids this year joined by the family dog in his/her Halloween costume; make sure to take along some dog waste bags.
Walking down your neighborhood streets with the kids and dog in tow is a great way for your dog to show off his/her dog Halloween costume but the need to relieve is bound to happen. Taking along biodegradable dog waste bags is the perfect way to handle this issue while walking your dog.
Dog waste is about, as biodegradable as it gets so don’t use a plastic dog waste bag. There are several biodegradable versions on the market that include dispensers you can clip outside the back door. Be prepared this Halloween and take along a few biodegradable dog waste bags for the trip through the streets.