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Reference Material is from HumaneSociety.org where there many other humane training ideas.

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Housetraining:

Establish a routine

Like babies, puppies do best on a regular schedule. The schedule teaches him that there are times to eat, times to play and times to potty.


Generally speaking, a puppy can control his bladder one hour for every month of age. So if your puppy is two months old, he can hold it for about two hours. Don't go longer than this between bathroom breaks, or he's guaranteed to have an accident. If you work outside the home, this means you'll have to hire a dog walker to give your puppy his bathroom breaks.


Take your puppy outside frequently—at least every two hours—and immediately after he wakes up, during and after playing, and after eating or drinking.


Pick a bathroom spot outside, and always take your puppy (on a leash) to that spot. While your puppy is eliminating, use a word or phrase, like "go potty," that you can eventually use before he eliminates to remind him what to do. Take him out for a longer walk or some playtime only after he has eliminated.


Reward your puppy every time she eliminates outdoors. Praise her or give her a treat—but remember to do so immediately after she's finished eliminating, not after she comes back inside the house. This step is vital, because rewarding your dog for eliminating outdoors is the only way to teach her what's expected of her. Before rewarding her, be sure she's finished eliminating. Puppies are easily distracted: If you praise her too soon, she may forget to finish until she's back in the house.


Put your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. What goes into a puppy on a schedule comes out of a puppy on a schedule. Depending on their age, puppies usually need to be fed three or four times a day. Feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that he'll eliminate at consistent times as well, and that makes housetraining easier for both of you.


Pick up your puppy's water dish about two and a half hours before bedtime to reduce the likelihood that she'll need to potty during the night. Most puppies can sleep for approximately seven hours without having to eliminate.


If your puppy does wake you up in the night, don't make a big deal of it; otherwise, he will think it is time to play and won't want to go back to sleep. Turn on as few lights as possible, don't talk to or play with your puppy, take him out to do his business and return him to his bed.


Supervise your puppy

Don't give your puppy an opportunity to soil in the house; keep an eye on him whenever she's indoors.


Tether your puppy to you or a nearby piece of furniture with a six-foot leash if you are not actively training or playing with him. Watch for signs that your puppy needs to eliminate. Some signs are obvious, such as barking or scratching at the door, squatting, restlessness, sniffing around or circling.  When you see these signs, immediately grab the leash and take him outside to his bathroom spot. If he eliminates, praise him lavishly and reward him with a treat.


Keep your puppy on leash in the yard. During the housetraining process, your yard should be treated like any other room in your house. Give your puppy some freedom in the house and yard only after she has become reliably housetrained.


Confine your puppy when you can't supervise her

When you're unable to watch your puppy at all times, restrict her to an area small enough that she won't want to eliminate there. The space should be just big enough for her to comfortably stand, lie down and turn around. You can use a portion of a bathroom or laundry room blocked off with baby gates.


Or you may want to crate train your puppy and confine him in the crate. (Be sure to learn how to use a crate humanely as a method of confinement.) If your puppy has spent several hours in confinement, you'll need to take him directly to his bathroom spot as soon as you let him out—and praise him when he eliminates.


Oops! Take mistakes in stride

Expect your puppy to have a few accidents in the house—it's a normal part of housetraining. Here's what to do when that happens:


  • Interrupt your puppy when you catch him in the act of eliminating in the house.
  • Make a startling noise (be careful not to scare him) or say "OUTSIDE!" Immediately take him to his bathroom spot, praise him, and give him a treat if he finishes eliminating there.
  • Don't punish your puppy for eliminating in the house. If you find a soiled area, it's too late to administer a correction. Just clean it up. Rubbing your puppy's nose in it, taking him to the spot and scolding him, or any other punishment will only make him afraid of you or afraid to eliminate in your presence. In fact, punishment will often do more harm than good.
  • Clean the soiled area thoroughly. Puppies are highly motivated to continue soiling in areas that smell like urine or feces. Check with your veterinarian or pet store for products designed specifically to clean areas soiled by pets.
  • It's extremely important that you use the supervision and confinement procedures outlined above to minimize the number of accidents. If you allow your puppy to eliminate frequently in the house, she'll get confused about where she's supposed to eliminate, which will prolong the housetraining process.

