House Training Dogs - Yes You Can!

By Lisa Gold

House training dogs is no easy task, to be honest, but it has to be done. Otherwise you'll have a dog that has accidents in the house constantly and you'll be forever busy cleaning your carpets. You might even begin to notice a smell to your house. Pretty soon you'll be wishing you never had a dog and will start thinking about giving him away. The kids will cry because they've become so attached to him and you'll feel horrible.

As you can see, it's better to house train your dog from the start, so potty training puppies advice is in order here. Having had several puppies in my lifetime I've learned a thing or two.



1. To potty train a puppy you need an infinite amount of patience. You know that expression, "Rome wasn't built in a day"? Well it applies to the situation at hand. Puppies need lots of your patience because they're puppies. They will forget. They might remember twice in a row what they're supposed to do and then forget it, just like kids do.



Above all, remember you are the adult and you can't give up and throw in the towel. Even when your dog has poo'd in the house, stepped in it, and dragged it all over from it's original resting spot, you have to keep your cool and have patience.



2. When house breaking a puppy, be consistent. If you take him outside after every meal so he can take care of business, he'll start to learn that behavior. If you stop taking him out after every meal, he'll do his dirty in the house. You have to take your dog out consistently and often.



3. People like feedback and so do dogs. Praise your pup after he's gone successfully outside. Do this every time so he makes the connection between his actions and your pleasure. Likewise, communicate your displeasure after he's had an accident inside, but do it when you catch him in the act. Don't hit him or he'll start connecting the dots that any pooping or peeing is bad.

Keep in mind that with house training dogs, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Find a good dog training book, your resource to potty training dogs, and follow their training. If the book is a good one, it will also give you help with other dog training problems. For my favorite training book, visit http://dogintraining.info and grab your free tips while you're at it.