How to House Train a Puppy

There's quite a selection of different dog and puppy potty training techniques you can use, but they all focus on the same outcome - which is the goal of preventing accidents in your house. When training a puppy, one technique used in the more effective house training methods is in encouraging your puppy to do his business outside of the house. Sounds obvious I know, but surprisingly few methods actually have the positive focus.

Whichever methods you decide to use, the main requirement from you is to remain patient and focused - house training a puppy or new dog takes time, and cannot be rushed.

People often feel that older dogs cannot be house broken, but his simply isn't true. Any dog at any age can be taught how to use the bathroom outside of the house. It is important that you keep your dog on a set schedule just as you would a baby. If you are trying to train a puppy then you should take the dog outside every couple of hours and definitely the first thing in the morning, after a meal and after playtime. Puppies under the age of three months are more likely to have accidents around the house because at this age the puppy is still unaware of the fact that they have to go the bathroom until they actually go.

Therefore the crate method of house training may be needed for younger dogs. This means that the dog will be confined to the crate during the times that you are unable to watch them closely to ensure that they don't have an accident in the house. Over time, the puppy is taken from the crate and left around the house because it has learned to use the bathroom outside.

However, if you find that once you have taken your dog out of the crate and they are having accidents once again, this means that you need to use the crate method for a longer period of time. The key to the crate method is that the crate should not be used a punishment. You should make the dog aware of that fact and find another of punishing the dog for any inappropriate behavior. The crate is a place to sleep, much like a den and should be treated as such.

If you have adopted an older dog and you discover that this dog has not be properly housetrained you can still use the create method. However, you must keep in mind that this dog may require a larger crate so that they can move around and sleep comfortably. Puppies need only a small space to sleep, whereas older dogs often like to move around. If by some chance your dog does have an accident in the house it is never a good idea to hit the dog on the nose or rub his or her nose in the mess on the floor. This has been found to only confuse or scare the dog. Scaring the dog is not a method that has been found to be effective when attempting to housetrain your dog.

When training your puppy, you should always keep the dog's food the same until you know that you can trust the dog not to do anything in the house. Changing the dog's food suddenly can have a negative effect on the dog's digestive system, sometimes causing frequent bowel movements. If you do this before the dog is fully house broken you are sure to have a few accidents in your house.