Puppy Housebreaking Does Not Have To Be All That Hard
Puppy Housebreaking and Housetraining Procedures and Methods - Working Toward a Housebroken GSD
Puppy housebreaking should start just as soon as you bring your German Shepherd puppy home - and it is the best way to teach your GSD puppy to go outside when it has to relieve itself. How long does it take - puppy housetraining? The easiest answer is: as long as puppy housebreaking takes. I had one German Shepherd puppy that housetrained herself pretty much in just over 3 days, and I have had others that took closer to 2 weeks.
German Shepherd puppies are different and not all can be housetrained in the same amount of time. Time of GSD puppy housetraining can easily vary from puppy to puppy. Additionally, keep in mind that eventhough this article deals primarily with German Shepherd puppies (due to the focus of this web site) that many of these housetraining techniques can also be used with most other puppy breeds.
When you get your GSD puppy home the first day, start puppy housebreaking him immediately. After he has been briefly introduced to his home and new surroundings, give him a drink of water and immediately take him outside to relieve himself. Take the GSD puppy to the area you chose before bringing him home. Remember, choice of this housebreaking spot is crucial as it enhances the housetraining - so take careful consideration of where "the housebreaking spot" is before bringing your German Shepherd puppy home.
There is a direct correlation between the time you actually put into the puppy housebreaking process and the speed in which the housebreaking of the German Shepherd Dog puppy successfully occurs.
This is a very crucial puppy housebreaking step so be patient and wait until the German Shepherd puppy relieves himself. It may take a while especially with all the new things happening to your GSD puppy, all the new smells, unfamiliar objects, etc. Do not play with the GSD puppy however until after it has "done it's business". If you do it may make the puppy forget about going at all. Since housebreaking is all new to the German Shepherd puppy it doesn't know what it's purpose of being in "the housebreaking spot" is in the first place.
As soon as your GSD puppy finishes, praise it excitedly and immediately take him inside. From that point on, take the German Shepherd puppy to the same housebreaking spot each time and encourage him with a command such as "go potty", "hurry up" or whatever you choose. Be consistent using this single command only with the process of puppy housebreaking so that the German Shepherd puppy will learn to associate this act with the command. This will be a huge help in the future, especially when in a new environment or location when traveling, visiting relatives/friends, etc. Being completely housebroken and completely reliable is the final outcome you are looking for.
You must watch them like a hawk at all times - in the beginning of housebreaking especially. If you can not keep an eye on your German Shepherd puppy for some reason please put them in a safe and secure puppy proofed spot (such as a crate or some other small room with easy to clean floors, such as linoleum, closed off with a baby gate so you can peek in as needed). If you are consistent in your puppy housebreaking in the very beginning, ESPECIALLY when it is inconvenient to you (late at night, while you are watching your favorite TV show, etc.), you will actually help the German Shepherd puppy housebreak itself to alert you when it "has to go".
A GSD puppy should be taken out immediately (to a prearranged housebreaking area outside):
when it wakes up first thing in the morning (before if you manage to get up before the puppy),
after each and every meal,
after each and every nap,
and again before he goes to bed for the night.
Another good housebreaking tip is to take up the German Shepherd puppies water early in the evening and to not feed or water it after say, 6:00 at night, otherwise you may have to make more housebreaking potty trips than usual outside to let the puppy relieve itself. Keep the GSD puppy on a strict housebreaking schedule, both feeding and elimination, and you will have German Shepherd puppy housebreaking success much sooner.
More GSD Puppy Housebreaking and Housetraining Secrets: From Housebreaking to Housebroken
Know in advance that a very young GSD puppy will probably not be able to go through the night without relieving itself so get used to taking it out during the middle of the night until it grows enough to sleep through the night.
You wouldn't expect a young human baby to be potty trained in a week, would you? Give the same consideration to your new German Shepherd puppy. He will not be able to be considered reliable as far as housebreaking goes either after only a few days. The GSD puppy too is a baby with a small bladder and weak sphincter muscles. Like human babies, your German Shepherd puppy will be able to go longer between housebreaking breaks as it grows older and will soon become completely housebroken if your are vigilant in the housebreaking process.
If you find your German Shepherd puppy has made a mistake in the house and you did not catch it in the act, simply clean the spot without comment. Clean up all residue and clean the area with a bacteria/enzyme digester. These housetraining aids are available at your pet supply or grocery store. This will get rid of both the stain and the smell. And the smell is the most important part to get rid of. Even if you can't smell the urine, believe me, your GSD puppy can and he will be encouraged to go back to the same spot again unless you remove ALL urine odors. This is absolutely critical in housebreaking your puppy.
