Zoey Checking Out My Paint Job

Zoey checking out my paint job. She said I missed a spot! No matter where I go, Zoey is sure to be at my side.

Belly Bands For Your Male Dog

Is your unneutered dog making a habit of marking your home? Or perhaps he has lightening fast speed when he pees indoors so you just can't catch him in the act? If any of these scenarios sound familiar, maybe you will want to consider buying a belly band for your pooch to help you to house train him.

A belly band is a strip of fabric with Velcro on both ends. You insert a feminine pad inside and then wrap both around your dog's lower belly. If he raises his leg to pee indoors, he'll just pee in the pad and not your furniture!

They are machine washable and you replace the pads as needed. You can find these at some pet shops or online. Some come in variety of fabrics that will indulge your fashion sense. Belly bands will not house break your dog, but it is a good tool to help you reach your goal.

The Way Dogs Learn

"What am I teaching my dog?" That is the question you should ask yourself whenever you have any interaction with your dog. You may not think that you are teaching your dog, but believe it or not, you are!

When you catch your dog peeing inside the house and scold him, he will most likely associate your scolding with his behavior. But if you find the mess on the floor later and scold him, he will have no clue why you are scolding him. You can point all you want, but he will think you just have a problem with pee!

Now remember, elimination is a natural behavior. Dogs have to do it! It is hard for him to understand why you are having issues about it. What you actually have an issue with where he goes, but he can't understand that concept. You have to teach him what you mean.

Physical Punishment is NOT the answer. If you use physical punishment such as a rolled up newspaper, your hands to spank, or a scruff shake to punish your dog, you may get your message across, but more likely to create a new problem. The next day you may find the poop in a more hidden place such asunder the table or behind the couch. Didn't he understand you the day before? Yes he did! He learned you got angry when he pooped, then you frightened him with punishment. You taught him that you could be scary!

This is why the next day he hid when he pooped so you wouldn't catch him and scare him again. Did you teach your do to go outside? NO! Oops! You accidentally to hide when he pooped! Sometimes this can lead to bigger problems. Lets say you catch him again, but this time you use a rolled up newspaper and give him a light tap, enough to really startle him. The next day once more you catch and you reach for the rolled up newspaper and he snaps at you. Is he being defiant? Is he being stubborn? Not at all! He is in the middle of doing something natural and he don't understand what you want him to do. Now he is afraid and he is going to use dog communication to tell that you are scaring him and he wants you to stop.

If you escalate the punishment, your dog will think that you are not listening to him. Soon his snarls can become snaps, which can become bites. All because of a misunderstanding. Now in addition to house training problems, you got an aggressive problem!

Unfortunately, this is a common mistake people make. Remember, aggression begets aggression. When you use aggressive tactics, you are teaching him that it is how to solve the problem. There's a simpler way to teach your dog to eliminate outside, with out to have to resort to the old fashion physical discipline. It's effective and less stressful on the both of you!

It's A Natural Thing

Like all animals, your dog needs to rid their bodies of waste- it's a natural thing they have to do. Of course, from your dog's perspective, it's much nicer to do that on a nice soft carpet in your climate controlled home then outside in grass and rough weather!

When you think about it, dogs have all sorts of natural behaviors that we humans don't always enjoy. One example, they love to chew things to ease their gums when they are teething, to release stress, and because it is just a fun thing to do! As a result, it is perfectly natural to chew on furniture, your best pair of shoes, and whatever they can sink their teeth in!

Another example is, dogs like to dig. They will dig to make a cool hole when it's hot outside and make a hole when it is cold outside. They love to dig looking for critters underground. They love to dig because it is fun and they can excel at this activity too!

Chewing, digging, and eliminating are all natural dog behaviors. But when we bring dogs into our homes, we expect them to control their natural ways. If you think about it, we want a lot from our dog! We expect them to control their instincts and live by another species' rules.

Think about what it would feel like if you had to do the same. For example, have you ever met someone from another culture? What you may be accustomed to can be considered very rude by their standards.

It is important to understand the things that dogs do naturally so you can better understand your canine family member.Now this doesn't mean you have to allow natural dog behaviors in your home. But, what is does mean is that it is up to you to set your expectations and make sure your pet knows what they are.

You can teach your dog to live by your rules as long as they are fair and realistic. You just need to channel those behaviors into appropriate outlets: "pleas don't chew up my shoes. You can play with these dog toys outside." So take time to understand these natural behaviors and the both of you will have a wonderful relationship!

Accidents Do Happen!

Despite all your best efforts, it is most likely that your dog will have a few accidents! How you deal with them will definitely affect your success in house training your pooch.

The old-fashion training approach use to recommend rubbing your dog's nose in his mess or spanking your dog. However, these methods do not teach your dog to eliminate outside. Instead, they can teach him to be afraid of you! He'll probably think you lost some marbles too!

If you come upon an accident in the house, there is not much you can do but clean it up. Make sure that you use the proper cleanser so that he won't go back to the same spot to do his business. Think about your supervision technique and see how you can improve it. See where the mistake is and what you can do to fix it. For instance, does he have too much freedom in the house?

When training my Puggles, which is considered a hard breed to housebreak, soon as I caught one of them having an accident, I'd used a sharp voice saying, "No!" That is all you need. Then immediately, grab his leash, attach and whisk him outside.

Once outside, I would give him the cue to potty. If he finishes outside, nothing but praise and a treat. I know it is tempting to give him a stern lecture about peeing in the house, but this will only confuse him. The goal is to make it crystal clear what you want your dog to do.