How to House Train Your New Puppy

House training is the first thing your new puppy must learn.  The toileting process that your puppy learns in the first few months after arriving in your household will make a lasting impact on your puppy so this part of dog training is important to do correctly the first time.  Failure to house train correctly is the number one reason why dogs are end up in animal shelters.

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It is important to understand that your puppy probably probably will not be completely house trained until he’s about 6 months old.  That is due to the fact that many times young puppies will lack the bladder and bowel control that is required for you to be able to trust them to be left alone for long periods of time.

You also need to be available to watch over and supervise your new puppy but of course that is not always possible what with busy lifestyles.  If this is the case you might want to consider confining your puppy to a small puppy-proof room.  You need to make sure that the entire floor is covered with either a newspaper or some absorbent, disposable material.  In the beginning, you will find that your puppy will go everywhere in the room.  As he gets older he will come to favor one area. 

Slowly reduce the area covered in papers until the puppy eventually goes only on the toileting paper.  The floor in this puppy-proof room should not resemble other floor areas in your home as the carpeting or hardwood areas.  Once your puppy is used to eliminating on one surface, he will want to eliminate on that type of surface.

If you want to train your puppy to use only papers, then your goal is complete.  Most dog owners prefer for their dogs to eliminate outside the house so you should only use the puppy-proof room when you are not at home to supervise. 

Your puppy should be spending some time in a crate at first, so you can place papers in one area in the crate for your puppy to use.  Dogs are naturally very clean animals and they will usually try not to soil their bed area.  This can really assist your puppy in being able to develop self control.

If your puppy must be outdoor trained, take him to his designated toilet area every 45 minutes.  When your puppy relieves himself in his designated area, make sure to lavish praise on him. 

Don’t be afraid to look like a fool when you are giving your dog this praise. Your puppy is learning the most important lesson for him living in your household so don’t be afraid to go overboard with this praise.

Put your puppy on a consistent feeding schedule during the day so you will be able to anticipate his needs.  While he does require free access to clean, fresh drinking water, make sure you do not give him any unrestricted access to food.  Also, at least until he is fully house trained, do not give him unlimited run of your house. 

One thing that will greatly help you in this training process is putting a collar and long lead on your puppy and tying the other end of the lead around your waist. 

Your puppy will like being close to you and he won’t have the opportunity to make many mistakes. If mistakes do happen, don’t punish or reprimand him. 

He may not understand the reason for the punishment and this will cause him to become nervous or agitated.  It would be easy for hime to think he is being punished for eliminating in the first place. This could cause a setback in your training instead of making progress and moving forward.

The important thing you must have when it comes to house training your puppy is patience and a good sense of humor.  Maintain a calm and relaxed attitute  while at the same time maintaining a consistent dog training schedule and your puppy will be relaxed and calm while he learns what he needs to do to become a well adjusted member of the family.

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