Saturday, November 8, 2008

5 Keys to Success When Potty Training Puppies

By Kelsey Garnett

There are a few simple things you need to do to make sure you are successful potty training puppies. If you keep these 5 simple things in mind, you and your puppy will make progress much faster. The good news is these are not difficult!

1. Take your dog out frequently

Set a schedule and make sure you stick to it. Young puppies need to go out about every hour. In addition, they need to go again after eating, sleeping and drinking. Don't schedule play time until you know your puppy is completely empty. To help keep track of your puppies activities and potty times, you may want to write out a schedule in a notebook or even on a board for everyone in the house to see.

2. Take your dog to the same area every time

We've all seen dogs sniff around looking for a place to go to the bathroom. Use this to your advantage. The smell of previous visits will immediately let your puppy know this is the area to use for his business.

3. Don't leave your dog or puppy unsupervised in the house

Make sure you always have an eye on your dog or have him confined somewhere. If you turn him loose in the house and he has an accident, it reinforces that its okay to go in the house. You need to supervise your puppy at all times so you can stop an accident before it happens.

4. Take your dog out on a leash

Puppies in particular are easily distracted. You don't want your puppy exploring when you want him to go to the bathroom. Once he's finished you can let him off the leash to explore and play. In addition, its hard to praise your puppy for doing his business if he's off the leash and you're across the yard!

5. Accidents happen - clean them up the right way

Never use ammonia to clean up accidents. It smells the same as urine to your dog. As noted earlier, dogs use the smell of urine to identify places to relieve themselves. If you use ammonia to clean up a mess, there's a very good chance your dog will find that spot, think the ammonia is urine and relieve himself there again. Use an odor neutralizer specifically for pet accidents to completely eliminate the smell.

These are just a few tips to keep in mind when potty training puppies or dogs. In short, use some common sense when house training and pay attention to your puppy or dog. The main thing to remember is to be consistent with your training!


There are several training techniques you can use in addition to these tips. How you house train your dog can depend on the size of your dog as well as where you live. For more information and tips, visit this site about potty training puppies.

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