Around 90% of puppies live in the home in America. You need to do some housebreaking with them if you are considering having them live in the home. Many pet owners are daunted by the responsibility of potty training a puppy. It is not that difficult, it doesn't have to be messy and housebreaking can be accomplished without a struggle. You have to keep in mind though that this is a training issue and you have to put in a little more than just casual effort. It requires time, involvement, and some tools of the trade such as puppy training pads.

The Puppy Rules

For those who own dogs or puppies, there are two major puppy training guidelines to follow. Remember to never punish your puppy for something you didn't see him do. Two, always remember to praise your puppy for good behavior. Do not train by only using "no" when you see your dog doing something it should not be doing. Desirable behavior should be met with praise and treats.

Housebreaking/House Training your Puppy

There are many different techniques to house train your pup. When you start indoors, encourage them to use papers or puppy training pads for their bathroom acts. These pads are treated with chemicals that make puppies want to use them to do their business. The moment you observe them beginning the pre-elimination routine of pacing and sniffing at the floor, lift up the puppy and quietly relocate them to the paper or puppy training pads, and then offer them a reward for appropriately going to the bathroom.

When everything is going well and the doggies are using the papers and puppy training pads consistently, you can either move those closer to the door or place them outside. This transition is done from focusing toilet habits at one spot inside the home to one spot outside the home. Soon, you'll have no use for training papers and pads inside the house.

The biggest issue with this method of puppy potty training is that is requires more time to get the puppy to go indoors. When house training puppies, other widely used techniques might work; you could, for example, use puppy crate training or cages, always accompanied by the owner's close supervision.

The maximum amount of time that dogs can hold their bladders and bowels is between seven and eight hours, so you should keep that in mind when using a crate or a cage, trying to housebreak your dog. This method usually works as most dogs treat cages and crates as their sleeping places and they do no want to soil their beds because they will be forced to lie in the mess. However it is not recommended to leave them in a cage or crate longer than necessary.

This is not to say, though, that continual supervision involves crates or cages, and paper or puppy pads. It is here that dog owners opt to spend whatever time is necessary with their pups. For people who are retired, work from home, or pet owners that have the spare time to be with their puppy, this is the ideal situation. With this method, pet owners usually hustle their puppy outside as soon as they notice the pre-potty signs. You need to keep a constant eye on your puppy to prevent any accidents or slip-ups.

To summarize, housebreaking and training your puppy should be included along with teaching them the basic commands like 'come' and 'stay'. But puppy potty training and housebreaking will be the most difficult forms of dog training due to the fact that they are simply the messiest. Don't give up!

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