More Lies About Housetraining Your Puppy

Simon Sez:
"Housetraining Is Just Crap"

In a recent post, A Big Fat Lie About Housetraining Your Puppy, I mentioned the crate training lie - Crate Training Is Cruel. Lots of people believe this is a truth; they clearly have not seen crate training used correctly.

In my research about and recent experience with housetraining your puppy, I found several other untruths:

Housetraining is easy.
Sure, and so is pulling out your own tooth.

You can house break your puppy in 7 days.
Un huh - if you fall for this statement at face value, you also need to read Housetraining For Dummies.

A puppy house training schedule is worthless.
If you are housetraining your puppy, then you have a schedule in your head. Write it down so the rest of the family knows what you're doing.

You don't need to understand dog behavior
You need to understand something about people behavior to co-exist with people, so why wouldn't the same be true about dogs?

Find out more details about these housetraining lies - Five Lies About Housetraining Your Puppy.

Need quick solutions to house training problems, aggressive dog issues (biting, digging, jumping) and obedience training hurdles? Learn from the expert professional dog trainers in Secrets to Dog Training, the Dog Training “bible” at http://secrets-to-dog-training.info/

The Worst Crate Training Screw-Up You Can Make

This set of crate training tips deals with the worst crate training screw-up – crating during the day for 8-10 hours and then crating at night. A lot of new dog owners buy a crate, become instant control freaks, and crate a young dog for 18 hours a day. 

And these owners think it’s the right way to use the crate! It’s not – this post explains the crate training tips to address this situation.

The Scenario
You work, so you put a new puppy in a crate all day. If you realize he won’t make it through the day, you get Uncle Fred or Neighbor Gloria to let him out in the middle of the day. 

When you come home, you let him out, feed and play with him a while, and then back into the crate so you can make dinner or go out. Then he goes outside before you retire for the night and back into the crate for the all nighter.

The Fallout
Whew! Wonder why the pup is a raving maniac when you let him out of the crate?

And a word of caution – what do you think is happening to the 18 hour a day crated puppy’s muscles? Muscle atrophy and weight gain can happen quickly!

Crate Training Tips For Reducing Crating Time
Here are three suggestions to reduce crate time:

1. Exercise the pup before he gets crated for the day and the night. Half an hour twice a day is a good benchmark. Let him run, fetch, and play. 
2. Ask Uncle Fred or Neighbor Gloria to spend quality time with pup for an hour or so. If that’s too much of an imposition, hire a dog sitter for the midday recess. Or do it yourself if you can make the time.
3. When you come home, make the puppy the first priority for at least an hour. And leave him out of the crate until the overnight crating. Leash him to your belt loop if you have to.

Questions To Ponder
Ask yourself this question – how long would you feel about being imprisoned 18 hours during a 24-hour period? 

And if you think 18-hour crating is okay – WHY did you get a puppy?
 
These crate training tips will help you reduce crating time by a few hours. Hopefully, both you and your pup will benefit.

Find more useful information about Crate Training:
Crate Training Tips
More Crate Training Tips - 5 BIG Mistakes You CAN Correct
 
Also, if you’re dealing with puppy training problems and need solutions fast, learn from expert professional dog trainers in Secrets to Dog Training, the Dog Training “bible."

Puppy picture courtesy of golden-retriever-magic.com. Captioned as follows:
"See -- this puppy in crate doesn't seem to mind it at all. Of course, that may have something to do with the crate's door being open.

A Big Fat Lie About Housetraining Your Puppy

There are a lot of housetraining myths and some outright lies. My favorite is that using a crate for housetraining your puppy is cruel. The word "cruel" conjures up punishment and even torture. 

Unfortunately, there are people who use crates for puppy prisons. My guess is that puppy imprisonment is a matter of convenience and/or ignorance of dog behavior.

Used as positive tool for housetraining your puppy, a crate turns into a welcome place to sleep, a refuge, and a puppy source of comfort. Please explain how this use of a crate is cruel!