How To Train Your Dog In Hygiene Habits
Your dog’s education should also include certain hygiene habits that will help prevent behavior problems and the proliferation of pathogens in the home. Here’s a simple three-step guide to help you train your dog in good hygiene habits.
Three basic steps to teach your dog good hygiene habits
Ideally, start teaching your dog these hygiene habits when he is still a puppy. But if you have decided to adopt an adult dog, it is also possible to educate and socialize him with patience and affection.
In both cases, remember to use positive reinforcement to stimulate his learning, and start educating him from his arrival home.
Step 1: define the allowed and prohibited spaces of the home
By the time your dog arrives home, it will be essential to determine what his allowed and forbidden places will be. We are not only talking about where you will be able or not to relieve yourself, but also about the regions of the home that you will be able to freely frequent.
Of course, the rules of each house are determined by who lives in it. In other words, it is your choice to define what the rules will be when presented to your best friend. The important thing is to convey these rules clearly and objectively, so that your dog understands how he should behave in his new home.
An example to consider: will your dog be able to get on the couch or on the bed? If the answer is no, then remember to teach him that these places are not allowed, and what are the regions of the home that he can freely frequent.
Step 2: determine your meal times
This is one of the most important aspects of teaching a dog hygiene habits. Your pet needs to understand what their meal times are and when they should respect our feeding times. It is also essential to teach him not to look for food in the garbage.
Although a dog may seem cute asking for food at the foot of the table, it is not advisable to reinforce this behavior; Bad habits must be avoided from the start.
Nor should we offer food or treats to our dog to make him stop engaging in unwanted behavior, such as barking excessively. Almost always, this leads to unconscious training, since the animal assimilates that it is rewarded for bad behavior.
Ideally, divide the total amount of food your dog eats per day into two or three meals. In this way, we prevent your dog friend from spending many hours without eating and being tempted to rummage through the garbage or cupboards.
Step three: teach your dog to relieve himself in the right place
One of the most important hygiene habits is teaching your dog to relieve himself in the right place. To do this, we first have to define if we want the dog to make its depositions in the street or in a certain space of the home.
We advise you to teach your dog to relieve himself on the street. This allows you to maintain better hygiene at home and is also an excellent exercise for your friend’s mind.
How to teach a dog to relieve itself in the street?
Before starting to teach your dog to relieve himself on the street, it will be essential to complete his first cycle of vaccinations. Usually this happens when the dog completes its first three to four months of life.
During this period, we can take the opportunity to get our dog used to walking with its harness or collar. In our own house we will take some small walks, and we will teach the dog not to pull on the leash and walk in a balanced and calm way.
When the time comes, we start by setting the times for the walks to the street. Remember that it is essential to establish a routine so that your dog assimilates it and understands that these are the times to relieve itself.
During walks, we must always let the dog sniff freely, express himself and interact with other dogs. Every time the dog urinates or defecates in the street, we offer him a reward to reinforce this behavior.
Even if your dog has already learned to relieve himself on the street, we advise you to leave a ‘park’ or ‘bathroom’ at his disposal at home. Especially if the animal must stay home alone for more than four or five hours.
Excessive retention of urine can lead to urinary tract problems, as well as being very uncomfortable. Therefore, it is best to leave an absorbent towel or newspaper where the dog can relieve itself when it is alone.
