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When it comes to dog training, one of the most important, and high priority training sections is house training your dog. With a new puppy coming into the house this is slightly easier as your puppy will know no other way and grow into the surroundings, but with a re-housed dog this can be difficult considering that you don’t know the dog’s history and fears which could trigger them into fouling up your house.   The first thing you must do is predict when your dog is likely to need the toilet. This isn’t that hard to do, because it will follow a predictable routine. They will normally need the toilet about 10 – 15 minutes after they have eaten their dinner. Other occasions that can lead to a toilet break will be after they have awoken from a sleep, after a long play session with plenty of energy burnt, and also after an exciting event such as having visitors call at the house to get them worked up. All dogs have their own mannerisms, but generally speaking when that times comes look out for them to sniff around an area repeatedly, maybe circle a specific area, and start to squat somewhere in the house. Once you pick up on these traits it will greatly ease the rest of this dog training program.
When you get the correct signs that your dog need to go to the toilet, encourage them outside to your desired spot and use a trigger phrase that you can use specifically for this event. I personally use the ‘be quick’ command, but it can be anything that suits your own dog training style. When they do go praise them while they are doing it, and when they are finished step up your enthusiasm and make a big deal of your praise with a good treat so your dog is in no doubt what they did right and will repeat it on the same trigger word.
There will be times when you won’t be there when your dog needs to go. On these occasions make sure your dog is left where you don’t mind them fouling, so no damage is done in your dog training program.
As hard as it sounds, one thing you can’t do is punish your dog for messing in the house. You must attempt to train them out of it instead. If you punish your dog for fouling in the house you will make them fearful of going to the toilet and therefore you dog training will go into reverse. The result of this will be that your dog will go to the toilet in concealed areas like under the stairs and will make this part of your dog training very difficult. A common theme as way of a punishment is to put your dog’s nose in any mess they do. If you watch any dog after they go to the toilet they will happily sniff around the area themselves so doing this as a punishment will not aid your dog training in any way.
For more great dog training tips and other pet care advice check out the link provided.  

Two injured battling city house fire: Appliance blamed for fire; family had no insurance; family dog perishes inside
A Marietta family lost their home and pet, and two city firefighters were injured in a blaze that destroyed a house at 120 Elmwood Ave. late Wednesday afternoon.

Read more on The Marietta Times

The sooner you potty train your puppy the better. You want to establish good habits from the start. And, a dog who has never gone potty in the house will never consider the house a place *to* go potty. I’ve always found the puppies we purchased from actual working farms (NOT puppy farms) were the easiest to house-train. They only ever wanted to go potty on grass or hay – as they had only ever gone in the barn or outside. They frequently wouldn’t even go potty in a parking lot – we’d need to find grassy areas on the way home for them to go potty.

Here are some house training tips that will help – as long as you follow them consistently:

1. Closely supervise your pup while potty training. Do not let your puppy out of your sight while he is loose in your house! Watch him as though you were babysitting a very young child who could/would get in trouble if you didn’t watch them. A puppy is the same as a toddler in this respect. Keep your puppy in a crate to keep him out of trouble when you can’t attentively watch him.

If you see your puppy starting to sniff around, take him outside (or to the selected potty area) right away. If you’d like the potty area to be outside – try to make the area outside from the start; and if for any reason you can’t make the area outside from the start at least make the area near the door. This way when you are ready to house train to outside you can bring your pup outside whenever you see him beginning to sniff around near the door. *When you can’t supervise your un-trained dog, keep him in a crate*. Be sure you have the proper size crate too. Your pup should be able to stand up and turn around – but no larger. If you bring your pup with you to purchase the crate, the store personnel should be able to help you select the correct size. Some people have tied their dog’s leash to their waist while potty training – but you still need to *pay attention*. (I once told my daughter that her puppy potty training problem was that she wasn’t paying enough attention. She phoned one day to tell me that I must be right – her puppy had two accidents that day – both on her foot!)

2. If you find your puppy going potty in the wrong place interrupt him by saying “NO!” in a sharp tone of voice- then immediately take him to the proper place to finish. (If you don’t catch him – you aren’t watching closely enough.) It could help to put the paper towel you clean the mess with where you want him to potty- so that he will have the scent there. Be sure to *thoroughly* clean and de-odorize the area where he pottied in the house. Use special products made for this purpose – or he will go there again. In fact, watch him *extra closely* and/or take him to his potty place when he starts sniffing around those areas.

