Housebreaking your Collie Part 3

Method
Keeping control of your puppy at all times during the training process is the most important lesson you must learn.

Whenever the puppy is outside of his crate, he must be attached to a six-foot leash with you attached to the other end. By doing this, the puppy will never be out of your sight or control. If the dog starts to eliminate in the house you are in the position to immediately make the proper correction. Usually a firm “NO” and quickly getting the dog outside to his elimination area will work as a correction. If you do not catch the puppy in the act, or you come across an accident, you cannot give a correction.

The correction is most effective if given while the dog is in the process of having an “accident”. If the leash is not with you when the dog is having an accident you will not be in an effective position to give a correction. It will also be difficult for the puppy to chew on inappropriate objects when they are always supervised.

When you cannot be attached to your dog he should be in his crate, even if you must leave the room for a second. Never give the dog an unsupervised opportunity to make a mistake.

Many owners are anxious about leaving their dog in a crate. Remember that dogs are denning animals and if done properly the crate can become a very nice, safe place for your dog to be when you (alpha) are not around. To teach a dog that the crate is a good place to be, we must take a few steps to ensure that a crate is a positive place for the puppy to be.

First, make sure that the crate is in a high traffic area in your home, such as a kitchen, living room or a dining room. By hi traffic, we mean someplace that the family walks through all of the time. The position of the crate in the home is important to the puppy because they are pack animals and do not want to be isolated away from the pack.

Second, we should never PUT the puppy in the crate, it is very important that they go into the crate by themselves. The crate must be a positive place for the puppy to go. Use a food treat and a command to get the puppy to go into the crate on their own for the food. Give a command such as, “Puppy kennel” and show the puppy the food and lure them into the kennel, then let them back out. Repeat until they will willingly go into the kennel for food. Always keep a jar of food close by the kennel and every time you ask the puppy to go into the kennel, they get a few kernels of their own food as a reward. If you are on a twice a day feeding schedule, you may also want t o feed your dog their daily meals in the crate. Do not leave food in the kennel. The food reward for kenneling is something you will always do for the dog even after they learn this behavior. By changing the connotation of the crate from, someplace I go when alpha leaves me to, someplace I go for food, you make the crate a positive place that the puppy will enjoy.

If you have a puppy that whines or cries in the crate when they can see or hear you, it is sometimes helpful to cover the crate with a towel or blanket. You can leave one corner open for fresh air. You may want to use a plastic crate if you use this method. It is harder for the puppy to pull the blanket into the crate. By covering the crate, you are making the den a dark quiet place.

If the dog or puppy continues to whine in the crate, be careful not to talk to them or draw attention to their behavior. Quietly walk over to the crate and pick the front end of the crate off the floor about one inch and drop it. Again do not say anything to the dog, not even a “NO” correction. By talking to the puppy, you are responding, rewarding, the whining behavior. You may have to repeat the crate drops a couple of times.

Never let the puppy out of the crate when they are whining or barking. Dogs are very intelligent creatures and they will quickly learn that by simply barking and making noise they will get out. Wait until they are quiet, and then let them out of their crate.

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