Puppies benefit from early education

"They are fidgety, stubborn, unruly, nosy, noisy, chewy, yappy and totally dedicated to their 'incoming' and 'outgoing' stuff," — "I Just Got a Puppy. What Do I Do?"

Siegal and Margolis,

Simon & Schuster, 2002

If there is a new puppy in your home, you already know that. At first, everything your cuddly little friend does is cute and adorable. But soon, patience can wear thin as you try to figure out which problem to tackle first and how to solve it. You may already be thinking, can this house be saved?

Of course it can, if you deal with three of the most common and frustrating puppy problems: housebreaking, chewing and jumping on people. Problem-solving is best achieved in conjunction with early education. You see, puppies are babies. They don't come with diplomas, they don't teach themselves, and they won't be adults until they reach two years of age. Training is your responsibility, whether you hire a qualified professional or do it yourself with the help of really good professional advice from books and videos. Here are some tips, with information from my bBasic tTraining DVD and the best-selling puppy book mentioned above.

Housebreaking: Effective housebreaking means your puppy is taught to piddle and poop outdoors based on your schedule — providing your schedule is reasonable, of course. Once trained, he should control himself inside and always "go" outside. Unless there are unusual circumstances, do not paper train your dog. If you do, you are teaching him to "go" in the house. Then you will have to retrain him to "go" outside. How confusing is that to a little guy?

If your puppy is seven weeks old or older, start housebreaking immediately. There is no magic wand, but my five-part method is almost always successful if you stick to the program. It involves (1) Proper Diet and no snacks. (2) Proper cConfinement in one area like the kitchen or family room using a puppy gate. Don't isolate your puppy behind closed doors, and do consider crate training. (3) Proper cCorrection. No yelling or hitting. Ever! If you catch him in the act, tell him "no," and pick him up and take him outside immediately. Praise him when he eliminates outside. (4) Proper feed-water-walk Feed-Water-Walk sSchedule based on the puppy's age. (5) Odor eElimination on floors, carpet and furniture using a product that doesn't mask the odor, but eliminates it.