Puppy Potty Training - Making it Work!

Puppies are full of energy, and bring quite a bit of excitement to any household. In the midst of embracing your new puppy, however, it's important that you begin instilling proper potty training techniques early in the animal's life cycle. Puppies develop ingrained habits which will follow for the remainder of their life; beginning to establish healthy rhythms early will ensure that they develop proper habits as they mature into adulthood.

Properly house training your puppy will require patience and the involvement of nearly every member of your family - young puppies take quite a bit of time to mature and positive reinforcement will require active management. Keep in mind that puppies have natural instinct to keep their own personal eating and sleeping areas clean, so you just need to extend this perception to a broader range of areas for the young puppy.

Always keep in mind that no animal is perfect, so the key is that they learn from their (inevitable) mistakes that are made. Puppies require constant supervision during their development stage, so always assess the needs of your puppy as it develops. Young puppies have limited self control and must develop these skills over time - work with your animal to inculcate proper modes of behavior.

Begin by developing a broad life cycle rhythm so that your puppy has a schedule for eating, drinking and (if applicable) going outside. This way, your puppy will develop a routine for going outside - in turn, developing a potty training routine will be entirely natural.

There are many ways that you can begin puppy potty training. One good way is to establish a small personal (pen) region where the dog's bed, water and toys are established. The puppy knows (naturally) not to use this area to go to the bathroom - conditioning him or her to understand boundaries is a core part of the training exercise. Make sure you take your puppy outside on a regular (hourly) schedule to use the bathroom - inform them of the urgency with a consistent cue so that they begin to associate this phrase with the particular act in question.

Always reward proper responses, by allowing your puppy to have a treat or some play time. After some time, the positive reinforcement will kick in and using the outdoors will become natural to your dog. Over time, the puppy will develop better bladder control and let you know when he or she needs to go outside. Make sure your puppy has access to the outdoors to further reinforce this behavior and continue the dog habits as he or she becomes an adult dog.

Properly potty training your puppy can be a challenging process, but properly training you dog can pay great dividends in terms of helping them to become an enjoyable part of your household. By taking time to ensure your puppy is properly trained, you can assure they will become an independent, healthy and functioning part of your household in less time than you ever imagined.

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