If you find the German Shepherd puppy "in the act", scoop him up as quickly as possible with his tail between his legs (to help prevent spillage) and take him out asap. Say "out" or "quick" as you take him out but never NO. Since No is used for negative things you do not want your puppy to think that eliminating is wrong, no matter where he does it.
If the German Shepherd puppy thinks that eliminating is bad he will probably start hiding it from you and you do not want that to happen. That is a whole other behavioral issue to contend with and believe me it's much better and easier to prevent behavioral problems before they happen than having to deal with them later.
Generally speaking, German Shepherd puppies are naturally clean dogs - assuming they had the right start clear from the beginning. GSD puppies raised in small runs or cages develop dirty habits right from the beginning making housebreaking harder. Since they are used to playing and sleeping in their own excrement they will not have any problem with continuing to do so. This is not the GSD puppy's fault, it's just what they were accustomed to from an early age. Keep in mind, housebreaking puppies raised in these type of situations can be much harder and more time consuming than usual but housetraining can still can be done.
Overall, puppy housebreaking problems are often more of a human problem than a German Shepherd puppy problem. If the new owner is steadfast in keeping a watch on the German Shepherd puppy in the beginning of ownership, especially during the first 2 weeks of housetraining, then puppy housebreaking can accomplished and the GSD puppy will become a reliable member of the family as far as bathroom visits are concerned and will soon be completely housebroken.
Remember, as the new owner you must be patient with the housebreaking process. Each German Shepherd puppy will housetrain at his own speed and with your help. Take him out religiously as outlined above, and keep him on a strict feeding/bathroom housebreaking schedule (as well as anytime the GSD puppy acts as though he has to "go out". It is very important that you learn to read your German Shepherd puppies potty signals during the housebreaking process: sniffing out "a spot", circling, whining, going to the door, etc.
Finally, think about how you would like to be housetrained if you were in the GSD puppies place. The German Shepherd puppy won't enjoy being yelled at, jerked around or frightened any better than you would. A kinder, gentler and more patient puppy housebreaking approach will yield much better results, help your bond with your GSD puppy and develop a more confident housebroken German Shepherd dog in the long run. And isn't that what we all want as German Shepherd Dog owners in the first place?
Monday, September 3, 2007
German Shepherd Ear Taping
German Shepherd Ear Taping
The German Shepherd ear taping process - helping those stubborn GSD puppy ears up.
German Shepherd ear taping is something that many GSD puppy owners do not take seriously until it is much too late. German Shepherd puppy ears can come up on their own anytime between 8 weeks and 6 months. Puppy ear taping is often an important procedure in the development of the GSD puppy ear set.
If the GSD puppy ears are not up by 4 months I tell my puppy customers to get very interested in their German Shepherd pups ears and the whole German Shepherd ear taping process. One suggestion: help stimulate your GSD puppy to use their ear muscles to help bring their ears up faster naturally, not through touch of that tender ear tissue but by making interesting noises, etc. to your GSD puppy that cause the puppy to use those maturing ears.
It is not yet time to panic, however, it is time to sit up and take notice. When the German Shepherd puppy ears are taped after 7 or 8 months old it has very little chance of working. German Shepherd ear taping is an important process that does not need to be done with all German Shepherd puppies, but some GSD puppies do need the extra help.
First of all, it is very important to make sure that your GSD puppy is in good health. Make sure that the German Shepherd puppy is kept on the proper schedule of wormings and vaccinations. It is also very important to make sure the GSD puppy is on a good quality food. If you are unsure, check with your local vet or German Shepherd breeder for suggestions on a diet that would be appropriate for your GSD puppy.
It is not uncommon for the German Shepherd puppy ears not to be up until 3 1/2 to 5 months of age. It is also quite common for a GSD puppy who has his/her ears up one day to see them fall down again the next day - especially when going through the teething process and for this cycle to repeat as the German Shepherd puppy matures.
The process of teething in general takes valuable calcium from the German Shepherd puppies developing ear structure to those developing teeth and that is one good explanation for the whole process of GSD puppy ears being up one day, and then down the next.
