In this article we look at how to avoid daytime accidents when house training your new puppy or dog (in Part I we looked at totally eliminating night-time accidents). Avoiding accidents is very important, because the fastest possible learning is errorless learning.

In Part I of this article series we discussed crate training to eliminate night-time accidents. During the day, it is ok to crate puppy when you can’t supervise. At those times, any accidents are avoided by use of the crate, however we can’t (nor would we want to) crate puppy all day!

Puppies need to be taken outside to toilet after every meal, every drink, immediately upon waking, and immediately after play. It is not uncommon to take a new puppy outside to toilet every hour or even more! Just remember, you won’t need to do this for ever and the more disciplined you are, the less accidents you will have, and the faster puppy will learn to go to the toilet outside only.

If puppy does have an accident, relax. It’s not the end of the world. If you catch puppy (or dog) in the act, then give a quick “no!” to interrupt and quickly lead puppy or dog outside to finish his business. Clean up the mess with an enzyme-based cleaner to remove the smell entirely. Puppies and dogs tend to go where they can smell previous urinations, enzyme cleaner is the only effective way to remove these odours.

Ignore the old advice about rubbing a dog’s nose in it. It doesn’t work at all, it is cruel, and it will only confuse your dog. Invest your time in the more effective techniques outlined in this article. If you have successfully house trained a dog this way in the past, I can assure you it was other factors which eventually got the dog house-trained.

When your puppy or dog does toilet outside, tell them how good they are. You can even give a little treat at the end, or play a game to reward such good behavior.

If you know that puppy or dog is about to go to the toilet outside, try to put the behavior on cue. Say “do wee” or “do your business”. With repetition and reward, puppy or dog will learn to go to the toilet on cue, which is very handy particularly if you are house-training an older dog.

If you have this behavior on cue, you can use planned toilet breaks and ask for the behavior. That way you will know when your dog last went to the toilet, rather than making assumptions or guessing. Older dogs with reduced bladder capacity may need to go on a schedule to avoid accidents. Puppies who are crated need to empty their bladders before being crated.

Dogs Who Live in Apartments

Some dogs will need to learn to use a litterbox as outside access is not always convenient. The instructions are exactly the same, but instead of taking puppy outside, place puppy in the litter tray.

Really Tough Cases

Some dogs, through prior learning, are more difficult to house train. I would always suggest a vet check to rule out medical causes, there are many medical reasons why a puppy or dog is difficult to house train.

If you have an older dog, perhaps a rescue, who is difficult to toilet train, it might be appropriate to tether your dog to you during the day using a leash tied to your belt. That way, your dog is always with you and you will pick up the signs that he or she needs to go to the toilet.

The Waiting Game

Some dogs or puppies, when taken outside to go to the toilet, will procrastinate. They will want to check everything out, or will just lay around and not go. You can avoid this by giving only a set amount of time to go to the toilet. Wait a maximum of 60 seconds, if your dog hasn’t done his business, come back inside. Wait 3 or 4 minutes, then try again (if you are sure a toilet break is due). Consistency and discipline early in the game will pay big dividends later.

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of Positive Petzine, a free resource for people training their own dogs. Join now, and for a limited time you can download all available back issues (a $29.95 value) for free!

If you are having toilet training difficulties, it is definitely worth joining for more information.

Congenital heart disease is not that common disease which we find in dogs. We may find it in 1 percent of the dogs. Congenital heart disease or heart disorder may be caused due to several reasons including calorie deposition in the heart. In all congenital heart diseases, congenital aortic stenosis is probably the most common heart defect seen in large breed dogs.

The symptoms of congenital heart diseases in dogs include weight loss poor intake of food coughing and difficulty in breathing. A variety of congenital heart and acquired heart diseases of dogs finally may result in heart failure. Dogs may even born with congenital heart disease. But it may not necessarily be a hereditary reason.

Congenital heart diseases rate in dogs are malformations of the heart or great vessels. The lesions characterizing congenital heart defects are present at birth and may develop more fully Veterinary diseases and conditions of dogs; organized by body system.

Congenital heart diseases may lead to secondary disease diseases such as pneumonia, accumulation of fluid in body cavities, labored breathing and edema.

However 60% of the congenital heart disease cases are due to inherited tendency. But, in other cases it can be prevented through vaccinations and good calorie content food.

There are some medicinal ways to cure congenital heart disease, but the chance of success is very less. So in the case of congenital heart disease, if its not the case of inherited thing then, prevention is better than cure; as the chances of curing is very less.

