House Training Poodles

By Candis Reade

Poodles are very smart dogs who learn relatively easily and make great students. Although house training your poodle puppy can seem like a daunting task, poodles are certainly intelligent enough to catch on very quickly and most will actually be excited to learn something new. Poodle puppies truly enjoy the physical and mental stimulation that is derived from obedience training. It provides them with a perfect outlet in which to channel their perpetual energy in a positive manor that makes both them and their master happy. House training your poodle will also allow you and your pet to strengthen the bond you have already created.

In house training your poodle it is important to utilize positive reinforcement as a training method - it is what the breed tends to respond to best. House train using positive, reward based training methods, encouragement and praise. It is also important to repeat the training often until it is second nature for you poodle. The shortest path to house training your poodle includes consistent direction and positive reinforcement. However, it is also important to keep the house training sessions short as poodles are very high energy and tend to have short attention spans.

Compared to other breeds, poodles are a relatively easy to house break. You must choose a proven poodle housebreaking strategy, and stick to it, in order to reach your goal in just a few short weeks. Poodles will respond well to traditional house training methods such as crate training and paper training, as long as you do it with positive reinforcement and never harsh punishment or treatment.

House training your poodle should start as soon as you bring your new puppy home. Before you bring the poodle home, decide how and where he should relieve himself.

At first, be sure to monitor your poodle all the time. The fewer times he has an accident in the house, the faster he will learn where he is supposed to go. It may even be necessary to take some time off of work or school in order to be around your new poodle puppy as much as possible. Also, check with your vet to be sure the poodle is healthy as it will be difficult to house train any poodle distracted by health problems.

Pick a spot outside and try to take your poodle puppy to the same spot every time he goes. This will help him to make the connection between needing to go and using the right spot to do so. It's important to go with him every time he needs to go to make sure he uses the right spot and to praise him when he is through, and also to take him often. Poodles will have to go often when they're still very young. If you can't be with your puppy all the time, restrict his movements in a crate. Poodles are high energy and could run off anywhere in the house to relieve themselves. Finally, be sure to clean up and disinfect accidents immediately. If you follow these steps and train with positive reinforcement, your poodle will be house trained in no time.

Candis Reade is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about house training poodles, please visit My Housetraining for current articles and discussions.