Housetraining Small Dogs In Boot Camp

Sometimes I have puppy dog board-and-train clients who come into our humane boot camp program to learn a certain behavior, but they have a roadblock behavior in the way of our success. Such is the case for my little 1-year-old Chihuahua MinPin client, Valentino, who is smart, agile, and as lovable as they come. He also is very good at climbing out of ex-pens, but staying in an ex-pen is part of the Love Wags A Tail housetraining board-and-train process.

I tried several solutions to his great escapes, and each time I thought I’d scored one for the win, he’d counter with another escape. This is a video of his adapting to my pool noodle solution. The noodles seem to give him a nice, cushy resting place atop the ex-pen, so he could take a moment to plan his descent.

Because Valentino is such a small dog, he could fit through most little spaces. So I had to provide a solution that would eliminate tiny spaces. Here is what the lid of this tiny dog’s ex-pen looked like when I was done. And it kept him in!

Valentino's Expen Lid

Score one for the trainer!

Helen Verte Schwarzmann, contact me
Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-KA
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
Your Dog Trainer for Weston, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Davie, and Hollywood in Broward county south Florida

By Helen Verte
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