First-time puppy owners often receive all sorts of
instructions for training their new pets. Housebreaking is usually a top topic
of interest to the new pet owner, who often studies lists of recommended
supplies for the task.
The puppy housebreaking list usually includes such items as:
- a puppy collar and leash
- plastic sheeting, plastic shower curtain liner, or waterproof drop-cloth
- newspapers
- puppy housebreaking pads
- pet odor eliminating products/cleaners
- puppy training treats
- and more.
Sorry, we beg to differ. OK. The collar and leash are
essential. Training treats can be helpful too. But the rest of the list, we can
do without.
Sure, it all depends on your puppy training technique.
But we’ve trained lots of puppies by setting up a
predictable routine and paying attention. We’ve fed each of our pups at the
same time every day, giving him or her outdoor potty breaks before and after
each meal. We’ve given each puppy plenty of scheduled trips outside and let him
or her out promptly when he or she has hovered by the door with that “I gotta
go” look on his or her face.
And we have praised each pup clearly after each successful
(shall we say) performance.
The only other critical components are a sturdy dog crate
and a childproofing safety doorway gate or two. By keeping a puppy confined when
unsupervised (such as overnight or for short times during the day) and by
blocking off areas of the home where potty accidents (and chewing mishaps)
could prove disastrous, we narrowed the margin of error.
But seriously, each pup only had a few accidents in the
house before getting the picture.
The trickiest part was training the humans to stick to the
schedule, giving each pup the chance to do his or her business at the
appropriate times.
So we saved a bundle on puppy pads and recycled several
bundles of clean, dry newspapers.
Image/s:
On puppy pads and papers: Do you need
'em for housebreaking?
Created
by this user, including public domain artwork
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