dog training advice

Either you are thinking of getting a puppy or you have already brought one home. In either case, you need puppy training advice. The best place to start is with housebreaking. By housebreaking your puppy first, you will save your furniture and flooring from major damage later plus the embarrassment of owning a dog who does not know where to go to the bathroom. Before sharing your housebreaking options with you, another piece of puppy training advice that is very important is to remain calm and patient with your puppy. A dog's memory does not work the same as a human's and your dog requires time to remember where to use the bathroom and where not to as well. Yelling at your puppy for potty accidents or punishing them in some way, rubbing their nose in it for example, will only make your puppy afraid of you, the flooring, or eliminating at all, causing health or behavioral problems in the dog. When housebreaking your puppy there are two common methods to choose from and which one you use is up to you. Both come recommended by professional dog trainers and both will take some time for your puppy to learn. The first method is crate training and the second is paper training. Crate TrainingCrate training takes advantage of a dog's instinct not to potty in its den. Instead of a dog digging or using a natural spot like a cave as a den, you will create one in your home. Your dog's crate is your dog's home in your home. This is what he will consider his safe spot. Do not use your dog's crate as a discipline tool; he should want to go in it and enjoy his time in there. When buying a crate, you may want to consider the size your puppy will be when full grown. If the crate is made for a large dog, purchase a piece that fits into the crate to reduce its size for your puppy now  but can be moved to fit your puppy as she grows or removed when an adult. The reason for controlling the space your puppy has in the crate is to prevent her from picking a far corner as her potty spot. The less space she has the less likely she is to mess in her space and later, yours.