Paper training a dog can be beneficial or harmful, depending on which way you look at it. The alternative to crate training your dog is paper training your pet. I personally have seen this work well and depending on the type of dog you have, this may be the perfect solution for you. A friend of mine has a Yorky and it did very well training with the paper. It all comes down to what you plan to do with your dog and sticking to that plan. I would suggest taking this route if you are not able to be there for the animal throughout the day when it needs to use the bathroom.
So what do you do first? How do you manage to get the dog to actually use that blasted newspaper you bought for it to use? Take heart, it isn’t as hard as it may seem. Paper training has been a very tested method of teaching your dog what is acceptable to do inside the house and what is not. There are some issues and debates over whether or not the dog will carry their business to another form of paper after a newsletter is gone, but that is for another day.
Take some newspaper and designate a certain area of the house to be the spot for the dog to do its business. It is imperative that this spot is the same one day in and day out. So be sure to pick a spot that will not change. The next part is rather simple and just takes some time to work properly. Start off with a few layers of newspaper for the first day. When doggy does its thing, be sure to praise the animal for going in the right spot. If doggy did not go in the right spot, simply move him to the correct area and try again. Don’t raise your voice and don’t hit the animal. Positive reinforcement is the only way you are going to get your animal to behave.
With each passing day, remove sections of the newspaper. Eventually, you will get down to a very small area that your dog will always go on. This is the goal for the time being. Keep in mind that you also want to work on training your dog to use the bathroom outside as well. I would recommend that when puppy or doggy has to use the bathroom, and you are home, take the chance to walk the animal outside and let it go there.
One of the worst things that can happen is making your animal think it is wrong to use the bathroom outdoors. Paper training is beneficial for small animals, but never neglect to include the outdoors as a means of eliminating dog waste too. If feasible, try a rotation method. One day use paper training and the next day use the outdoors. Don’t overdue the matter because it will confuse the dog. Stay to a schedule, keep it simple, and you will be just fine.
