One common and frustrating problem most dog owners face is potty training. There are even dog owners who give up on their dogs because they are sick and tired of cleaning up after their mess. Potty training is without doubt a very important lesson that every dog should be trained. There are numerous ways to potty train your puppy, depending on your circumstances and dog type. Puppies that did not go through any vaccination yet are recommended to stay indoor to learn potty paper training, it is also suitable for apartment living dogs. Crate training will train your puppy to control his bladder and relieve outside by making use of a dog's instinctive nature of not dirtying its sleeping area.
This training is suitable for dogs living in apartment. The common choice would be to train your dog to go outside to the back yard or the garden to relieve. A suitable time to start potty training as recommended by most experts is when your puppy is eight to twelve weeks old. Can you remember about the adage on old dogs that learn new tricks? It is not completely true but right in some ways because it is much easier to train a younger dogs when undesirable habits are not formed.
So, don't take any chances. There are many ways in life to achieve the same desired results. Of them, there are hard ways and easy ways, right ways and wrong ways. The best course of action is to use the easiest and fastest way to get the right results. Much effort, time and positive reinforcement is needed. Let's see how best to achieve what we want in order to potty train our new puppy.
To begin, you should allocate an area for your puppy to eliminate outside or inside the house, you should show him the way to this spot and praise him generously after he finishes If you praise and reward him immediately after he finishes his job, it encourages him to eliminate in that area alone. The urine odor will be detectable by your puppy and he will learn to associate it as the place to relieve himself. To help the puppy to remember, always use the same door and spot where you want your puppy to eliminate. Use soiled newspaper to mark the area and hint your puppy on where is the right spot. Next in line is to make your puppy learn about his elimination routines.
Dogs are habitual animals, they are born instinctively to keep to routines. When your puppy is six to eight weeks old, you should bring him out to relieve after every few hours. The frequency will reduce as he grows older and can control his bladder better.
During puppyhood, take him to the allocated elimination area at the following times of the day - Upon waking in the morning, after naps, meals, play, training session and just before bedtime. Taking your pup out at around the same time every day will be very beneficial for the both of you. This will help in establishing a routine, and will make him learn to hold it in until you become available to take him out. Now, you need to pick up signs your puppy displays when he needs to relieve. This is important especially when he is used to running around freely.
Be really observant of his behaviour, such as, heavy sniffing, circling an area, staring at the door with an intense look on his face. You can train your dog with two more commands to help him understand potty training faster. Use "Hurry up", or "Potty now", command to associate it with potty time.
So, say "hurry up" or "potty" in an encouraging tone just when he gets the urge to "go". Your puppy will understand and associate the command with potty time, and will get down to relieve himself. Once he's done, praise him lavishly. It is common for puppies to make mistakes during the process of potty training. In part 2 of this article, you will learn how to excuse his mistakes and more tips to help you train your puppy in double quick time.
Moses Wright is a proud owner of 3 beautiful dogs and loves to help new dog owners deal with their dog training problems. You can get his dog obedience training book, a collection of his dog ownership experiences here: Free Dog Obedience Training Book