Dr Eric D Swanson, DVM, CVC
Cable Area Veterinary Clinic
THE FIRST DAY: Before the
puppy arrives at your home, we assume you will have made adequate preparations,
such as a bed with a blanket or a piece of carpet in it (a cardboard box works
fine for this). Know where the puppy will be kept when you are absent from
the home during the day (back yard, kennel or a puppy-proof room), know where
you want the puppy to urinate and defecate, and have a supply of Hill’s Canine
Growth on hand plus a food bowl and water bowl. You will be much more relaxed
if you have thought these things out before the puppy arrives.
The main concern with the first couple of days is in letting the pup get
acquainted. Within the area where he is allowed to roam, he should be given
much time on his own to sniff and explore, to find his bed area, to determine
good nap-taking spots, etc.
If the puppy is going to be kept in a pen area for a certain amount of time
each day, be certain he has a few toys (Nylabones, or Nylafloss, etc) available
and be certain that he won’t be left for long periods of time. The ideal situation
is for the puppy to be with someone a good bit of the time for the first
week or two. The best time to initiate a puppy into your life, especially
if the family is working or in school most of the day, is to arrange for
the puppy’s arrival during a period when someone will be home on vacation,
at least for the first several days of the puppy’s arrival.
Even though short play periods with the puppy are fun, the puppy doesn’t
need to be played with constantly (in fact, preferably not) but the pup does
need to learn who his people are and what are the limits of his territory.
You can begin, even at six to eight weeks of age, to show the puppy where
he can go and what he can do, and that no, he may not chew on the chair leg.
Most puppies are easily directed by your voice. But occasionally a puppy can
be either very stubborn or overly active. Don’t allow yourself to reach the
point of irritation where you slap or spank the puppy. It’s preferable to
give the puppy a short but firm scruff shake. This is a very effective form
of discipline. If you find yourself using severe discipline more than a couple
of times during the first week, you’d better evaluate your attitude toward
the puppy. Maybe you don’t really want to have one around. This attitude even
though suppressed, certainly isn’t conducive to raising a happy, well-behaved
dog.
The most difficult part of the puppy’s first day is the first night in a
new and strange place. This subject deserves a section on it’s own.
FIRST NIGHT ALONE: The puppy’s first night alone in his new home
can be one of intense fear. The fear of suddenly being left alone can lead
to anxiety which can show up later as a behavior problem such as excessive
barking or digging at the carpet.
There aren’t many alternatives for a pup’s first night and it is certain
to be a stressful experience to some degree, but there is one method that
works very well. Let the puppy spend his first couple of nights in the bedroom
of his new master. Put a box/crate in the room with a blanket or carpet init
or just put the bedding on the floor beside your bed. The pup might ignore
your efforts and select his own place, like under the bed or in a corner.
Let the pup stay wherever he will relax and settle down.
A puppy is usually exhausted by night-time and will sleep through the night.
If not, a hand reached down in the dark helps to calm him. If this doesn’t
work, you’d better get up and take the pup out to urinate. First thing in
the morning, carry the pup outdoors or to the area covered with newspapers.
You usually will have to carry him because he might not be able to walk as
far as that by himself without urinating until he’s ten to twelve weeks old.
Two nights, or sometimes three, is usally enough of this special treatment.
By then the pup should be ready to accept his bed in the regular place you
have selected for him. If you don’t plan to allow the pup to continue sleeping
in your room it’s best not to let him stay past the third night. If you wait
much past that time, the pup will reach a point where he won’t want to be
moved and you’ll be back where you started with the crying. If these special
measures aren’t possible, you had better buy some ear plugs and be prepared
for loud crying for at least two nights.
You may want to consider allowing the puppy to continue sleeping the bedroom.
If you work and are away from home a lot, this is one way of giving your dog
a sense of your presence and of your desire to be with him as much as possible.
If you decide to do this you should keep the pup in a metal wire kennel
(remove all collars or the pup might hang himself) during the night or put
the pup on a short rope tied to a leg of the bed until he’s house trained,
with his own bedding of course. The rope should be short enough to allow
him to lie down without getting tangled. Make sure the pen is escape proof
or it will be harder to confine the pup if he has escaped once.
HOUSE TRAINING: People have a tendency to get very excited over the
process of house training. What’s needed are realistic philosophy, a lot of
paper towels and some carpet deodorant. Life is a lot simpler with linoleum
and vinyl floors, but this seems to be the age of carpets.
As explained in the discipline section, spanking does more harm than good
and this is especially true in house training. Many puppies react negatively
to spanking. This can create additional problems, often actually prolonging
the training procedure. The lease painful approach for both the owner and
the pup is to establish a routine and to praise the puppy for performance
at the proper time in the proper place.
One important routine is to feed the puppy at the same times every day and
when he’s finished eating, immediately take him to the area you have selected
for his urination and defecation. Wait for him to do his chores, then praise
him. The praise is the secret to house training. It shows the puppy that you
what want him to do and where. It’s a good idea to associate a command with
the housebreaking, such as “go potty.” A dog will learn to respond and it’s
very nice to have a dog who will empty on command, which is especially important
when traveling.
Have you ever put a puppy outdoors, left him there for fifteen to twenty
minutes, then let him in again only to have him immediately make a puddle
or a pile on the carpet? It’s very easy to believe he’s doing this on purpose,
and it’s very easy to get very angry. However, the pup simply doesn’t have
it all figured out yet. For one reason or another, he’s still confused about
the indoor-outdoor situation. Besides that, he doesn’t urinate and defecate
until he has the urge, and he didn’t happen to get the urge until he was on
the carpet. It’s going to take some time on your part to help him get the
whole procedure straightened out. Some puppies learn in a few days, some not
until they’re 3-4 months old. Some puppies simply don’t have the muscle control
until they’re several months old.
Go outdoors with the pup and stand around and wait. If the pup doesn’t do
anything, give up and return to the house with the puppy. Take him back out
every five or ten minutes until he urinates or defecates. When he does, praise
him! It may take several days of dedicated effort before the pup begins to
realize what you want him to do but he will gradually understand and his body
will also gradually adjust to a time schedule. The procedure is especially
trying for the person with a winter puppy in a cold climate, but it’s effective.
It does work.
Always take the puppy out after meals, immediately after he awakens from
a nap and after a play period, or even in the middle of a play period if it’s
a long and vigorous one. Between times, watch for signs- some pups suddenly
get restless and begin to act nervous; some start going in circles. Rush the
pup to his outside place immediately, even if you have to carry him. If the
pup has an accident, quickly take him to the yard or paper area. You can
scold the pup if you catch him in the act, but no spanking! Just rushing him
to the acceptable place will startle him quite sufficiently.
Even after you and your pup have worked out a routine, there will still
be an occasional accident in the house. Clean it up, use a carpet deodorizer
available at the clinic (or use one part of white vinegar to four parts of
water) and be patient.
There’s a good dog reason for deodorizing spots on the floor. When a puppy
gets a whiff of that particular odor, and eliminative reflex is set off and
thereafter he does what is natural for him. This odor works to your advantage
in training him for one certain area such as one section of the yard, provided
you can keep the scent off other areas.