Srinivas is a prolific author with more than 5 years of expereince in writing on various subjects. He did MBA from SYMBIOSIS, INDIA. He can be reached at srinivas.nudurupati@gmail.com

Although there are approximately 400 breeds of dogs recognized in the world, the American Kennel Club (AKC) only recognizes 146 breeds. These breeds are subdivided into seven groups: Sporting, Hound, Working, Herding, Non-Sporting, Terrier and Toy. The dogs in each group share similar characteristics but can be quite diverse and therefore each group has distinctive subgroups.

The Sporting Group were bred to assist man in hunting, especially in retrieving birds from water or fields. These are very active dogs that are loyal and intelligent. They need lots of exercise and do not like to be left alone. Excellent family dogs who love interaction, these dogs can play fetch for hours and absolutely love it. Subgroups in this category include retrievers, pointers, setters and spaniels.

The Hound Group are also favoured for hunting because of their instinct to follow fast-moving game like rabbits and foxes. They are renowned for their keen sense of smell and sharp eyesight and tend to be great pets due to their gentle, easy to get along with nature. Subgroups include sight hounds such as greyhounds, whippets and Irish wolfhounds; scent hounds like basset hounds, beagles and dachshunds; and large game hounds such as the beautiful Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Dogs that make up the Working Group were historically bred to perform specific tasks for people. This group includes sled dogs that love cold weather, living outside and need plenty of exercise. Guard dogs such as mastiffs, rottweilers and Great Danes were bred for protection and are thus alert, courageous, intelligent and independent. These dogs can be territorial and require strong leadership and structured training.

Other breeds that make up the Working Group include personal protection dogs like boxers and Dobermans that are very loyal and strong-willed and rescue dogs such as the friendly Saint Bernard. Rescue dogs can be terrific with children if they are raised with them and tend to be quiet and unassuming.

The dogs of the Herding Group do just that, herd livestock. This group can be broken down into sheep herders like shepherds and collies and cattle herders such as bouviers and corgis. They love to work, exercise and play. Extremely agile and easy to train, these dogs also tend to be fabulous family pets.

The Terrier Group consists of breeds that are determined and very competitive. Two types of terriers are fighting breeds and vermin hunters. Fighters such as pit bulls and bull terriers are courageous yet perhaps somewhat cocky but fortunately most of their aggression has been bred down. They can make excellent pets but need early socialization to ensure that they can be comfortable around other people and animals.

Vermin hunters were originally bred to hunt vermin on farms and hence are very alert, lively, agile and independent. These dogs include just about every breed of terrier that you can think of and make great pets if you like spirited dogs that require patience, training and attention.

The majority of the dogs that comprise the Non-Sporting Group were bred to perform specific jobs that now have become obsolete so the animals have become companions. The personalities of the dogs that make up this breed group have very wide variations so it makes sense to consult breed-specific information sources before selecting one of these dogs as a pet. Some of the breeds in this group include the Dalmatian, Bichon Frise, Lhasa apso and the poodle.

The final breed group is the Toy Group. They are mainly miniature versions of hunting or working dogs and tend to be adorable, affectionate pets that are ideal for the elderly or apartment dwellers. These dogs need attention and exercise and will benefit tremendously from training to prevent them from constant barking and nipping.

Many people prefer mixed breeds but the advantage of choosing a purebred is predictability of behaviour. For example, if you want a dog that will retrieve, you know you will get that with a retriever. The main point is that all dogs should make excellent pets if given proper attention including exercise, discipline and affection.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Dogs

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Do you make these 7 dog training mistakes? Find out the 7 common mistakes most people make which lead to dog training failure - an untrained dog who won’t listen to your commands or learn any manners. These dogs are a pain to live with, but it’s NOT their fault! It is simply because their owners weren’t ever told about these 7 dog training mistakes. Don’t let it be you, find out these 7 dog training mistakes now…

1. Failing to reinforce the behavior you want
Dogs do what works for them. If they don’t get something out of it, they won’t do it. So it makes sense to make what works for them, also work for you! When you see behavior you like, reward it! That way, it works for your dog and works for you. It’s a win-win situation.

2. Relying solely on punishment to stop behavior you don’t want
Punishment is defined by a decrease in behavior. Sounds good, right? If you have a behavior you don’t want, then the theory suggests that you can simply punish it and it will go away. But, what do you get instead? You see, dogs do what works for them. They need outlets for their energy and drives. By simply removing one outlet, you are really just encouraging them to find some other outlet and you have very little control over what they find to do instead. Instead, try thinking of alternative behaviors and rewarding them for those behaviors instead. Remember, dogs do what works for them (see mistake #1).

3. Repeating commands
Want to know how to teach your dog to ignore commands or cues? Simply keep repeating them!
If your dog doesn’t respond to a cue, it’s because there are too many distractions in the environment for the level of training you are at, or what you are asking is too difficult right now. It’s not the dog’s fault - it’s the laws of learning. By repeating the cue, you simply attach no meaning to it. Even when there are no distractions, your dog is less likely to respond to that command.