Make plans for when you're away

A puppy under six months of age cannot be expected to control his bladder for more than a few hours at a time (approximately one hour for each month of age). If you have to be away from home more than four or five hours a day, this may not be the best time for you to get a puppy; instead, you may want to consider an older dog, who can wait for your return.

If you already have a puppy and must be away for long periods of time, you'll need to:


  • Arrange for someone, such as a responsible neighbor or a professional pet sitter, to take him outside to eliminate.
  • Train him to eliminate in a specific place indoors. Be aware, however, that doing so can prolong the process of housetraining. 
  • Teaching your puppy to eliminate on newspaper may create a life-long surface preference, meaning that even as an adult he may eliminate on any newspaper lying around the living room.

Paper-train properly

When your puppy must be left alone for long periods of time, confine him to an area with enough room for a sleeping space, a playing space and a separate place to eliminate.

  • In the designated elimination area, use either newspapers (cover the area with several layers of newspaper) or a sod box. To make a sod box, place sod in a container such as a child's small, plastic swimming pool. You can also find dog-litter products at a pet supply store.
  • If you clean up an accident in the house, put the soiled rags or paper towels in the designated elimination area. The smell will help your puppy recognize the area as the place where she is supposed to eliminate.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING

Remember how happy you were if your parents gave you a dollar for every A on your report card? They made you want to do it again, right? That's positive reinforcement. Dogs don't care about money. They care about praise … and food. Positive reinforcement training uses praise and/or treats to reward your dog for doing something you want him to do. Because the reward makes him more likely to repeat the behavior, positive reinforcement is one of your most powerful tools for shaping or changing your dog's behavior.


Rewarding your dog for good behavior sounds pretty simple, and it is! But to practice the technique effectively, you need to follow some basic guidelines.


Timing is everything


Correct timing is essential when using positive reinforcement.

  • The reward must occur immediately—within seconds—or your pet may not associate it with the proper action. For example, if you have your dog sit but reward him after he's stood back up, he'll think he's being rewarded for standing up.

  • Using a clicker to mark the correct behavior can improve your timing and also help your dog understand the connection between the correct behavior and the treat.

Keep it short

Dogs don't understand sentences. "Daisy, I want you to be a good girl and sit for me now" will likely earn you a blank stare.

Keep commands short and uncomplicated. The most commonly used dog commands are:

  • watch me
  • sit
  • stay
  • down (which means "lie down")
  • off (which means "get off of me" or "get off the furniture")
  • stand
  • come
  • heel (which means "walk close to my side") 
  • leave it

Consistency is key

Everyone in the family should use the same commands; otherwise, your dog may be confused. It might help to post a list of commands where everyone can become familiar with them.

Consistency also means always rewarding the desired behavior and never rewarding undesired behavior.


When to use positive reinforcement

The good: Positive reinforcement is great for teaching your dog commands, and it's also a good way of reinforcing good behavior. You may have your dog sit

  • before letting him out the door (which helps prevent door-darting)
  • before petting him (which helps prevent jumping on people)
  • before feeding him (which helps teach him good meal-time manners).

Give him a pat or a "Good dog" for lying quietly by your feet, or slip a treat into a Kong®-type toy when he's chewing it instead of your shoe.


The bad: Be careful that you don't inadvertently use positive reinforcement to reward unwanted behaviors. For example, if you let your dog outside every time he barks at a noise in the neighborhood, you're giving him a reward (access to the yard) for behavior you want to discourage.


Shaping behavior

It can take time for your dog to learn certain behaviors. You may need to use a technique called "shaping," which means reinforcing something close to the desired response and then gradually requiring more from your dog before he gets the treat.

For example, if you're teaching your dog to "shake hands," you may initially reward him for lifting his paw off the ground, then for lifting it higher, then for touching your hand, then for letting you hold his paw, and finally, for actually "shaking hands" with you.


Types of rewards

Positive reinforcement can include food treats, praise, petting, or a favorite toy or game. Since most dogs are highly food-motivated, food treats work especially well for training.


