Dog Training - Getting a Great Family Pet

Getting a great family pet begins with careful selection of the animal. Great care should be taken in this regard due to the growth of puppy mills that crank out cute little puppies with little emotional stability. These emotionally damaged animals can be found in pet stores in almost any city or town across the country.

Take the time to check out not only the puppy but also where the pet store obtained the animal. If there's any question, pass on a dog as the emotional trauma you and your family will experience with an emotionally scarred dog is not worth bringing a puppy home immediately after seeing them.

Another thing that you should watch out for is if the puppies are kept in the same area where they go to the bathroom. The dogs natural instinct is to keep where they live and sleep clean. If you find puppies that are being kept in cages where their bowel movements, etc. are in the same general area as where they are living, this is a big red flag. While these puppies may be fine, you run the risk of having a much more difficult, and possibly impossible time of fully housebreaking the puppy.

The reason for this is that successful house training is most effective when you use the animals' natural instincts to help associate relieving themselves with the outdoors. A properly trained dog will not relieve themselves anywhere in the home if only to keep it clean. While this may sound more than a little odd given what dogs will eat and roll around in poo, starting out with a puppy that hasn't developed bad habits will make your job of house training a lot easier.

There are many different ways of dog training available. One of the most effective ways is using a crate to limit your dogs access to the rest of your home. This is important given that a new puppy doesn't understand the roles of the home or your expectations, limiting his ability to get into trouble is really a blessing.

Don't mistake crate training for keeping your dog in a cage. A training crate is much different from a cage and the animal will consider a crate a secure place to rest versus a holding pen.

While fencing makes good neighbors, training your pet using a dog crate is the best way to quickly get them to learn your rules. Crates also typically do not have tops but are more of a containment area for your pet. By limiting your pet's ability to be out of your sight, you are much more able to be available when training opportunities arise.

Crate training is an easy and inexpensive way to train your pet. Visit the site below for much more valuable information on crate training your new family pet.

Abigail Franks and her family love dogs of all sizes. Find out now how to easily potty train your puppy by using the crate training method and other dog training tips.