PART I: Housetraining, Home-Alone, Appropriate Chewing

HOUSETRAINING
Assume your new dog or pup is not housetrained! Set him up for success. Confine him behind a secure 32 inch tall baby gate in a small tile-floored room. A kitchen is ideal, as you do NOT want the dog to feel "exiled" while confined. A training crate, used properly, is also an option. Be sure the crate is the correct size for your dog at adulthood. NEVER leave a dog crated for more than four hours at a time (overnight being the exception), and remove collars before crating -- they can get caught on the crate wire.

CONFINEMENT: MAKE IT POSITIVE
Give the dog a soft bed, a drinking water bottle or sturdy, tip-proof bowl, and several of the chew toys mentioned below. Feed each meal in the confinement area. Always make it a positive experience. Frequently send a few treats in to him. If the dog has been exercised and has recently done his bathroom business, and has chewing toys to keep him busy, he should be quiet in the confinement area. If he barks, howls or cries, ignore him. You do not want to reward this behavior. Wait until there is a pause in his noisiness before going to him while he's having a tantrum. For crating, allow the dog about a week of eating his meals in the crate and going in and out on his own before beginning to close the door. Start with closing the door a few seconds, a few minutes, 15 minutes, 1/2 hour etc. Reward him with treats and praise each time he is locked inside, but not when you let him out: be neutral then. Your goal is a dog who wants to go into the crate because he gets rewarded for doing so. While acclimating him to the crate, continue to keep the dog behind a baby gate in the kitchen when you can't watch his every move. If your dog will not accept the crate after several weeks of the above exercises, or if he injures himself trying to escape the crate, call a trainer for additional advice.

PLAN FOR SUCCESSFUL HOUSETRAINING
Most dogs will try to avoid eliminating in their small confinement area, and most dogs will need to "go" urgently soon after eating, when waking up, and after being confined for several hours. Puppies under 3 months need to go about 8 -10 times a day (every 2-3 hours)! Most adults need at least 4 bathroom breaks every day.

Take the dog from his confinement area on a leash and IMMEDIATELY go to the bathroom area outside, and say the word, "outside!" in an upbeat, happy way. Always use the same door at first. Walk around a bit and let him sniff but don't jog, play games, or do anything else until business is taken care of. If nothing happens within five minutes, simply bring the dog back to his confinement area and give him one of his chew toys or his meal to pass the time. (Meals often stimulate bowel movements, especially in puppies). Try again in 10 minutes. If the dog only urinates, give him a food treat immediately, praise him, and put him back into confinement if nothing else happens. Try again in 10-15 minute intervals. When the dog completes ALL his business, praise him lavishly, give him a food treat and immediately go for a fun walk or begin play. Most dogs will learn that for fun to begin, they have to take care of business first. If you stick with it, most dogs will catch on within about a week or two. Once your dog knows what to do outside, you can start going for bathroom trips without a leash in your fenced yard. Always vary the leash vs. no leash so your dog will use the bathroom either way. If your puppy or dog eliminates inside his crate, or seems to have trouble with housetraining, call a trainer for additional help.

Until you are CERTAIN that your dog knows why he is going outside (to do his business!) do not allow him to roam around the house without direct supervision. If you fail to supervise and the dog has an accident, simply CLEAN IT UP without a word. Punishing the dog will only teach him to fear eliminating in front of you -- inside OR outside. If he ever begins to eliminate in front of you inside the house, simply stop him with a matter-of-fact "outside!" and hustle him outside, then praise and give him a food treat if he completes his business outside.

HOME-ALONE TRAINING
Most dogs and puppies have an adjustment period in their new home. It is normal for dogs and puppies left alone in a new home to bark, whine, chew more than usual, and try to follow the departed family by attempting to escape the place where they are confined. More serious cases of separation anxiety include the above behaviors plus salivation, trembling, panting, frantic greetings and increased bowel and bladder activity, including diarrhea. Consult a trainer for this.