It is very common for GSD pups to have ears that tilt and flop this way and that as they gain strength to stand on their own. The German Shepherd ears may take all matter of shapes (1 up, 1 down; 1 this way, 1 that way) until they come completely up. Do not panic when this happens to your German Shepherd puppy. It is completely normal. If you do have questions about the German Shepherd ear taping process, feel free to contact your German Shepherd breeder or the local GSD breed club in your area or your veterinarian.
Instructions on German Shepherd ear taping follow (it doesn't hurt to have a helper):
1) Buy the large pink spongy perm rollers (Goody's ® is one brand) from Wal-mart, etc. for the German Shepherd ear taping process. Take out the hard plastic clip out of the middle of each roller and discard. You only need to keep the spongy pink foam roller part. 2 inch pipe insulation tubing, Grey, I believe, from Home Depot works as well if you can't find the pink foam rollers. You will have to cut this to length, while the pink rollers are already the correct length.
2) At your local drug store purchase the thin white surgical tape (the kind that's paper thin and tears easily). The 3M Micropore tape, 2" wide works well. NEVER EVER even consider using any tape such as duct tape, electrical tape or the like for German Shepherd ear taping. If you don't have the right kind of tape it will do more damage on the GSD pups ears than good if you have to take the tape out for some reason if you use the wrong type of tape in the first place.
Also, purchase Skin Bond to use with the surgical tape and get one UNsharpened pencil to use in the German Shepherd ear taping process.
3) Insert the pencil (unsharpened end) inside the pink foam roller about an inch or so to make it easier to hold. Next, put the Skin Bond on the pink foam roller about 3/4s of the way around the roller, so it is well covered but not oozing or dripping off the roller in any way. You do not want the glue to drip off the roller into your pups ear canal when ear taping your GSD puppies ears. You do not want to get the glue on your hands either while in the middle of this process. That is where the pencil comes in.
4) While holding the pencil end, wrap the GSD puppies ear around the glued foam roller and then tape them into a fairly tight roll (but not too tight), in an upright position. Remove the pencil from the sponge roller.
Place the roller inside the German Shepherd's ear flap itself fairly deep, leaving about a two finger space opening above the German Shepherd pups head and the bottom of the roller inside the ear flap. Do not completely block the ear canal with the roller when ear taping the German Shepherd puppy. The GSD puppy will still need to hear with the roller inside its ear flaps.
Optional: Take a popsicle stick and attach it to the top part of both of the GSD puppy ears in a horizontal position. The German Shepherd puppy will tear the tape or stick off the ears several times. The key to this step is to continue retaping the ears using the popsicle stick as it gets torn down. Sooner or later the GSD puppy will forget about the tape all together and leave it alone.
5) Distract the GSD puppy with food or by playing ball, etc. for about five minutes until the glue stops itching and is well set. The roller will fall out on it's own in about a week or so if not taken out by you or your German Shepherd puppy. Continue the re-taping process until the German Shepherd puppy ears stand on their own.
Important: If the German Shepherd puppy ears are not up by 7 or 8 months of age they are probably not going to come up. When the GSD ears do not stand on their own there are ear implants that can be surgically added. I have no experience with this personally but if you are unlucky enough to have a German Shepherd whose ears will not stand on their own, this is an option. Check with your vet or GSD breeder with any questions you may have concerning German Shepherd ear taping.
Downed GSD ears are not the end of the world, however, erect ears are a part of the German Shepherd Dog breed standard. Upright ears are not only healthier overall for the dog but more so, they are handsome and again, part of the breed standard and the way the German Shepherd was bred to look.
The German Shepherd ear taping process - helping those stubborn GSD puppy ears up.
German Shepherd ear taping is something that many GSD puppy owners do not take seriously until it is much too late. German Shepherd puppy ears can come up on their own anytime between 8 weeks and 6 months. Puppy ear taping is often an important procedure in the development of the GSD puppy ear set.
If the GSD puppy ears are not up by 4 months I tell my puppy customers to get very interested in their German Shepherd pups ears and the whole German Shepherd ear taping process. One suggestion: help stimulate your GSD puppy to use their ear muscles to help bring their ears up faster naturally, not through touch of that tender ear tissue but by making interesting noises, etc. to your GSD puppy that cause the puppy to use those maturing ears.
It is not yet time to panic, however, it is time to sit up and take notice. When the German Shepherd puppy ears are taped after 7 or 8 months old it has very little chance of working. German Shepherd ear taping is an important process that does not need to be done with all German Shepherd puppies, but some GSD puppies do need the extra help.
