Potty Training for your Puppy

House training is one of the first tasks that every new dog owner must undertake as soon as he brings a puppy home. Housetraining a puppy requires a lot of your time, efforts, constant vigilance and supervision, a high level of patience, complete dedication and commitment.

Establish a routine to leash your puppy and take it outside and be very consistent in sticking to the schedule. Remember that your puppy will need to eliminate soon after eating, after waking up from a nap, or after playing. Demarcate a specific location within the premises of your home or outside your home as the bathroom spot and encourage your puppy to use the spot for elimination. Be very particular that the distance of the bathroom spot from your door is not too much.

Remember to reward your puppy (immediately after is has finished eliminating) with a "good dog" pat, friendly squeeze or some dog treat to encourage him to continue with the newly formed habit. However, if the puppy happens to eliminate inside the home, then do not yell at him for the accident. Patiently clean up the soiled area with a paper towel and carry this soiled paper towel to the bathroom spot and leave it there temporarily to make the puppy realize that this is the place where it is supposed to eliminate.

Resort to using small commands like "outside" when you want to take your puppy out to relieve itself, and "go potty" while the fellow is eliminating.

Establish a regular feeding schedule depending on the age of the puppy. Feeding your puppy at a specific time each day will make it more likely that he eliminates at certain specific timings each day. This immensely reduces the chances of accidents.

Many people resort to using papers at different spots inside the home to encourage the puppy to eliminate upon. However, studies indicate that it prolongs the house training process by more than two weeks. The best strategy is to constantly observe the puppy and whenever he displays any signs of starting the "pre-potty pattern," such as walking around and sniffing the floor, then immediately take him outside to the bathroom spot. Alternatively, you can also begin the crate training which helps your puppy develop control over its urge to eliminate.