Dogs do not come into the world having polite manners, so don’t expect your family pet to abide by the house training rules that it doesn’t know yet. Dog training is a process that takes time and repetition. Management and training will be necessary to keep your dog out of trouble while it’s learning how to behave properly.
While teaching your dog good manners, you’ll also need to find ways to prevent it from engaging in undesirable dog behavior that might turn into bad habits.
If you let your untrained dog have free run of the house, it will potty in all the wrong places, it may begin destructive chewing, steal unwatched food from tables and counters, pull curtains down, dig holes in the flower garden and maybe run onto the road. Dogs don’t know any better until they’re taught more appropriate actions.
Begin by limiting your dog’s access to places where it might secretly misbehave. Don’t allow it to have the full run of your home until it’s completely house trained and has learned what’s appropriate to chew and what isn’t. Keep the dog in the same room you’re in, so you can watch it carefully and prevent messy, dangerous, costly mistakes.
A proactive approach will give your dog the opportunity to get used to your general household routine and to practice the good dog behaviors you are teaching it. If the dog tries to slip away when you get distracted, either block the doorway with baby gates, or leash your dog to your belt to keep it with you. During times when no one is available to keep an eye on the dog, confine it in an enclosed puppy-proofed area, either indoors or outdoors.
Keep Training Consistent
Dog training can be fun and fulfilling for the entire family, or it can be fraught with frustration. Which way it goes depends on how consistently you and your family keep the dog on track. The best way to be consistent is to decide on a set of rules everyone in the family can follow and get the family positively involved in your dog’s training.
Raising a great canine family companion isn’t a job for just one person. It takes a cooperative family to raise and train a well-behaved dog. Dog training is a family affair.
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