HOUSE TRAINING:
Q. What's the best way to house train my Puppy?
A. The best way is to take the Puppy out side 5 to 6 times per hour, if the Puppy is sound asleep then you don't have to wake the Puppy up to go outside, but the first 30 seconds the Puppy wakes up it has to be carried outside immediately. If you wait and let the Puppy slowly walk to the door it will stop to pee before it gets to the door. When Puppies first wake up after a nap they will pee right away. When a Puppy stands up to walk after laying down to rest or chew on it's toy it is a high possibility of it peeing after standing up. When you take the Puppy out to pee and after he goes outside, don't take the Puppy right back in, because if you do this the Puppy will learn that as soon as he goes pee he then has to go back inside, they Love to play outside so rushing him right back in will make him start to hold it longer and longer when taken outside, then you give up and go back in, then he pees your floor in 5 minutes, you then think dumb Puppy, no he knows if he goes outside you then make him go right back inside and he Loves to play outside, so give the Puppy a few minutes to play after peeing outside before you take him back in.
All of our Puppies are trained to go on pine shavings, so if you present the opportunity to get on pine shavings 5 to 6 times per hour the house training should go great for you.
Q. How do I get my Puppy to pee on command?
A. Hang a little bell by the door, take the Puppy to this bell 5 to 6 times per hour, make his nose or paw ring the bell, tell him the word you want to use for peeing/pooping outside ( The Command Word ) so you go to the door with the Puppy, ring the bell with him, say the command word, then let him smell the best treat ever . Take him outside to the Pine Shavings area, say the word command word as soon as you get to the Pine Shavings area, he will not go on command at first, but you still got to start saying your command word every time you get to the shavings. soon as he starts to go on the shavings or off of them, you say the command word one time, then when he is finished, you say the command word and give him the treat right then. You give him no treats for the first week other than for doing this. The Puppy will learn the first day that he gets the treat every time he does his business outside and only when he does this outside. The very best way of doing this is to only go inside for 2 to 5 minutes then right back outside for 10 to 15 minutes and just continue this at all times that the Puppy is awake. Some new owners want to start the first week training for 10 tricks, I say it's a mistake. The very most important training the first week is house training. Let the Puppy know the one and only way he gets the treat is doing his business outside. Your Puppy should be ringing the bell and going on command in 48 hrs or you should call me to go over your routine. Then follow this routine hard core for 1 week. Your Puppy should be fully house trained at the end of this week. Remember if the Puppy is asleep, you don't have to wake it up every few minutes, but do take him out as soon as he/she wakes up. Remember this is a big outside Dog, it isn't only going outside to take care of business, this breed is created to be outside. Let your Puppy have lots of play time outside.
Q. How do I get my Puppy Comfortable with the bell?
A. Take your bell and have your puppy play with it for sometime, this varies with each puppy on how long this will take. Hold the bell end and play tug of war with the puppy pulling on the other end, then let go...he runs....the bell makes the sound...he lets go and turns around. Do this over and over until the sound has no effect on him, sortof toss the bell around, let him grab it and play with it, walk with it dragging on the ground, now it's his favorite toy...Time to now hang it from the door handle...he will go grab his toy and shake his head, which will make the bell ring, you go to the door, say your command word and let him smell his treat, go outside straight to the shavings area. He figures this all out in 1 to 2 days easily if done correctly.
Q. Why use the bell?
A. You may be in a different room and the Puppy at the door, you have no idea he is at the door waiting to be taken outside. The Puppy can ring a bell, then you hear the bell and know he needs to go out.
Q. I know Puppies like to pee on grass but where I live it's snowy all winter, so how will I get my Puppy to pee outside?
A. The Pine Shavings like we use here is a must have item for the Puppy to pee on for the house Training. In the summer time the Puppies will pee on grass, but will go much faster on the Pine Shavings and in the Winter you sometimes have no grass, it's all covered with snow. You go outside it's very cold and the Puppy searches for the right spot to go. As you can see in all my videos I have pine shavings down. I start them out on the entire floor, then move them to one end, a puppy will wake up and run to me, then right away run down to the shavings and pee, then right back to me. You must buy a big bag of pine shavings before the Puppy arrives. If you have a dry place outside to put a big bag of pine shavings, I promise they will go in that shavings pile, but it can't be like a small area, it needs to be a large area just like they are used to here, say 4 ft. x 4 ft. or bigger. If say you must be gone for several hours a day, you can make sort of a litter box for the Puppy with these pine shavings, but it can't be a little bitty size, it needs to be quite large. The puppy will scatter some shavings throughout your house, but this is better than poop and pee throughout your house, and it still keeps them going on pine shavings. If you a car garage and it's winter, cold wind blowing, sleetings, 12 inches of snow on the ground ect... you can place a big area of the pine shavings in the garage, say a 4 ft. by 4 ft. size 2 to 3 inches deep, now you have a place to take the puppy for his house training without being out in the weather at 2am. This is not training the puppy to pee in the garage, it's about going on the shavings that are now in the garage.
Q. Where Do I Buy The Pine Shavings?
A. Tractor Supply Co. is a great place, they always have them. Most farm supply businesses have them, it's Animal bedding for horses ect...