3. Pick a potty place that is free of distractions. No playing of any kind until the pup has gone potty. Do NOT turn potty time into play time until after he goes potty. When he does go potty give him a treat and then PLAY with him. Reward him lavishly and immediately!

4. Set a schedule. Keeping a routine will help to establish good habits. Control when your puppy eats and drinks. Feed your puppy 3 times a day when you first bring him home (or as your breeder recommends). You can decrease this to one or two times a day as he gets older. Be sure he always has fresh water to drink. Take your puppy to his potty area about once an hour – and always take him to his potty area within 10 minutes after he eats or drinks, wakes up, and after exercise or play. Permit absolutely no playing or distractions until he has ‘done his business’. Once he has gone potty you can begin to take him outside about once an hour for a very young puppy – and extend the time between ‘potty breaks’ as your pup gets older and firmly forms good house training habits. But be sure to *watch your pup carefully* whenever he isn’t either confined or in an ‘OK to potty’ area.

5. Reward your puppy as soon as he does go potty in the appropriate location. Give him a bit of a very tasty special treat. Tell him, “Yes! Good boy!” And play with him! Make the moment he goes potty the moment the fun and good stuff begin. Dogs love good stuff; and they will usually do whatever they need to do to get it. So all you really need to do is to make sure your dog knows what you expect of him – what it takes to get the ‘good stuff’.

This is a lot of work at first until the habits are formed. But really, it is the most effective– and sometimes the only- way that it can be done. Be sure to take your puppy outside as much as possible to increase his opportunity to eliminate outdoors. If he doesn’t go outside do NOT take your eyes off him when you bring him in. Most importantly: lavishly praise, reward, and play with him when he does go outside. With the use of patience, persistence, consistence, and lavish reward – you will both succeed! For more free dog training information, advice, and tips, as well as free information on dog care, puppy care, dog health & nutrition, and free canine cuisine recipes visit: http://www.e-dog-training.com.

Bissell debuts Pet Spot to house Innovation Center employees’ dogs during workday
Space also aims to inspire employees working on company’s line of pet-related home cleaning products.

Read more on The Grand Rapids Press

In terms of dog training, house training is one of the areas of dog ownership and one of the most common dog training problems that is most subject to misunderstanding, confusion, and just plain dread boy dog owners and even dog training experts.

In today’s dog training article we are going to examine and learn how to deal with two of the most common problems surrounding the issue of house training your dog:

- Submissive and excited urination

- Scent marking behavior

Common house training problem #1: Submissive and excited urination

What is it a ‘submissive urinator’?

A ‘submissive urinator’, in dog training terms, is a dog that urinates on the floor and himself (and sometimes on you or any guests you may have!) in situations of extreme excitement or stress, like when you return home at the end of the work day or when the dog is being told off for some bad behavior.

Why does this happen?

Puppies are the most usual candidates for submissive/excited urination, but it is also not uncommon to see this behavior in adult dogs as well. Usually, these are highly sensitive and timid dogs, and/or ones from a shelter/with a history of abuse (often these last two go hand-in-hand and one of most common things we see as dog training professionals.)

When does it happen?

Situations which are likely to trigger an excited/fearful dog to urinate:

- Greeting time after a prolonged absence of owner

- Play time where a dog gets too excited

- The arrival of guests (particularly unknown guests)

- Stressful situations at home, eg arguments involving owner

- During a behavior correction such as you’re telling him off

- Sudden and unexpected loud noises such as thunder or fireworks

What can I do about it?

Luckily as dog training experts will tell you, it is not difficult to prevent your dog from doing his submissive or excited urination.

Firstly and most importantly, you should take him to the vet to make sure there is no unknown medical reason for the issue (such as diabetes or a hidden bladder infection.)

Next, it’s time to take use good dog training techniques to control the problem:

- Try to limit his intake of water to help him control his bladder more effectively, this is very important. Don’t restrict his water intake over a prolonged period of time, but if you know there is a situation coming which would normally result in a loss of bladder control, for example, you have guests coming over, or are planning on a play session soon, take his water bowl away for a period of time (maybe half an hour to an hour) before the event.

