How to potty train a puppy.

Potty training puppies can be frustrating, but with patience, any puppy can be trained to potty outside!!!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A 6 foot leash
• A flat buckled collar
• A patch of grass outside
• Timer/clock
• A soft treat or favorite toy

1. Puppies need to go out about twice an hour when they are very young (6 - 10 weeks) and then can gradually be lessened to once an hour when from 11 - 16 weeks. Puppies need to be taken out during the following key times: 1. When the puppy has woken up from a nap 2. When the puppy has finished eating or drinking. 3. When the puppy has finished playing. 4. Anytime the puppy starts sniffing around or walking in a circle. Some puppies will whimper or cry right before they have an accident in the house.

2. Every time the puppy gets taken out to go to the bathroom, the puppy needs to be on a leash (even if the puppy has access to a fenced in yard) and the puppy needs to be asked/told it is going potty while walking out the door. Ex: Do you have to go potty? The puppy needs to be taken out the same door and taken to the same spot in the yard every time it is taken out. While the puppy is outside, tell the puppy over and over to go potty or make pee pee or whatever choice of words you decide. This will help the puppy to associate "potty" (or word of your choice) with relieving itself outside of the house.

3. Stay outside as long as needed until the puppy goes potty. Even just a little pee or poop is great news! As soon as the puppy is done, praise the puppy immediately in a high pitched, happy voice and give the puppy a piece of a soft treat (soft treats allow the puppy to swallow it quickly). Allow the puppy some more time outside to see if the puppy needs to go again.

Tips & Warnings

• If a puppy does eliminate inside the house and you do not CATCH the puppy doing it, do NOT scold the puppy. Pick up the poop or mop up pee in a paper towel, put the puppy on the leash, say lets go potty and put the paper towel outside in the spot where the puppy eliminates.
• If you catch a puppy having an accident, say NO! and quickly carry the puppy outside to it's spot and tell the puppy to go potty.
• While the puppy is going potty outside, consistently tell the puppy to go potty. This will help the puppy associate "go potty" with the actual act of defecating and urinating.
• DON'T GIVE UP! Consistency is the key to potty training a puppy!
• Never, ever rub a puppies nose in it's accident. Not only is this disgusting, it is confusing for the puppy.
• If a puppy does have an accident in the house, clean the spot thoroughly and keep the puppy away from that spot! Dogs can smell miniscule amounts of urine and will go to the bathroom if they smell an accident in the spot where the accident occurred.

[MI-Sandi]

on 11/3/2008 Good article. I have had dogs all of my life, and agree with everything that you said. 5 stars
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