Housebreaking Without Rubbing His Nose In It
Your puppy’s formative years are the perfect time to begin training. The things your puppy learns during this period will most likely stick with him the rest of his life. One of the most important things to get started is to train dogs to potty outside.
Probably the most helpful tip to ease both your pup’s stress and your own is to develop a routine as soon as your puppy begins living with you. You can begin by accustoming your puppy to sleep/eat/potty routine. Try feeding your puppy around the same time every day, making for frequent trips outside afterward. He will soon adjust his body to the routine.
A good way to save your sanity is to admit right off the bat that your puppy will have accidents, and the sooner you understand this, the easier your dog potty training will be. You can help lessen accidents by keeping some newspaper in a constant spot so that your pup can at least familiarize himself with going in one area if he can’t make it outside. This works particularly well if you don’t have a “doggy door” and your dog has to depend upon you to take him outside.
The sooner you get to know your puppy’s “eat/potty” routine, the easier potty-training will become. A good rule to go by is to estimate that your pup will be ready for a trip outside around 15 – 20 minutes after he has been fed/watered. This rule works very well if you can manage to have your puppy outside the proper potty surroundings at the time you expect he needs relief.
It is important that you are careful to separate “potty time” from “play time.” As it is natural for puppies to want to explore, you should only encourage them at the appropriate times. It can be extremely stressful to wait outside while your puppy plays, only to have an accident as soon as you bring him inside.
This period in your puppy’s life is a great one to start administering praise and discipline techniques. a lot of people prefer the terms “good boy/girl” and “no,” both of which can be still be used when your dog is an adult. Although puppies need a lot of firmness, repetition, and routine remember that your puppy will soon grow up, so enjoy his puppyhood while you can!
Get more great tips like this at HelpYourPets.com - Puppy Steps and while you are training your puppy learn how to protect him from injury also.
