House Training Your Puppy

House training your puppy or dog should be the first item on your training list. The inability of an owner to adequately house train their dog is one of the main reasons dogs are taken to dog shelters.

House training your puppy of of prime importance. A puppy is the easiest to train.  It is still a blank slate and has not developed bad habits.  Don't allow bad habits to develop.  Begin house training your puppy from the first moment the puppy is brought into your household.

Guide on House Training Your Puppy or Dog

House Training - Potty Training

There is a natural schedule regulating a dog's elimination. Those times are upon awakening in the morning, about thirty minutes after meals, and before bed time.  It is your responsibility to make sure your puppy has an opportunity to successfully complete this necessary task.  You will need to assume the responsibility of taking your puppy outside at the appropriate times.  Observing nature's natural schedule will make house training your puppy easier.

When your puppy completes his task successfully praise him enthusiastically. You need to reward your puppy when acts are completed properly and immediately reprimand when bad actions occur.

With a Puppy Slow is Fast

You must be repetitive and consistent.  Your puppy will learn at his own rate.  If your puppy does not understand, repeat again and again. Demonstrate with love and patience.  Training is a 24 hour 7 days a week job.

How Dogs Learn

Before your puppy was weaned away from his mother his mother taught him how to live in her pack.  When he did something his mother did not like she growled at him.  Actions that she approved of were rewarded with petting using her tongue.  This is a natural sequence to punish for bad actions and reward or praise for good actions.  A puppy wants to receive praise and be a responsible member of your household. 

Another key to successful training is repetition.  Your puppy's mother taught correct actions over and over until it had been learned.  The natural step to training is through patient repetition.  Good habits are easy to create.  Reprimand sternly reward enthusiastically and use treats where appropriate.

Your puppy will also learn by observation.  Is training an unpleasant activity for you?  He will learn to hate it.  He does not understand words but he feels feelings.  Your puppy will eventually learn to emulate the feelings he has felt transmitted from you.  Generally dogs love to be trained but they will pick up your attitudes.

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House Trained Dog Signals

You call your puppy to come. Your puppy has an itch behind its ear.  He scratches before he comes to stand by your side. You patiently waited.  He has just learned that he does not have to respond immediately to your commands.  He has discovered he can be lazy, he can get out of work.  You should have corrected a bad habit immediately when it occurred.

Your puppy touches the hot stove.  He has learned by accident that it hurts.  He will not repeat the action.  Your puppy pushes on a door.  He has learned by chance how to enter get outside.  The activity of learning is continuous.  Your puppy knows more than you think he knows.  Your dog is non-verbal.  He learns by being attentive to your body language, voice and attitude.  A dog wants to be obedient.  Do not be abusive, verbally or physically. 

When your puppy is house trained or learning he will let you know that he needs to get outside by circling, barking at the door, or scratching at the door. You must be attentive to his signals.  Let him out, upon returning praise him.  Remember you are always training.

House Training Techniques

There are two general techniques to house train your puppy as to where to potty.  Both techniques can be used simultaneously.  At night place your puppy in a room with hard floors.  Put a dog bed in the room for your puppy.  You need to cover the entire floor of the room with newspaper.  Every morning replace all the soiled newspaper.  Eventually your puppy will learn it is to only soil on newspaper.  Slowly decrease the size of the area covered by the newspaper.  Eventually the paper volume will get down to the size of one sheet.  Now that your puppy is using the one sheet successfully move it outside.  Your puppy, now accustomed to pottying on newspaper, will do it outside on the newspaper.  Eventually you can forget the newspaper.

The other method requires greater vigilance on your part.  When you see your puppy making preparations to go potty, pick her up and take her to the appropriate place.  If you miss the signs do not reprimand the puppy as she does not know what she does not know.  It is in their nature to satisfy the alpha dog leader.

Crate Training

Check out our page on crate training to learn how to use this method to house train your dog.