Puppy Housetraining and Socialisation

Between the ages of 4 and 12 weeks puppies are particularly amenable to training. This is a vital period of development when the puppy is learning about the world for the very first time. Impressions and habits learned now form the basis of a dog's character and habits for the rest of his life. Behaviour can be learned much more easily at this young age than later - because the puppy's brain is very receptive to new things, and because old patterns of behaviour do not have to be unlearned. Clearly this a golden opportunity for some basic training, especially housetraining and socialisation.

 The term socialisation just means helping the puppy to learn how to deal with life, and how to interact with just about everything from other pets to farm animals, from seagulls and waves on the beach to town centre traffic, from the vet to members of your family. Good manners start at this age.

Letting the puppy see and get used to potentially frightening things at an early age allows him or her to learn that they're not a threat and that's important because when they're older, fear can turn to aggression. Pups need to learn to respond in an appropriate way so that chasing wildlife or nibbling the vet can be reprimanded, while good manners with the family cat can be praised.

If puppies are taken out of the house before their vaccination courses are complete, they should be carried as necessary to prevent coming into contact with dogs which haven't been vaccinated and with areas of ground where parvovirus or leptospirosis organisms may be present.

Patience is the key to housetraining. Never punish a puppy for soiling inside - the puppy may learn to get attention in this inappropriate way. Here are some basic points.

• Puppies instinctively urinate and defecate away from the nest. Make a nest from a box or dog basket to take advantage of this fact.
• In general, take the puppy outside every 1-2 hours, preferably to the same place set aside for toileting. Do this immediately.....
  • ....after a meal. Eating stimulates the gastro-intestinal tract and puppies will often defecate just afterwards. (For this reason don't feed after 6pm or night time accidents are more likely).
  • ....if the puppy shows signs of wanting to go - whimpering, restlessness, sniffing the floor, going to the door. Don't make a fuss of the pup, just put it straight out and ignore it or it may learn to do this behaviour just to gain attention.
  • ....first thing in the morning.
• Once outside ignore the pup and be patient.
• If successful use a password immediately such as 'busy' - when the pup learns to associate the word with urination / defecation, it will then stimulate the action. Give lots of reward and praise with fuss / a titbit / a game etc.
• If unsuccessful take the pup inside - and be extra vigilant!