Potty Training Your Puppy

House training your puppy can take several weeks, with some breeds it can take even longer, but is imperative in order to minimize house and den soiling incidents.

The best manner in which to housetrain your puppy is to establish a routine. You should take him outside on a consistent and frequent schedule, having an opportunity to do what he needs to do after waking from a nap, after playing, and of course after eating. It can be beneficial to initially choose a potty location for your puppy, and lead him to this area on a leash everytime you take him outside. If your puppy has an accident inside the house, it can help to place the soiled rags you used to clean it up in the potty location. The odour will lead the dog to understand that this is the right area to relieve himself in.

It is of paramount importance to praise your puppy and make a big fuss of him whenever he uses the potty location correctly, otherwise he will not know that his behavior is appropriate and what you want him to do – you can even give him a treat to begin with, but try not to make a habit of this in case the puppy starts to expect a treat every time he eliminates.

If you catch your puppy relieving himself inside the house, you should interrupt him by making a startling noise, and then lead him out to his potty area to finish. After he finishes in the potty area, once again praise him gratuitously so he understand that this is what he should be doing. Unfortunately, if you’re too late in catching your puppy eliminating in the house, there is little you can do. It’s too late to administer any correction, as animals do not understand punishment with any sort of delay involved, no matter how short. It is, however, very important to clean up properly so the dog does not get the impression that the location he defiled is a good place to use again in future.