One of our loyal followers on twitter had a question about house training her dog – and we responded, check out the article below…

Q. @a_animalclinic we have a 16 month old basset hound and he STILL is having problems w/ house training! Ugh! Help plz! I’m at a loss…

A. I’d love to answer this for you @di_nichon. In America, well over 90% of our pets live inside and you are going to have to go through the housebreaking process with your Basset Hound if you want to live a “poop & pee free” lifestyle with your puppy. It does not have to take a long time – that’s if you commit to being totally engaged during the process – and you’ll see that the time you invest will shorten the time span it takes to train him/her.

Housetraining Rules to Play by:

1. is the Most Important Rule: If you don’t catch him doing it – then don’t punish him for it! If you don’t catch him in the act, he won’t have the slightest idea of what the scolding is for especially if he did it more than 45 seconds ago. Here’s a good relation: Puppies are like our teenagers. Unless an event was really fun, and a repetitious act like going to the bathroom does not count, they aren’t even thinking about what they did in the past! At this stage of a puppy’s life, their memory is very poor.
2. Give him praise when he does the right thing. It’s so easy to get into the habit of yelling “No, No, No!” when he is caught in the midst of using the wrong area that we often forget to love on them for doing the right thing. Show him that he’s a good boy!

Housetraining Methods

1. Indoor training – This method is useful if you live in a home or apartment that does not have access to a yard area. I caution you that this method will encourage him to potty inside when your overall goal is to get him to go outside. If you have to use this alternative method then get some pre-treated pads and put down; these pads are scented with a chemical that attracts your puppy to potty in this area. Anytime your puppy goes into his “pre-potty sniffing pattern,” calmly pick him up without saying anything to him and carry him over to the pad – the energy you bring to your puppy when going to pick him up needs to be calm but assertive because your “freaking out” energy will make him potty out of nervousness. Praise him after he goes in the right area.Remember, I don’t recommend this method unless you live in a high-rise apartment or home that makes it difficult to get your puppy to a grassy area to potty.
2. The all-time favorite “Crate Training”: The first thing you need to do is buy a cage that’s large enough for a bed and for him to lie down. Anything larger than this will allow him to pee or poop in the corner of the cage which totally defeats the purpose of crate training. This is such a powerful method because dogs do not like peeing/pooping in an area where they have to sleep, such as their bed, because they would be forced to lay in the mess – Yucky for them!

During house training, anytime your puppy is inside your home and can’t be monitored, put him in his crate i.e. taking care of the kids, cooking dinner, at work, or while working from home. The first thing you do when you take your puppy out of his cage or before putting him in his cage is take him outside to potty.

Be Patient when taking him outside to potty before retuning him to his cage, he’ll sniff around for a while but he’s simply looking for his favorite spot. I have a friend that owns a Rat Terrier that loves peeing on his chili pepper plant – that’s his preference, LOL J. No food and water goes in the crate only a blanket and chew toy to keep him occupied. Put him in his crate overnight and as your trust in him grows, leave him out for longer periods of time.

Valuable tips:

1. Buy the right size cage – He only needs enough space for a bed and to lie down so he doesn’t make a habit of peeing/pooping in his cage.
2. Use scented pads to attract your puppy to the same area to potty if you live in an area where there’s no access to a grassy area. As your puppy gets used to using the pad, move it closer and closer to an outside area.
3. Crate training teaches your puppy more than not to potty in the house – it teaches them self-control and that they can hold it until the right time comes.
4. Purchase a cage that will allow you to modify it as the puppy grows so that you can avoid buying another cage when he gets bigger – there are models that have dividers that can be inserted to modify the cage size.
5. When taking your pup outside to potty, don’t play with him. The trip outside has a specific reason – to potty – and bring him back in immediately.
6. Use verbal cues when he shows pre-potty signs like, “Potty? Want to go potty?” or “Outside?” – this teaches him that his “pre-potty behavior” is associated with “Potty or Outside?”. He’ll most likely dance and prance near the back door when you use these verbal cues.
7. Remember to praise him/her with “Good boy or Good girl!!” when he/she finishes
8. Put your puppy on a consistent feeding schedule so you can predict when he/she will need to potty. They almost always go right after waking up and shortly after eating.

Once again the key here is to be patient and stay calm. Your energy affects your dog – Cesar Milan is famous for stating that. If you find this helpful, please tweet, post to facebook, and share with others!

Keeping your dog’s teeth clean and healthy is very important. Just like humans, dogs can suffer from periodontal disease which is considered as the most common tooth problem for dogs. It is a disease that attacks the gum and bone and around the teeth. Worst, this gum problem can even lead to other serious problems.  Good thing, periodontal disease is preventable and treatable with proper care and brushing your dog’s teeth.

