Proper Correction
Under no circumstances should the puppy be punished for relieving himself in the house unless you catch him in the act. The punishment should be a verbal scolding, not physical harm.
A puppy has no mental capacity to connect your wrath with whatever he did wrong, even a few minutes earlier. If you cannot get to the pup within 2 seconds of him doing his business, then you have screwed up. Pups simply cannot put two and two together to understand why you would be mad about his peeing on the rug. It is confusing to him and you only get a puzzled whimper. You must catch him in the act, otherwise, your scolding does no good.
The old adage of rubbing a dog's nose in it is stupid. We don't do this to our kids and we should not do this to our dogs. Anyone who recommends this needs a lot more experience in dog training.
If you catch the puppy in the act of an accident, we recommend clapping your hands or picking him up to interrupt. Quickly get the pup outside to finish what he started. When he goes to the bathroom outside, make sure to give a lot of praise. We don't punish puppies for making mistakes. They don't understand the rules yet so it would be unfair to do anything other than interrupt and get them outside to their designated bathroom area.
Many people are mistakenly convinced that a dog messes in the house for spite or revenge, usually for having been left alone. This is incorrect. It is for reasons of anxiety, nervousness, or fear that he behaves this way...or simply that he is not properly housebroken. Very often, the owner comes home and finds the dog behaving in a fearful, shameful, or generally guilt-ridden manner. It is because of this that the owner is convinced the dog has messed in the house for spite. It's simply not true. The dog cringes when you come home because he associates your arrival with punishment. You have conditioned him by correcting him too severely when you came home in the past (and it only takes ONE TIME).
Some people question me about pups that are very young wanting to go out every couple of hours. This can happen when the pups are under 12 to 14 weeks. There are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Are you picking the water up at 6:30?
Are you giving the pup enough exercise to make it tired before it goes to bed?
Are you putting the pup in the crate all the time and not just at bedtime? The pup needs to learn that it must go in the crate and calm down.
If you are convinced the pup just wants to come out and play after a few hours, then ignore it. If there is a mess in the crate later on, then YOU MADE A MISTAKE, not the dog. If the pup makes too much noise, move the crate into the basement or garage with a radio or TV on.
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