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Chapter
ONE -
The First Step
to Litter Box Training!
AND AWAY WE
GO...................
An
affective potty training method consists of seven key
elements:
1.
Setting Up a Feeding Schedule
2.
Confinement (Crate or alternative)
3.
Training of Proper Potty Placement
4.
Timing
5.
Praise
6.
Discipline for Wrong Behavior
7.
Odor Control
#1 - Setting up
a feeding schedule:
As mentioned
before consistency is essential to training. Setting up a
consistent feeding schedule from the start will help to regulate
the dog's digestion process.
Primarily,
the type of dog food you give your dog will play a major part in
the proper digestion and according to your dog's breed, size,
age, etc.
I recommend a
top brand along the lines of Iams, Eukanuba or Science Diet as
they are the best when it comes to nutritional requirements of
dogs.
The
hard puppy food results in a firmer bowel movement whereas the
soft CAN food results in softer bowels therefore mushy messes to
have to deal with.
Rather
naturally the more a dog eats and drinks, the more often he will
have to go potty.
It
is important that once you choose a food that you stick with it
and do not change the dog's diet because you will wreak havoc on
their digestive system.
Changes
in diet can quickly lead to diarrhea in your dog.
Just for
your information if you are interested in a dog food that is
healthier for your dog......
One
night my husband made some extremely delicious meatballs and
we thought there would be no harm in sharing a meatball with
our Mishy.
In just a
couple of hours after eating she began to act lethargic and
breathing heavily.
Boy I wish
I would have had my copy of
"Veterinary Secrets Revealed" then! I could have saved
myself $60!
We decided
that we needed to take her to the doctor and since it was
later at night, the only option we had was to take her to the
pet emergency clinic.
The
on duty vet that night looked Mishy over completely and found
nothing wrong. Of course, we told him what she had eaten and
he began to expound on the negative effects table food can
have on a dog.
He actually
told us that he was able to put his daughter through college
because of the people who brought their dogs to see him who
were sick from feeding their dog table food.
Wow, what a
wake up call that was to me!
He also
informed us of the hazards of giving your dog any kind of
bones and he could not count the times he had to do surgery on
dogs who had gotten bone splinters in their stomach from bones
they had been given.
He told us
that the only table food he feeds his own dog is......pizza
bones.....which means plain pizza crust.
He
also added that 75% of the stomach problems and surgeries he
has done on dogs has been due to people feeding them table
food.
Set up a
feeding schedule that you can easily follow.
Allow your
dog 15 to 20 minutes to eat, then pick up the food and water
dish.
This will
teach your dog to eat when it is time and not to play around.
It will also
greatly assist housetraining because most dogs have a bowel
movement up to an hour after eating.
The younger
the dog the quicker the bowel movement and after meals is one
of the primary times to train your dog to go potty in the
proper place.
DO
NOT leave food out all the time, this will greatly distort
your potty training. Your dog will going potty all day long.
Below is a
suggested feeding schedule:
0- 6 months -
feed 3X - Morning, noon and evening
6-12 months -
feed 2X - Morning and early evening
1 year and
over - feed 1X
Water is
necessary for your dog but during the housetraining
process you will want to restrict the water intake to only
certain times on a schedule that you decide.
After
housebreaking is complete your dog may have as much water
as he wants.
Do the
following until your dog is completely litter box trained:
· Feed
him only one kind of food, preferably a hard puppy
food.
·
Keep a regular
feeding schedule
·
Put his food
and water down only for 15-20 minutes then put it away
· Do
not give him treats or table food