How to Housebreak a Puppy - Part One.

When it comes to housebreaking a puppy, you need to make sure to start potty training them right from the start. It's easy to get caught up in their cuteness and the excitement of having a new pet, but you want to be sure to establish good habits with them right from the beginning or it could cause problems later on.

There are several methods for housebreaking a puppy. One is paper training, which I do not recommend, because you are basically teaching your puppy to pee inside your house on a puppy pad or on newspapers, and then later on, teaching them to potty outside. It's much better to just teach them to go outside from the very beginning.

One other method is crate training. Crate training is very popular and very effective. Basically you get a crate from the pet store that is about the size of your dog's bed. Dogs will typically not go potty in this area when they are in it because it is such a small space, they would be forced to lay on it or very close to it.

You put your puppy in the crate anytime you cannot be supervising them to make sure they don't go potty inside. This could be when you leave the house, when you're cooking, when you're working, etc. This teaches your puppy that when they need to go potty, they are able to hold it. They don't have to immediately relieve themselves.

It's important to get the right size of crate. If it's too large, they may potty in it because of the extra space. If it's too small, they will not be able to lay down and it will be very uncomfortable for them. They need to be able to lay down comfortably.

It's very useful to teach your dog a potty word. For example 'go pee pee'. You can choose something less cheesy if you wish.:) Any word will do, as long as you are consistent with using it.

When your puppy is outside going potty, you will say the 'potty word', then praise them and give them a treat. This will teach your pup to go potty when you take them outside for that purpose.

When you take them out to play games or go for a walk, you wouldn't use the word. This way they know the difference between going outside to play, and going outside to go potty.

Visit my website for more tips and tricks! I cover everything from paper training your dog to solving dog chewing problems at DogBehaviorExpert.com

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