Most hunters who own hunting dogs treat the dogs not as a tool to use on the hunt, but as friends and companions who live with them every day. If your dog is living in your home with you, you’ve probably realized that these gun dogs also make great pets. In order to keep it that way, though, proper training for living in your home is a must.
A hunting dog that behaves in the home isn’t hard to achieve, it requires a lot of love, patience and repetition! If you were able to train your hunting dog to do his job in the field, you can easily use that training to teach him to be as good in the house. When any dog is a puppy, you’ll find their attention span is rather short – this is why it’s important to use repetition when training them – they forget very quickly what you taught them, but before you know it, they’ll be doing many of the things you’ve trained them to do by a force of habit. Regardless of your dogs age, you want them to learn that it’s not appropriate for them to ruin your furniture, it’s not appropriate for them to use the house as a bathroom and of course other habits that all dogs can create. For many, this is accomplished quickly and humanely but using the crate training method.
There are many people who don’t agree with crate training. They think that it is mean and cruel to have your dog in an enclosed area. This is very untrue. Dogs have different preferences than humans. They enjoy being in smaller area, it gives them a sense of being safe and secure. This is what a dog crate does for your dog, considering it is done properly.
Crate size is extremely important to your dogs well being – they must be able to stretch their full body out in the laying down position, they should be able to stand naturally (i.e. no hunching) and they should be able to make a complete circle in the crate. Hunting Dogs will usually require a medium or a large crate when their full grown – but don’t make the mistake of getting one too big or the dog may decide that part of it is for use as a bathroom. However, if the crate is too small, the dog will not be happy with his cramped quarters. Keep in mind that you can use readily available dividers in a large crate to make it the right size for a puppy meaning you won’t have to buy a new crate as your puppy grows to adulthood. It’s important that you remember that dogs will seldom use the area where they’re going to sleep as a bathroom, making the crate ideal.
Obviously, your dog cannot be locked in that crate all day, every day. The crate is for when you are not around to supervise your dog’s behavior, such as while you’re at work or sleeping. It’s essential that you let your dog out to potty and for exercise. Especially so with gun dog breeds as they are highly energetic. To get your dog used to the idea of going outside to do his business, take him for walks or take him outside repeatedly, every half hour or so, until he goes. Then reward him for going. It doesn’t take long, even for a puppy, to understand this behavior.
Speaking of puppies, remember that they do not have the control of an adult dog and will probably have accidents inside their crate. First and foremost, do not berate or punish your puppy for this as it sends a mixed message that puppy won’t understand. Instead, put puppy in a safe area and clean up the mess. Make sure that puppy doesn’t see you cleaning up, as this also sends the wrong message.If you have a puppy, you must understand that they don’t have the control like adult dogs, and can’t go for as long without having a bathroom break either.
With this being said, a puppy will have accidents in the crate. It is important that you don’t scold or punish the puppy, because this will make him relate to crate to a punishment. Remove the puppy and place him somewhere where it is safe and he is confined, such as a bathroom. This way the puppy doesn’t see you cleaning the mess up, because this will tell your puppy that having an accident is okay, and you will just clean it up.
Dogs love routine and learn more quickly when they are on a “schedule” for learning. So take your dog outside at about the same time every day. Make sure that the dog is inside the crate whenever you aren’t there and that he gets exercised at about the same time daily as well. This routine will make the training process go much quicker and much more smoothly.
Crate training is the easiest, fastest, and most human way to teach a house break a dog and to teach a hunting dog to behave indoors.
Posted under dog health, puppies
This post was written by admin on January 28, 2009