4. Not setting your dog up to succeed
In order to get more of a behavior, it needs to be reinforced. In order to reinforce behavior, you need to get it in the first place. In order to get it in the first place, you need to set your dog up to succeed. If your dog is failing to respond to a command, you can either:
a. lower your expectations, e.g a shorter stay, or come when called on leash rather than off leash
b. remove distractions from the environment, e.g if you have two puppies, take one puppy out of the room.
c. move your dog to a less distracting environment, e.g move from the busiest area of the dog park to a quieter area at the other end of the park.

5. Training for too long
Did you know that you really only need to train for 5 to 10 minutes at a time? Even a 2 minute training session will be more valuable than a 20 minute training session. Dogs, and in particular, puppies, start to lose interest or start to fatigue after a short time and work below their best. If you are reinforcing this “below their best” behavior, then that’s what you will get more of. Therefore, it makes sense to have shorter training sessions. You can have several of these shorter training sessions in a day.

6. Paying attention to unwanted behavior
Remember mistake #1? We discovered that dogs do what works for them. Any behavior that is repeated has been reinforced. It may be self-reinforcing, but more often someone or some thing is reinforcing that behavior. The most common mistake is for owners to pay attention to the behavior they don’t want, which can reinforce that very behavior. Imagine your dog is scratching at the door to be let in, if you were to yell “cut it out”, or worse, let your dog inside at that point, then you will more than likely get more of this unwanted ’scratching at the door’ behavior. By completely ignoring this behavior, then waiting until it stops before paying attention, you end up reinforcing a much better behavior.

7. Punishing a dog who doesn’t come when called
This is one I see time and time again, dogs who are not effectively trained to come when called being punished when they do finally return to their owners. Why would a dog want to come back for a scolding? Even if your dog has totally ignored you for the last 10 minutes, it’s far better to reward him for finally coming back than to punish him for it. Even better not to put him in a situation where he can fail, remember mistake #4?
Only ask a dog to come when you are 80% sure he will. If you’re not at least 80% sure, well, see mistake #3! Only let your dog off leash in safe areas where you can afford to wait if he doesn’t come when called. If you aren’t 80% sure he will come, wait until you are. Wait for a quieter time, maybe he has been playing with another dog and the other dog leaves, maybe he has been following a scent and then finally gets bored with it. At that point, start walking away, then try calling. Always reward your dog for coming when called.

By avoiding these 7 common dog training mistakes, you will be well on your way to having a happy and well behaved dog.

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of Positive Petzine, a free resource for people training their own dogs. Join now, and for a limited time you can download all available back issues (a $29.95 value) for free!

One night I slept off without locking up, Maisky kept watch at the door. Then about 3 AM I was roused from sleep by his loud barking under my bed. I opened my eyes to behold a man right inside my room, and I acted instinctively throwing my reading chair, which was by the bedside, at the intruder. He jumped out the room, and I quickly rushed and pushed the jam-lock-door to.

Then my heart started to dance to Maisky’s frenzy barking. I was almost going into cardiac arrest trying to quieten my dog who by now was bent on not leaving the security of the room. He was very afraid of the intruder whom he believed was out there waiting to get him.

Maisky’s barking was so intense, my heart beat synchronized it, sweat poured from my pores like leaking plumbing pipes. Under very severe cardiac pressure, I opened the door and quickly took Maisky’s chain, jammed the door back to and then began the labour of getting Maisky out from under the bed. I did eventually, chained him, and the fight to take him outside was not an easy one. My heart beat speed was killing me as it danced to the machine gun rhythm of Maisky’s barking.

Then I got the idea of a saving grace. Maisky loves me so much, so I feigned and slumped to the floor, and immediately Maisky’s barking turned to whining, its tail wagging as he came licking me all over compassionately, my heart beat slowed down, and soon normalised.

Maisky saved my property from the thief, and I saved myself from heart attack by dropping the panic induced aggression against a dear friend. Come to think of it, why should Maisky have agreed to be taken outside when the intruder was also out there in the dreadful night?
Consider the fact that he was the one who had a good look at the intruder and knew how mean the intruder was or had actually acted during their confrontation.

For the first time we lay together in the same room that night wondering about the intruder and what his intentions had been, with Maisky intermittently growling “honnnng!” And I was very proud of him.

ADVANTAGE OF DOG TRAINING

It should be noted that had Maisky not been trained he would definitely have wondered away since he was unchained before I slept off. But the sense of responsibility inculcated into him through training kept him securing my place for more than 4 hours till 3 AM when the intruder happened. For this honourable act I rewarded Maisky with a sumptuous meal of stewed bones, rice and yoghurt the following day.

Neshah is the CEO of Dog Obedience Road Map