Puppy Housetraining For Your New Puppy or Dog

Puppies have very little control over their excretory functions until they are over seven months of age, so keep that in mind when puppy housetraining. At least once per hour and possibly more often, it will have to relieve itself. After playing, eating and sleeping your puppy will have the urge to use its bowels. By keeping your puppy confined to a relatively small area lined with papers, it will not have the opportunity to make a mistake and necessitate a verbal reprimand. It will naturally seek the place furthest from its sleeping quarters to soil, so that it may keep its own bed clean.

Knowing the habits of your pup will allow you to place your pup on its papers, or take it outside, after it eats, sleeps and plays. When your puppy soils where you have placed it, praise the dog immensely, but make it sincere. A puppy will respond to sincere praise and will not be fooled if you do not mean it. People who have a limited house area, such as apartment dwellers, seem to be more successful due to necessity. It is not important where you live, the same rules apply to your dogs potty training.

Supervising your puppy at all times is required if you let it have the freedom of the whole house. Taking your pup out to the yard, or onto its papers has to be quick, if you see it lowering its head, sniffing and circling. Praise is in order when it does the right thing and relieves itself where you put it. However, if, through your fault, it has an accident, no spanking or rubbing its nose in it. Your pup will not understand what you are doing.

Such punishment does not fit the crime and will only encourage bad habits such as stool eating and thereby re-infestation with parasites. By all means show your pup what it has done, scold it and place it on the papers. Remember, the accident was your fault for not supervising it properly, or not being aware of its warning signals. Be sure that the soiled area is carefully cleaned, deodorized and disinfected as any remaining scent will prompt your pup to return to that very spot when the urge next hits it. If you do give your pup freedom of the whole house while it is learning potty habits, your time will be taken up following your pup to avoid accidents and could develop into housetraining problems.

For the older dog, paper training is generally superfluous. Take an older dog outside after meals, naps first thing in the morning and last thing at night. While confinement to a very small area is probably unnecessary, supervision and praise must never be forgotten. They are the simple rules to puppy housetraining as you show how pleased you are with praise and affection and they reward you with good behavior as they want to please you, their leader.