Welcoming home a new puppy is one of the greatest experiences in your life.
All the preparation and excitement before you even have the puppy is so cheerful and full of expectations.
Am I right?
And when your new four-legged friend comes into your home for the first time, you can’t take your eyes and attention off of him. Everything seems so cute and funny with him that you get the overload of joy and happiness in no time.
But here comes the most unpleasant part of it all:
The first few weeks are the most important part of the puppy’s life. He is getting used to his new home and learning what it means for him to be a dog.
Every dog needs to know his role in everyday life of living together with you and your family. How can he know what he has to do if we are not teaching and guiding him to know those things?
So we gathered a few of the most common mistakes that new dog parents make when getting a new puppy.
Here they are.
(I have added an easy puppy house training video link at the end, to help you understand the basics)
1. Leaving the puppy wherever
Having a puppy is similar to having a baby.
You have to pay him a lot more attention than an adult dog. As he’s just a baby that is now separated from his mother, he has to be watched all the time.
The most common thing people are doing is leaving the baby unsupervised, which can lead to destroyed furniture, pee and poop everywhere, trauma, and even anxiety formation.
This leads to various behavioral problems that people find difficult to correct afterward.
But it is easier to deal with them before they are even formed.
Solution:
Before having a dog prepare a safe space for him, his little area.
The best thing to do is to have a crate and train the puppy from day one.
It is a place where they can feel safe and be alone to rest. It also helps to reduce anxiety.
Check the video at the end for easy crate training tips.
This article may help if you want to learn How to Crate Train Your Dog in 9 Easy Steps.
2. Chaotic potty training
One of the first things to teach your new puppy is potty manners.
Dogs are really smart when it comes to doing their business.
You just need a few days to teach your puppy to go to the potty outside, but many new owners struggle to do so.
Why?
Because puppies have small bladders. You have to take them outside almost every half an hour and even then there’s no guarantee that they won’t pee inside.
A strict schedule can be your lifesaver, but remember to be patient as this skill comes with time.
At the end video, you can also check easy potty training tips for your puppy.
3. Sleeping together with a puppy
It may seem cute to sleep together with your puppy, but as cute as it may seem, it can lead to serious obedience problems.
Having those clear lines that show the dog where he can and cannot sleep is one of the many things that helps the puppy understand his place and role in the family.
From these situations, many dogs think that they are one of the humans, therefore, they are one of the bosses.
4. Not paying enough attention to health checkups
Many new dog owners don’t know the simplest dog health care, which must be done at home.
One of those things is deworming your dog.
It’s a simple thing that anyone can do, but not everyone knows that it has to be done.
In the first weeks of having a puppy, you need to make an appointment with your vet and have the needed shots. It’s important to have an overall checkup every year if possible.
On the first visit, you can ask your vet to show you the simplest health care tips and tricks that you can do at home, also that’s a great way how to accustom a puppy to the human touch.
Also, having a pet first aid kit at home is an essential tool for any responsible pet owner.
Whether it's a minor injury, such as a cut or scrape, or a more serious emergency, a pet first aid kit can help you provide quick and effective care for your furry friend. In an emergency situation, time is of the essence, and having a well-stocked first aid kit on hand can make all the difference in helping to stabilize your pet until professional veterinary care can be obtained.
Some common items to include in a pet first aid kit are bandages, gauze, scissors, tweezers, a rectal thermometer, hydrogen peroxide, and a pet-friendly antiseptic.
By being prepared with a pet first aid kit, you can ensure that you are ready to respond quickly and effectively in case of an emergency, giving you peace of mind and the best chance of a positive outcome for your pet.
5. The dog is not accustomed to a human touch
As I mentioned before, you can ask your vet to show you the simplest ways to accustom your puppy to human touch.
It’s a serious matter when it comes to communication with people.
You have to train your dog to have a great experience with everyone – humans and dogs.
The best way is to touch your dog’s paws, ears, teeth, and mouth and make it a game. You can give your dog treats for letting you touch and check out all of his areas.
This will help you in the future when going to the vet and also when you have to, for example, trim your dog’s nails at home.
6. Not starting the dog training right away
As a new dog owner, you always believe that you will have the perfect dog that will know the basic laws of actually being a dog, but that happens rarely.
You always make excuses that he’s just a puppy and when he will get older he will learn and change.
BUT it’s not happening.
Making those small, but important training steps with your puppy can make your life much easier. All you have to do is to do your research and find the perfect dog trainer in your area or the best dog training course online that clicks with you and your dog.
Here is our previous blog on how to find the perfect dog trainer.
Also, enrichment dog toys can be a big help in training your puppy.
7. Depending on cotton pee pads
Every dog owner knows that the easiest way is to buy some cotton pee pads and they would do all the work for you.
That’s not right.
I agree that they are an inexpensive way how to deal with the potty problem during the early puppy stage, but we all know that they are nothing like the natural grass, wood, or leaves that dogs tend to pee on.
Puppies can’t tell the difference between a cotton pee pad and your rug or your bed if he’s allowed to be on the bed. They learn to feel the difference with their paw pads, and when they’re on your white rug or different soft surfaces in your home, they automatically assume that they’re on their pee pad that you have marked as a toilet for them.
So get them off as soon as possible or use some other alternative, if you don’t want your dog to pee all over your house.
Two great pee pads that we have tried and love is the Doggie Lawn and Bark Potty.
They both have the advantage of having an “outdoor” potty at your home. It’s a great way for how a puppy can get used to the natural odors from the real bark and grass that makes dogs want to “go”.
8. Leaving puppy home alone for too long
Moving to a new home and separation from a mother is enough stress for a young puppy, leaving them alone for too long can create a chain reaction, which can lead to serious behavioral problems.
They may sleep a lot, but they feel a human presence in the house. As they’re not used to being alone they can form separation anxiety.
And as you walk out of the door they can immediately feel that they are left alone. This makes them stressed even more and they can start chewing things, barking, howling, and so on.
Getting them used to being alone slowly is the best thing to do.
Also leaving more chewing toys and stuffing them with treats can help to overcome the fear.
How long can puppies “hold it”?
If you want to be sure that he doesn’t pee inside the house take him outside every hour, or every time he wakes up from a nap.
According to Orvis News the hours that puppies can usually ‘hold it’ is their age in months plus one.
8 weeks old (2 months) – 3 hours
12 weeks old (3 months) – 4 hours
16 weeks old (4 months) – 5 hours
20 weeks old (5 months) – 6 hours
24 weeks old (6 months) – 7 hours
28 weeks old (7 months) – 8 hours
How do you stop a dog from peeing and pooping in the house?
Having a schedule is the key.
Set a routine that helps your dog to understand when he can go and do his business.
It also helps if you take your dog to the same potty place every time. It helps with the understanding of where the potty places are.
How long does it take for a dog to be potty trained?
It usually takes 4-6 months to fully house train a puppy, but it can be done quicker or it may take longer depending on the consistency and your patience.
Does rubbing a dog's nose in Pee work?
No.
It’s an old myth that you have to rub a dog's nose so he would understand what he did, but it doesn’t work that way.
If you catch them on the spot then the dog may understand that that’s not the place where to do his business, but he would probably learn to fear you and may hide from you when he has to “go”.
Dogs don’t remember what they did a few hours ago, so coming home and screaming at them for something they have no clue about is going to get you nowhere.
Click here to watch an easy puppy house training video