Having a new puppy is fun. Think about all the things you and your puppy can do together. Imagine all the tricks you can teach your puppy. Before you get caught up with the things you want your dog to learn, don’t forget that housebreaking a puppy is one of the most important things you have to do to make your dog adjust effectively to its new environment. There are several ways on housebreaking a puppy. Choose the method that is convenient for you so that dog training is easier on you and your dog. Understanding your puppy and building communication between the two of you are important factors in determining your success of potty training a puppy.

Communication is an essential part of dog training. If you don’t communicate well with your pet, potty training a puppy may be harder for you. Housebreaking a puppy should be started as soon as you bring the puppy to your house. You should start by having a consistent command phrase you can use to mean that your dog needs to relieve himself on the spot where you want him to. A command phrase or word can be anything like “outside”, “go” or “potty time”. The phrase you choose is not very important, what’s important is to use the phrase frequently and assign a consistent meaning to that phrase. You can’t use the word “go” to mean “potty time” today and use it tomorrow to mean “run”. Frequency and consistency in meaning is very important, especially on the first days of dog training.

Understanding your pet’s behavior is also an important part when potty training a puppy. One of the mistakes most pet owners make is to not know the signs their pets do when they need to relieve themselves. You need to know these signs so you can take your puppy out or bring him to the area of the house where you want him to pee before your puppy actually does. Some of the most common signs are walking around in circles, pacing and sniffing.

2 of the most popular method in housebreaking a puppy is crate training and paper training or the use of puppy pads. You need to have time and patience in whatever dog training method you choose. There is no cutting corners to potty training a puppy. When crate training, make sure to use a crate big enough for your puppy to be comfortable in. The principle of crate training is to teach your puppy that the crate is his bed and he should not soil it. Keep him in his crate several hours a day. Let him out when you see signs that he needs to relieve himself. After a meal or a play session, it’s important that you take him out so he can do his thing before you put him back in the crate. Balance the time your puppy is in and out of his crate. A dog that’s put in the crate for a very long time may become destructive and noisy. Let him out several times a day so he can run around the house or play with you.

Paper training is usually used for small dog breeds like a Cocker Spaniel or Chihuahua. Have several layers of newspaper on the area that you want your dog to relieve himself. Every time your puppy relieves himself, throw the top layer of the newspaper. This way, it will be easier for your puppy to smell his way to the spot where he needs to pee or defecate. Other pet owners prefer to use puppy pad for potty training a puppy. With a puppy pad, your dog will just follow the scent of the pad to lead him to your chosen area where you want your dog to relieve himself. Paper training and crate training are just some of the methods you can use in dog training. There are other methods you can try for housebreaking a puppy.

Housebreaking a puppy should not be a hard time for you and your dog. The most important thing you need to know when housebreaking a puppy is to give your dog enough time to adjust and get used to his new routine.

Photo by ★ɱark and article written by Alysson Price