SUPPLIES
Overview
Potty training a dog is one of the most difficult tasks when it comes to adding a new pet to your family and household. Teaching a puppy the basics of potty training is most effective on a weekend, when someone is there to supervise it for extended periods of time. It is important to remember to have a lot of patience, as a puppy is a baby and does not understand what it means to hold its bladder until it is let outside.
Step 1
Teach crate training. Keeping the puppy in its crate (kennel) when it cannot be supervised is essential to producing proper potty training habits. The puppy should sleep in its kennel at night so it learns that it cannot soil its bed. This can also be reinforced if the puppy is fed and given water in its kennel.
Step 2
Create a solid schedule. Most puppies can hold their bladder an hour for every month of their age. For example, a 3-month-old puppy can hold its bladder for three hours. Make sure that you keep a steady schedule that follows this rule, with regular times that the dog is allowed to go outside. This will never give the puppy the chance to go in the house, thus creating a steady pattern of using the outdoors as the bathroom.
Step 3
Watch the puppy closely while indoors. Keep an eye on the puppy at all times to make sure it never goes to the bathroom inside. Keeping the puppy on hard floors, like tile, creates less of a mess if the puppy does have an accident. If the puppy begins to sniff around and squat, then it is about to go to the bathroom.
Step 4
Stop the puppy if it starts to go to the bathroom. Clap your hands or make a loud noise, say no in a firm voice, and take the puppy immediately outside to finish doing its job. This does take some time and effort, as the puppy may occasionally not understand and keep urinating as you are taking it outside.
Step 5
Provide lots of praise. If the puppy does go outside, or holds its bladder until it is taken outside, praise the puppy as soon as it is finished. Good praise includes raising your voice higher than normal and using phrases such as "good dog!" "good job!" and sometimes giving a small treat when available.
TIPS AND WARNINGS
- WARNING : Shouting and yelling at your dog will not help it understand what it has done wrong.