First of all, it is very important to make sure that your GSD puppy is in good health. Make sure that the German Shepherd puppy is kept on the proper schedule of wormings and vaccinations. It is also very important to make sure the GSD puppy is on a good quality food. If you are unsure, check with your local vet or German Shepherd breeder for suggestions on a diet that would be appropriate for your GSD puppy.
It is not uncommon for the German Shepherd puppy ears not to be up until 3 1/2 to 5 months of age. It is also quite common for a GSD puppy who has his/her ears up one day to see them fall down again the next day - especially when going through the teething process and for this cycle to repeat as the German Shepherd puppy matures.
The process of teething in general takes valuable calcium from the German Shepherd puppies developing ear structure to those developing teeth and that is one good explanation for the whole process of GSD puppy ears being up one day, and then down the next.
It is very common for GSD pups to have ears that tilt and flop this way and that as they gain strength to stand on their own. The German Shepherd ears may take all matter of shapes (1 up, 1 down; 1 this way, 1 that way) until they come completely up. Do not panic when this happens to your German Shepherd puppy. It is completely normal. If you do have questions about the German Shepherd ear taping process, feel free to contact your German Shepherd breeder or the local GSD breed club in your area or your veterinarian.
Instructions on German Shepherd ear taping follow (it doesn't hurt to have a helper):
1) Buy the large pink spongy perm rollers (Goody's ® is one brand) from Wal-mart, etc. for the German Shepherd ear taping process. Take out the hard plastic clip out of the middle of each roller and discard. You only need to keep the spongy pink foam roller part. 2 inch pipe insulation tubing, Grey, I believe, from Home Depot works as well if you can't find the pink foam rollers. You will have to cut this to length, while the pink rollers are already the correct length.
2) At your local drug store purchase the thin white surgical tape (the kind that's paper thin and tears easily). The 3M Micropore tape, 2" wide works well. NEVER EVER even consider using any tape such as duct tape, electrical tape or the like for German Shepherd ear taping. If you don't have the right kind of tape it will do more damage on the GSD pups ears than good if you have to take the tape out for some reason if you use the wrong type of tape in the first place.
Also, purchase Skin Bond to use with the surgical tape and get one UNsharpened pencil to use in the German Shepherd ear taping process.
3) Insert the pencil (unsharpened end) inside the pink foam roller about an inch or so to make it easier to hold. Next, put the Skin Bond on the pink foam roller about 3/4s of the way around the roller, so it is well covered but not oozing or dripping off the roller in any way. You do not want the glue to drip off the roller into your pups ear canal when ear taping your GSD puppies ears. You do not want to get the glue on your hands either while in the middle of this process. That is where the pencil comes in.
4) While holding the pencil end, wrap the GSD puppies ear around the glued foam roller and then tape them into a fairly tight roll (but not too tight), in an upright position. Remove the pencil from the sponge roller.
Place the roller inside the German Shepherd's ear flap itself fairly deep, leaving about a two finger space opening above the German Shepherd pups head and the bottom of the roller inside the ear flap. Do not completely block the ear canal with the roller when ear taping the German Shepherd puppy. The GSD puppy will still need to hear with the roller inside its ear flaps.
Optional: Take a popsicle stick and attach it to the top part of both of the GSD puppy ears in a horizontal position. The German Shepherd puppy will tear the tape or stick off the ears several times. The key to this step is to continue retaping the ears using the popsicle stick as it gets torn down. Sooner or later the GSD puppy will forget about the tape all together and leave it alone.
5) Distract the GSD puppy with food or by playing ball, etc. for about five minutes until the glue stops itching and is well set. The roller will fall out on it's own in about a week or so if not taken out by you or your German Shepherd puppy. Continue the re-taping process until the German Shepherd puppy ears stand on their own.
Important: If the German Shepherd puppy ears are not up by 7 or 8 months of age they are probably not going to come up. When the GSD ears do not stand on their own there are ear implants that can be surgically added. I have no experience with this personally but if you are unlucky enough to have a German Shepherd whose ears will not stand on their own, this is an option. Check with your vet or GSD breeder with any questions you may have concerning German Shepherd ear taping.
Downed GSD ears are not the end of the world, however, erect ears are a part of the German Shepherd Dog breed standard. Upright ears are not only healthier overall for the dog but more so, they are handsome and again, part of the breed standard and the way the German Shepherd was bred to look.
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