Information on Potty Training A Puppy

Puppies require a lot of work, especially when it comes to becoming potty trained. It will take weeks, and even months, to become fully confident that your puppy will not have an accident in the house. But as long as the owner is willing to put the time in, any puppy can learn how to relieve itself outside.

  1. Pads/Newspapers

    • Pads or newspapers are helpful for puppies in the earliest stages of becoming housebroken. If you want your puppy to roam the house, but haven't yet trained it to relieve itself outside, putting down pads or newspapers and encouraging the puppy to go there prevents accidents from hitting the floor or carpet directly. But remember, you want to train the puppy to relieve itself outside, pads and newspapers are there only for emergencies.

    Walks

    • Don't simply let your puppy run out in the backyard, going wherever it pleases. Go on walks with it, praising it enthusiastically when it relieves itself. If the puppy sees that it has pleased you, it will want to continue to do so. If your puppy is very young, you may want to keep it in the crate for the first few weeks if you're not outside on a walk.

    Correcting

    • Never hit a puppy. If you see the puppy relieving itself on your floor, immediately scold it and put it on the newspaper or puppy pad. If you find a puddle or damp spot, but don't know when the puppy made it, do not yell at it. Put the puppy in its crate if it has an accident, and when you take it out, go outside immediately.

    Tactics

    • Crate train your puppy as early as possible. Puppies will not relieve themselves where they sleep, and if they learn early on that their crate is a place to keep clean, they will be less likely relieve themselves indoors. Attach some bells near your door that you ring every time you take the puppy out of the crate to go relieve itself. After a while, teach the puppy to ring the bells every time you go out. Before long, it will associate the bells with relieving itself, and will ring them to let you know it needs to go out.

    Patience

    • Puppies have accidents, so don't get upset if after weeks of training it relieves itself in the house. But after about six months of patience and careful training, your puppy will be housebroken. Keep enzyme cleaner on hand during the early stages, because you will need it at some point.