House-Training Your Puppy

Your dog must be house-trained, and this job should begin as soon as you bring him home. Diligence during the first two or three weeks will surely pay off. Housetraining your Collie should be a relatively easy job, since the breed is so smart and trainable.

Every time your puppy wakes up from a nap, he should be quickly taken outside. Watch him and praise him Good boy! when he urinates or defecates. Give him a pat on the head and take him back inside. He may have a few accidents but, with the appropriate No from you, he will quickly learn that it is better to go outside and do his job than to do it on the kitchen floor and be scolded. When correcting a dog, remember there is one golden rule: catch him in the act. Scolding him an hour after you find your stained Oriental carpet will do your pup no service. Catch him in mid-piddle, however, and he'll get your message.

You will soon learn the habits of your dog. However, at the following times it is essential to take your dog out: when he gets up in the morning, after he eats, before he goes to bed and after long naps. As he matures, he will only have to go out three or four times a day. Some dogs will go to the door and bark when they want to be let out and others will nervously circle around. Watch and learn from his signs.

Crate training, of course, is the most efficient way to housebreak a Collie pup. Accustom the puppy to the crate on his first day in your home. Since dogs instinctively want to keep their crates tidy, they will not soil their crates. This theory goes back to the ancient canines life in a den. Dogs do not mess where they eat or sleep. Its actually that simple. What complicates crate training is also simple: you! Inexperienced dog owners associate the crate not with a dogs den but with the federal penitentiary or a furriers trapping device! I can't lock my baby up! Its so cruel to see him trapped in that little cage. Remember, dogs don't hate crates, owners do. Give your Collie pup a day or two to adjust to his crate and you will save you and him years of frustration.

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