- When greeting your dog, keep it calm and mellow. The more excited he is, the harder it is for him to control his bladder, so don’t encourage him to get worked up: ignore him for the first few moments, or give him a very neutral “hello”, a quick and gentle pat, and then go about making yourself at home.

- It’s important that you DO NOT punish or harshly correct your dog for this behavior. It is not something that he can easily control, and he’s certainly not doing it on purpose. Punishing a dog for this behavior can cause emotional distress and lead to more problems for you and the dog in the long run. When you catch him in the act, you can interrupt him (a firm “No!” followed by praise when he stops should suffice) but don’t punish him. Keep your cool, and try to be sympathetic: he doesn’t mean to do it, after all!

- If he urinates out of fear (submissiveness) when scolding him for another offense, try to take the stress levels down a notch by keeping a firm, authoritative, but not angry tone. Remember, you’re dealing with a sensitive, highly-strung dog: if you get angry or worry him further, the problem will worsen.

Common house training problem #2: Scent marking

In dog training terms ‘Scent marking’ is where a dog ‘marks’ his or her territory with urine. Technically this is not actually a house training problem, since it’s based on the dog training issues of dominance and territoriality rather than insufficient house training. A dog can be perfectly house trained but still feel the need to mark inside the house.

However, because – since the problem centers around the unwanted presence of urine in the house – it seems logical, in a way, to link this problem with house training. Since this is one of the most widespread problems among dog owners, we as dog training professionals thought it worthwhile to include some practical advice.

Scent marking and lack of house training: how to differentiate between the two

Your dog is most likely scent marking their territory, rather than genuinely relieving himself, if:

- The amount of urine produced is relatively small, and tends to be directed against vertical surfaces such as doors, walls or furniture.

- If your dog is an unneutered male and at least five or six months old. Unneutered dogs are much more territorial than neutered ones. If you have an unneutered dog in the house, you can pretty much expect a certain amount of scent marking as he defines his own areas. It should also be noted that unspayed females also mark, but it is much less common. Spayed and neutered dogs can also exhibit marking behavior, but it’s relatively rare but should not be discounted.

- It makes little difference how often he is taken outside for a toilet break

- He frequently targets items that are new to the house such as new possessions, guest clothing/footwear, etc that do not carry some form of his scent

- You live in a multi-dog household and there is conflict between two or more of the dogs. In this case it is a dominance issue between the two and they may both mark.

- There are other, unneutered or unspayed pets in the house

What to do about the problem?

From a dog training perspective the first thing you need to do is spay or neuter your dog(s) as soon as you possibly can. If you can do this early enough, ideally, at six months of age, this often halts marking altogether. If this is not possible or if your dog’s been marking for a prolonged period of time, he or she may continue to do so after being spayed or neutered, since a pattern of behavior will have been established.

Ensure you clean soiled areas thoroughly. Use a non-ammonia based cleaner, because it smells just like pee, and stay away from vinegar too, it smells similar to pee as well. Oxi-Clean mixed with warm water is particularly effective on these areas and there are also plenty of commercial cleaners designed specifically to lift pet stains and odors, which you can buy from pet stores and some supermarkets.

Because dogs tend to re-mark the same places, you’ll need to redefine the places that you know he’s marked to prevent repeat offending.

Many dog training experts will recommend the following ways to do this:

- Feed him next to or on top of the spot

- Play with him there

- Groom him there

- Put his bed over or next to it

- Spend time there yourself: hang out with a book or sit down and work

Finally, one particular aspect of dog training that is often overlooked is if there is rivalry between dogs in the household. In this case you will need to take steps to resolve it. Any conflict is likely to be hierarchical in nature (a ‘power struggle’), which means that all you have to do to stop the tension is pay attention to which dog seems to be more dominant than the other one (which one eats first, gets the toys he/she wants, ‘stares down’ another dog), and reinforce this position to establish the hierarchy.

So how do you do this? From a dog training perspective it is relatively simple. First, feed the dominant dog first. Pet him/her first. Give him/her a toy before anyone else gets one. This makes it clear to all dogs in the house which one really is the dominant dog. When this hierarchy’s been recognizably established, territorial and dominant behaviors like scent marking often vanish overnight.