If you observe that your dog is having a bad breath, and red, swollen gums, these are symptoms of periodontal disease. As a responsible dog owner, you should know how to take care of your dog’s teeth. And if you are a newbie, don’t panic because brushing your dog’s teeth is very simple. It just takes a lot of practice and patience though because some dogs don’t like their teeth being brushed.

The first thing that you should remember is not to use human toothpaste or baking powder. These can upset your dog’s stomach if they swallowed it. Of course there are toothpastes made for dogs available at any pet shop. These toothpastes for dogs are specially formulated for dogs having special flavor and less foaming action. You can use any brush, even human tooth brush just be sure that it has soft bristle and has a design and shape not to cause any uneasiness for your dog.

First, you can put toothpaste on his gums using your finger so that he will get used to the taste of the toothpaste.  And then you can start massaging the gums. Once he get used to the massage and the taste of the toothpaste, you can start using the toothbrush. You can start brushing his front teeth all the way to his back teeth. From time to time, praise him for being so cooperative. For comfort and ease, you can lift his lip up so that you can see all his teeth. Be sure to brush it thoroughly. Check each of his teeth if it is already clean. You can also check if there are broken or cracked tooth.  If you find any broken tooth, you can bring him to your vet immediately for treatment. To keep your dogs teeth unbroken or damaged, be mindful of what he is biting or chewing especially those hard objects hard rocks.

Aren’t these babies just so cute!

Puppies are cute and adorable, and many people adopt them for that reason. Once they get home, however, they realize that they have inherited a whole new problem—potty training. If you think potty training a toddler is difficult, you have seen nothing until you try to potty train a dog! The best place to start, as with anything, is with the right equipment and knowledge for housebreaking a puppy.

First, choose a corner of the house where it will be okay for the dog to make messes, such as a tiled laundry room. In this room should be all of the equipment you will need for training the puppy. You will definitely need something for the puppy to use the restroom in the house so that you have less mess to clean up. For this purpose, you can use newspapers. However, these are not very absorbent, and can leave marks on your floors.

A better idea is to purchase something like the potty patch, which is offered by the American Kennel Association. This is a device that looks and feels like grass, but traps the liquid in a space underneath the matt. This cuts down on odors and cleaning.

A lot of other equipment might be used for housebreaking a puppy, but it is not mandatory. For instance, some people prefer to train their puppy by using the kennel method. The kennel should be large enough to be comfortable. You should also have a leash ready at hand for emergency walks, and a fenced in yard or dog run to place the puppy in when it has gone inside the house.

Dog shedding can be a big nuisance to the typical dog owner. You can wind up burning vacuum belts and hoses due to dog fur clogging the vacuum cleaner. You might also suffer allergies when your dog sheds due to dander. Additionally, your dog may end up having fur balls that cause vomiting shortly after eating meals, creating another mess for you to clean up.

There are a number of ways you can limit the amount of shedding your dog has during the spring and summer months. The most common way to handle this problem is by getting a special dog brush used for this purpose. The brush will pull fur off of your dog in a controlled environment, minimizing the shedding that happens throughout the home.

Another way you can minimize shedding is by giving your dog a haircut. You can purchase special doggy clippers at your pet store for this purpose. It is very easy to cut your dog’s hair. However, you will first have to get him or her used to the idea. First, make sure you have sufficient control over your dog that they will not move too much while you are cutting. Also, it is a good idea to run the clippers without cutting to get the dog used to the sound so it does not scare them.

Whichever method you use to prevent dog shedding, you will be able to easily avoid messes, clogged vacuum cleaners, and allergies. However, remember that this is a natural function of dogs, and is necessary for their health. Do not get angry with your pet for shedding messes.

A dog haircut is often necessary in most cases. Most dogs shed in the spring and summer when they get warm to help keep them cool. In the fall and winter months, your dog needs its fur to keep warm. However, there are many reasons you may want to cut your dog’s hair.

First, some people give their dog a haircut in the spring to avoid shedding around the house. This is especially helpful if you have a family member with allergies to doggie dander. Alternatively, you may want to cut your dog’s hair to style it in a fashion that is good for show competitions.

Whatever the reason for giving your dog a haircut, you will want to follow a few basic steps to ensure success. Cutting a dog’s fur is not unlike trying to cut the hair of a toddler. Getting them to sit still is more than half the battle. This can be easily accomplished if you have firm control of your dog in most other tasks. However, if you do have trouble getting the dog to be still, you can enlist the aid of another family member to hold the dog while you cut.

When you are giving a dog haircut you should always use dog clippers instead of the ones you use for your own hair. Dog clippers are designed to handle the thick and course fur of your pet. To avoid cutting too close to the skin, start out with the longest comb possible and work your way down in size if necessary.