Puppy training cha-cha

Unfortunately, dog training is like everything else.  There isn't a smooth direct path from beginning to success.  The process is a constant "Cha-cha" -- two steps forward, one step back.  The key is to understand this and accept it from the beginning.  Unrealistic expectations lead to unnecessary frustration.  Unnecessary frustration leads to worse results.  Instead of moving forward, you move backwards and everyone becomes less happy.

Each puppy, (like every person) has his own schedule, and if you expect your puppies to always learn to be potty trained in 7 days, chances are you'll be disappointed more often than not. Ask your mother if you and all your siblings were potty trained by the time you were 1 year old.  But if you don't sweat the setbacks and celebrate each little victory, you should find yourselves progressing forward and the learned behavior more persistant.

Also, remember that training a puppy is a process that requires that both of you learn.  They learn new behaviors....you learn how about particular puppy's unique reactions to the different situations you provide him.  Always pay attention and you'll learn a lot from your puppy's failures.  And, pay equal attention to the circumstances around your puppy's successes.  Too often people forget to reevaluate what are the variables surrounding success.  They just take it for granted.  Then, when there's failure next time, you can't figure out what caused the failure.  For example, I had a puppy who would do well without having potty problems when I left him alone with his sister at home.  Then one Fall day I left them alone and went to dinner.  When I came back, the puppy's sister was fine, but the little boy had left me a little pile in the middle of the floor.

What I had noted about the other successful times was that I always took the puppy out to poop and pee before I would leave, but then left him free in the house during the day.  If it was nighttime, I would put the puppy in his crate before I went out.  Since it was Fall, it got dark much earlier than I expected.  I realized that all the successes had been when the sun was out.  This time, he was out in the open, in the dark.  Sure enough.  Any time I left this particular puppy out of his crate, if I left the light on, we didn't have any problems.

I have handled many more puppies (and other baby animals) than probably 95% of the population, but I never fail to learn something new from each new puppy I get.  And, the next puppy down the line gets the benefit of that learning.

At this point, I know most of you reading this are probably saying, "blah, blah, blah!"  But if there is a lesson that will make the most difference in how successful your puppy training will be, it's this one.  And, the more patient you are, the faster the training will accelerate.

So, if you really love having the sweetness of a cute puppy in your home, but you can't learn to have the patience you need to deal with the bumpy road to progress, you might seriously consider having someone who is skilled in puppy training take over or help you train your puppy.  Both your puppy and you will be much happier.