Having a new puppy in your home is a very exciting and very challenging time for most folks and families. The average breeder has weaned and begun to let puppies leave for their new homes at about 8 weeks of age. This is very much like tending a baby, as dogs this young not only have very small bladders, they are for the most part unable to have much control over bladder and bowel functions. They require much care and almost constant supervision at this age.

Many folks do not understand how immature a puppy is at this age and assume when house breaking problems arise, the puppy is stupid or difficult to train. Chloe is a 2 year old chocolate lab, much loved by her family and very easy to train, this is because of the amount of love she is given by her family. You see, Chloe, like any other dog, will do anything to please the people she loves. The first lesson Chloe was given was her house breaking, she was kept outside the first time she came home until she went to the bathroom.

During the first weeks with the mother, she teaches her pups that the bedroom is off limits and shows them the appropriate place for elimination. One of the quickest and easiest ways to begin house training is to take advantage of these early lessons, and the pups instinct for cleanliness and keep him in a crate when you are not able to supervise. These come in all different shapes and sizes and should be big enough for him when he is grown.

The full grown dog should be able to stand and turn around. Although many come with a divider panel to use for the young pup, if yours does not you can use plastic to divide his crate. The theory on this is if he has too much room, he will assume on his own, that half is for sleeping and the other half is for elimination. So make sure the crate is small enough inside that he can not make that assumption.

This took the efforts of several family members but it showed her where she was allowed to go. When she was finally taken into the house, she was watched closely and whenever she started sniffing around she was taken back outside again. At night she was put in a box next to her owners bed, where she was kept when there was no one available to watch her. She was taken outside just before they went to bed and as soon as they got up in the morning.

When they left home, if they could not take her with them, she was again taken outside to go to the bathroom and put in the box, as soon as they returned she was again taken outside. This took a few days and there were accidents but she soon learned that if she went to the door, she could go outside and take care of her business.

Teaching her to sit was her second lesson, her owner would sit on the floor and play with her, teaching her to sit was a combination of holding her toy up above her head, at this point she would sit down to keep the toy in her site. She would also tell her to sit

while gently pushing on her hind quarters. When she was successful she was praised and loved on, she learned this one very quickly too.

Her third lesson was to lie down, again on the floor with Chloe, her owner would tell her to sit, when she was in the sitting position, she would then tell her to lie down and gently pull her front legs out and push her front end down. What this family now has is a very well trained dog which everyone enjoys having around.