Puppy Housetraining - 3 Tips For Beginners

By Anthony W Robinson

We all know that feeling when you look into an adorable puppies face and you just know you have to take him home. I know I've done it. For many, once they get the adorable little guy home and he's using your house as his personal potty, it's not quite as adorable. The good news is, there are steps you can take now to get that puppy housetrained! The things I'm about to reveal to you are critical in your quest for success in puppy housetraining.

The first thing you need to do is get your puppy on a schedule. You need to feed and water him at about the same time every day. By doing this, you'll also begin to regulate when he needs to go out to relieve himself. One common mistake that new puppy owners make is to leave his food accessible to him all day. This is absolutely wrong. To get him on a schedule, set his food out for 15 minutes at a time. If he doesn't eat, pick it up. By doing this, he'll get the idea that when he sees that food dish it's time to eat. Having food available all day will result in him snacking all day instead of eating a full meal. All day snacking means he'll always need to go potty since he can't hold it for very long.

Next, make sure that you are taking your puppy to the same spot in the yard every time, and giving him the same command. This will teach him that when you're outside, it's a business trip. Do not play with your puppy when you take him out to go potty. He'll get distracted and forget why you took him out. Then when you let him back in, he relieves himself in the house.

Finally, make sure that you reward your puppy when he goes outside in the proper place. Remember that he wants to please you and will do whatever he can to make you happy. Let him know that it makes you extremely happy when he does his business outside. When I say reward him, I mean shower him with affection and praise like there's no tomorrow. Treats also work well, but there is not substitute for your attention and approval.

For further information on typical doggie behavior, including a fantastic resource for training how-to's and loads of detailed information on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors, check out http://puppyhousebreaking.blogspot.com/