Puppy Toilet Training - The Power of Positive Reinforcement

Before your puppy comes home you should have decided on the puppy toilet training method you are going to use as the homecoming is the best time to set a precedent for your puppy's toilet behavior. Whichever approach you have selected to potty train puppy it is vital that this training begins as soon as you bring them to your house.

Two techniques often used are the paper method and crate training. Both have advantages and disadvantages however both are made more successful by using positive reinforcement. Said simply it involves rewarding behavior you wish to see recur and ignoring other behaviors.

Your puppy desires to please you and when positive reinforcement is utilized lessons are likely to be reinforced and stick more. For instance using a type of positive reinforcement if a puppy goes to the toilet on some newspaper will be more effective than the simple repetition of putting puppy on the paper.

To be most effective you must use meaningful rewards and vary the sort of reward you utilize. A pat on top of the head may become boring and in fact most dogs don't enjoy a hand descending on their heads therefore you should employ different incentives to encourage the right behavior. Primary incentives for a dog are food treats and physical affection.

You will potty train puppy faster using such incentives but be careful with the quantity of food treats you use. A dog will still pay attention to a small treat and the training will be just as effective with a small treat as with a large one. If you can find puppy's favorite treat then giving smaller quantities to strengthen the good behavior will be very effectual. Trainers have in addition discovered that puppies respond better when given treats sporadically. Overuse can cause puppy to grow tired of the treat so intermittent and sporadic works better than giving a treat in every instance.

It is also vital to employ the right timing when giving treats. You have to reward at the moment your puppy exhibits the correct behavior. This means your puppy knows precisely what the reward is for. Even a short delay will render the reward ineffective and may have the reverse effect as the puppy can be rewarded for the wrong behavior. The rule is treat at the moment the right behavior occurs but remember that when toilet training puppy let them finish eliminating so they don't get distracted!

The effectiveness of the puppy toilet training method you employ will be greatly improved employing positive reinforcement. The more attention you concentrate on the required behavior the clearer the correlation your puppy will make between behavior that gets a reward and that which receives no response at all. Your toilet training will be faster and more pleasant for your puppy and you.

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