Housebreaking Your Puppy

When bringing a new puppy into your home, one of the first things you will need to do is housebreak your puppy. You will need to choose a method to train your puppy to go potty outside and alert you when he or she has to go outside. The proper pet care training techniques will help your dog learn the rules of your household.

In the beginning your new puppy will most likely have some accidents in your house. Puppies can't control the need to relieve themselves until after they are a few months old. But consistent training from the day you bring your puppy home will aid in the learning process. A puppy should be given a few months to learn the basics of going outside to potty.

From the first day that your puppy is in your household you should begin training. It is important to take them outside as often as possible to teach them where to relieve themselves. Your puppy will probably need to go out every few hours for the first few months of life. Dog care can be easy if you dedicate your time and stick to a routine.

When your new puppy does have an accident inside the house, DO NOT punish him or her for this behavior. Never rub a dog's nose in the accident to show that they did something wrong. Your dog is not capable of understanding what they did wrong when they are so young. The best way to help your dog learn new training techniques is through positive reinforcement and rewards training.

A good way to reinforce positive training is to reward your puppy when they go potty outside. Each time your puppy goes potty outside you can give them a treat and make sure to show them how excited you are that they went potty outside. Eventually they will be able to associate the treat and praise with relieving themselves outside. Do this every time with your dog and he or she will be on the fast track to being housebroken.

Crate Training

Proper dog care starts at home with the right pet supplies. One of the most important items you can provide for your dog is a dog crate or kennel. A crate will be your dog's home while you are away and when your dog is tired or wants to be alone the dog crate will be a safe place for your dog to go and not be bothered. A dog crate will also assist in housebreaking your puppy.

Pairing up positive reinforcement and the crate training method is an excellent way to potty train your puppy. Crate training teaches a dog not to relieve itself where it sleeps or spends most of its time. Most crates are made of wire or plastic and come in a variety of sizes. It's best to get a crate for your dog that is the right size because if a crate is too big your puppy will end up relieving themselves on one side and sleeping on the other. Get a crate that gives your dog enough room to turn around and lay down. That's just enough room to enforce the crate training technique.

With a consistent training schedule, after a few months your puppy should be able to recognize when they need to go outside and will have to go out less frequently.

Paper Training

An alternative to potty training your dog to do his business outside is the method of paper training. Paper training is just what it sounds like, training your dog to go potty on newspaper. Or there are also puppy training pads sold in most pet stores which are used to train your puppy to go potty on the pad.

Paper training and training pads are convenient for pet owners who live in big cities or in high rise buildings and do not have the opportunity to take their dog outside as often as they would like. The dog is then trained to go on the paper or pad instead of outside.

While paper training is an option for all dog owners, it should never be a replacement for training your dog to go potty outside unless absolutely necessary.

Whichever housebreaking option you use to train your dog or puppy, remember to always be consistent. Your dog will have accidents; it goes with the territory of being a dog owner. Pet care and new responsibilities with training your pet will all pay off in the end with a happy, healthy, well-trained pet.