  • A treat should be enticing and irresistible to your pet. Experiment a bit to see which treats work best for your pet.
  • It should be a very small (pea-size or even smaller for little dogs), soft piece of food, so that he will immediately gulp it down and look to you for more. Don't give your dog something he has to chew or that breaks into bits and falls on the floor.
  • Keep a variety of treats handy so your dog won't become bored getting the same treat every time. You can carry the treats in a pocket or fanny pack.
  • Each time you use a food reward, you should couple it with a verbal reward (praise). Say something like, "Yes!" or "Good dog," in a positive, happy tone of voice. Then give your dog a treat.

If your dog isn't as motivated by food treats, a toy, petting, or brief play can be very effective rewards.


When to give treats

When your pet is learning a new behavior, reward him every time he does the behavior. This is called continuous reinforcement.

Once your pet has reliably learned the behavior, you want to switch to intermittent reinforcement, in which you continue with praise, but gradually reduce the number of times he receives a treat for doing the desired behavior.

  • At first, reward him with the treat four out of every five times he does the behavior. Over time, reward him three out of five times, then two out of five times, and so on, until you're only rewarding him occasionally.
  • Continue to praise him every time—although once your dog has learned the behavior, your praise can be less effusive, such as a quiet but positive, "Good dog."
  • Use a variable schedule of reinforcement so that he doesn't catch on that he only has to respond every other time. Your pet will soon learn that if he keeps responding, eventually he'll get what he wants—your praise and an occasional treat.

Caution! Don't decrease the rewards too quickly. You don't want your dog to become frustrated.

By understanding positive reinforcement, you'll see that you're not forever bound to carry a pocketful of goodies. Your dog will soon be working for your verbal praise, because he wants to please you and knows that, occasionally, he'll get a treat, too.


How to Train Your dog Basic Obedience

Good manners are as necessary for dogs as they are for people. A dog who jumps, pulls, barks or lacks self-control often finds himself left out of family activities.

An untrained dog may also put your housing situation at risk if you’re a renter or belong to a home or condominium owners' association.


Teach your dog a few basic obedience commands (such as sit, down, come and stay) using positive training methods, and you will be rewarded with a well-behaved dog who can handle most everyday social situations.


In dog training, timing is everything

Timing is very important. You must mark your dog's behavior the instant she complies with the command. Saying a single word such as "Yes!" or using a clicker is a good way to mark a correct behavior. It lets your dog know immediately that she's been successful.


Rewards work better than bribes

Rewarding your dog's good behavior with a treat is an excellent training tool, but if rewards are overused, they can become bribes.

To avoid the treat becoming a bribe, stop luring your dog with the treat as soon as he begins to catch on to what you're asking him to do. Ask him to "sit," wait two or three seconds for him to comply, then give him the treat if he sits. Your goal is to teach him to follow a verbal command alone; this will help during those moments when you may not have a treat handy but need him to be on his best behavior.


Give your dog life-rewards

Food is the easiest reward to use when you are just learning to train your dog, but it is not the only reward you can use. A toy, a game of fetch or going for a ride in the car can work, too.

For example, let's say you want to train your dog not to run out the door when you open it. Try this:

  • Tell your dog to sit-stay by the front door of your house.
  • If she complies, praise her, open the door and let her go outside. Going outside is the reward.
  • If she gets up as you open the door, close the door and try again.
  • Repeat the process until she stays in position while you open the door. Only then does she get the reward of going outside.
  • Use the same technique for opening the car door so your dog can go for a ride. If she remains in position, she is rewarded by getting into the car and going for a ride. (Reminder: Never leave your dog unattended in the car).

When dog training, mind your Ps and cues

Your posture and body cues tell your dog a lot. Your dog learns to read your body language much as you learn to read his.

  • Stand up when you give your dog a command. If you only give commands while sitting or squatting on the floor, your dog will learn to respond only when you're in that position.
  • Keep your hands out of your pockets. If his treats are in your pockets, hands in the pockets becomes the cue that he will get a treat if he does what you ask. You want your command to be the cue, not the hand in the pocket. If your hands are always in view, you can keep him guessing.
  • Similarly, don't hold a bag of treats in your hand while training. Your dog will learn he only needs to comply with commands if he sees the treat bag, not every time you ask him.
  • Train your dog everywhere, not just in one room of your house. If you only practice in the kitchen, your dog will learn he only needs to do a command in the kitchen.
  • As your dog learns to do a command reliably in one location, move to other rooms of the house and the yard. Practice wherever you can, even on your daily walks.