TIPS FOR A HOUSE TRAINED PUPPY

We start training all of our puppies when they are around three and half weeks old. That is when they are beginning to walk around. We are going to give you some tips that are going to help you with the training!

1- PICK A SPOT

Before you take your new pup home, decide where you want his bathroom area to be. Pick a spot that is quick and easy to get to and has few exciting sights,sounds and smells. This way,you can whisk your puppy out to that spot on short notice, and he or she will not be distracted from eliminating.

2- START IMMEDIATELY

When you arrive home with your new puppy, immediately take him to his predetermined potty place. Stand there with him until he goes to the bathroom. Praise him, then let him sniff around for a few m ore minutes so he can get familiar with it.

3- GIVE HIM A MINUTE

After your pup has used his bathroom area, allow him to remain there and sniff around a bit longer, just in case he has a little more urine. Many pups will urinate more than once before finishing. Also, pups often will urinate, then a few minutes later defecate.

Give your puppy a chance to do everything he needs to do while outside. If five minutes go by and he does not eliminate, he probably doe not need to. You can take him back indoors.

Once inside, watch him closely for another ten minutes or so. Sometimes pups will not quite finish the whole job while in their bathroom area and shortly will need to eliminate again. If you see this pattern, keep your pup in the area longer than you have been, so this kind of accident does not reoccur.

4-KEEP ON TRACK

Leash your puppy when you take him to the selected area. This helps keep him focused on the job at hand by preventing him from wandering off and exploring or trying to go back inside prematurely.

5- ADD A CUE

Teach your puppy a verbal cue to relieve himself, something like "go poty", or "get busy" or some other short phrase you will not mind saying with the neighbors close to you.

When your puppy relieves himself in the appropriate area, praise him and include his bathroom cue, for example, "good go potty". This will help him learn the cue.

6- GET THERE FIRST

You need to take your puppy to his elimination area immediately after he wakes,eats,drinks,plays and greets visitors or family. Puppies under 12 weeks old have very little time between these events and their need to go to the bathroom.

7- LET HIM RING

Pups often have housebreaking accidents simply because they do not know how to tell you when they need to go outside. But you can solve this problem. Hang a bell on a sturdy cord from the door that leads to his bathroom area. Each time you your puppy outdoors to eliminate, ring the bell just before you open the door. He will associate the bell ringing with the door opening and will soon try himself, to see if he can make the door work.

It may take two days to three weeks for him to figure this out. When you do hear that bell ring, hurry to your puppy and take him out immediately.

8- DO NIGHT DUTY

Many pups over 10 weeks can make it through eight nighttime hours without relieving themselves. But that assumes that you take your puppy to his potty area right before you go to bed- even if you have to rouse him-and first thing when he awakens in the morning.

If the puppy has accidents during the night despite taking him out both late and early, set your alarm for 3 or 4 a.m. and take him out then. If you can not or do not want to do that, provide papers in his sleeping area so he can use them during the night.

9-CRATE HIM RIGHT

When you must leave your puppy unattended during the day for up to three hours or during the night, keep him safely out of trouble by bedding him down in his crate with an interesting chew toy.

Puppies normally prefer not to eliminate where they sleep or eat, so most will not soil their crates. But give him ample opportunity to relieve himself before you put him in his crate.

10-CONFINE KINDLY

If you must leave your puppy unattended for more than two or three hours during the day, he will need more space than a crate allows. For good health, pups need to stretch out, exercise and eliminate.

Use alternative confinement for periods longer than three hours. You can get a portable folding exercise pen, puppy proof your kitchen or laundry room.

11-THE INDOOR ALTERNATIVE

Puppies under 10 weeks need to urinate fairly frequently during the day time - as often as every two hours. If that is more often than you can take your pup to his outdoor relief area, temporarily keep potty papers in a spot he can reach on his own.

Use either thick, overlapping newspaper sections or commercial or puppy pads (they do work better!) Make the papered area at least twice the pup's body length to create a good -sized target.

12- SHOW HIM WHERE

To give your puppy the idea of the paper's use, soak up a little urine with a paper towel and wipe it on the puppy pad or insert the towel between the top two newspapers sheets.

Puppies tend to relieve themselves where they've gone before, so his own urine's scent will fool him into thinking he has used that spot in the past. You will only need to scent that spot a few times before your puppy makes the connection.

13- OOPS! WHAT NOW?

If your puppy has an accident, gently carry or lead him to the mess and calmly tell him, "No potty here"

Then blot or pick up the accident with a paper towel, and take it and the pup to the approved potty area. Drop the poop or smear the pee there, then show it to him and praise him, " Good potty here" as if he'd done it there himself.

14- KEEP IT CLEAN

Thoroughly clean up any accidents. Otherwise, the scent will entice your puppy to eliminate there again. Use an enzyme based cleaner made specifically for removing the pet stains. Avoid ammonia-based cleaners as they may smell like urine to your puppy.

If he sniffs at a spot he has soiled previously, he may need to relieve himself. Take him immediately to his approved area, and give his potty cue to encourage him!

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