There are several ways to make being alone less stressful for the dog. The confinement area (mentioned above) properly set up and properly introduced, should be a place where the dog feels secure and comfortable. Here is the recipe to prevent home-alone problems from developing and helping to stop existing ones:

1. Start feeding him his meals in the confinement area. If you’re using a crate, put the bowl in the back of the crate, without shutting the door. Put lots of rewards (new toy, any treat you are giving him when you're home) in the crate and let him go in and get them. Give a quality chew toy (listed below: stuffed Kong toys, biscuits, stuffed sterilized hollow bone) when you are leaving, and put them in the confinement area.
   
2. No long goodbyes (no cuddling, no saying “Oh, be good, we’ll be home soon” etc.). Instead, simply put him in the confinement area, go about your business, and LEAVE. No exuberant hellos, either. BE NEUTRAL, as hard as it is!
   
3. Practice short coming and going sessions as outlined above during weekends and when you are home in the evening, even if he only stays in confinement for ten minutes and you go in the other room. On weekends, don’t spend every waking moment with him. Have him stay home for a few hours a day, and keep practicing the short (ten minutes) coming and going sessions. A lot of new dogs get hooked on company during weekends and then have to get used to being alone all over again when Monday comes. Unless you think there is an emergency, don’t go t him while he is barking and howling in his confinement area. Wait until there is a pause, otherwise you will train him to bark and whine for attention.
   
4. As tempting as it is, do not allow a clingy dog with possible separation anxiety issues to sleep in bed with you. Have him sleep in his own bed or in a crate in your room. He needs to be taught to be a little more independent, and sleeping glued to your side won’t help.

BURNING ENERGY
Dogs need to chew!!

Most dogs get into trouble around the house for two reasons: they were left unsupervised before being fully trained, and they have too few appropriate chew toys. Most dogs need to be confined in a chew-proofed area until they reach 18 months of age unless they are being closely supervised. Table legs, fabrics,trash cans, shoes, and pretty much anything else in the house and yard are considered by dogs to be terrific chew toys. Dogs have a natural compulsion to chew, for many hours every day! The solution: give your dog plenty of prime doggie chew toys in his confinement area (or outside of it with your supervision).

What are prime doggie chew toys? While this varies from dog to dog, there are several that are nearly always winners:

• Kong brand hollow chew toys. The secret is in the stuffing. Fill these toys with anything that is safe and healthy for the dog, and pre-freeze them for hours of chewing. Try any of the following mixed with kibble and canned food in a yummy mush: peanut butter, cheese cubes, cheese whiz, Rollover brand salami-style dog food, sliced carrots, doggie jerky treats, leftover meat from dinner, dog biscuits, spaghetti, mashed potatoes and gravy...etc!
  
• Hollow “soup” marrow-bones (from supermarket meat cases and from pet supply stores and catalogs). Stuff them the same way as you stuff the Kong toys. Warning: pit bulls and dogs with strong jaws can break these and get a digestive impaction.
  
• Cow hooves (from pet stores). They have a hollow center that can be stuffed.
  
• “Dissection” rag toys. Get a long strip of fabric (old towels, sheets, t-shirts) approx. 6 inches wide and 2 feet long. Place treats (jerky, prime dog biscuits, etc) along the strip and tie the treats inside knots along the strip.
  
• Tie double-knots around each bundle of treats, and make them really tight. This will keep most dogs busy for hours. Warning: do not give these to puppies and always supervise when introducing these, as your dog might decide to eat the fabric, too. If he does, don’t use these.
  
• Soak knotted rope toys (sold in pet stores) in chicken or beef broth and allow to dry. Again, use discretion: some dogs can unravel and ingest the rope very quickly.
  
• A kibble - dispensing ball such as Buster Cube, Tricky Treat, Roll -A -Treat or Nylabone’s Crazy Ball. These clever inventions can be filled with your dog’s dry kibble. When the dog rolls it around, pieces fall out one at a time. Rather than feeding your dog’s kibble in a bowl, feed him breakfast and dinner from one of these. This burns mental as well as physical energy!

When your dog is going to be alone, or when you can’t entertain him, give him one of the toys. Be sure to rotate the toys so they continue to be a novelty for him, and be sure to leave three or four of them, especially his favorites, if you will be gone for an entire work day.

PART I: Housetraining; Home-Alone; Appropriate Chewing
PART II: Basic Training
PART III: Exercise, Socialization, Recommended Reading