Training a Puppy with a Puppy Play Pen
When you first bring your little fur ball home you will need to think about training him as quickly as possible. This is mostly because, though it might seem cute when a young puppy leaps up at you or eats your socks it won’t be nearly as endearing when a full grown dog is knocking down your visitors or chewing chair legs! The most effective way to train a dog is to begin as young as possible when he is at his most impressionable and willing to learn. Many people find that a puppy play pen is the ideal tool for a whole range of training opportunities.
Puppy pens are light and easy to construct and so can be moved with you as you travel from room to room. If you fill the pen with lots of interesting toys and spend time in there with him playing he will soon come to recognise which things you would like him to play with. You can then let him out into the room, supervised, for short periods. Whenever he tries to chew or play with an object that is not one of his toys you can firmly say ‘no’ while giving him praise when he goes to one of his own toys.
If you put a small plastic dog kennel into the pen with a comfortable cushion then he will soon learn to love sleeping in it. The advantage of making the pen seem homely is that your puppy won’t want to go to the toilet in it and will try his best to hold on until you can take him somewhere suitable. You could also put a puppy pad in one corner and encourage him to urinate only here.
Puppy pens can also double up as room dividers or door gates so that you can gradually allow the puppy greater and greater access to the rest of your house while keeping him from rooms that are unsuitable.
