After the puppy eats or drinks, take him outside to go potty
immediately. A puppy will always need to go to the potty shortly after eating
or drinking. Control when the puppy eats, as well. He does not require a full
bowl of food available at all times. He should be fed on a consistent schedule.
When you take the puppy outside after eating or drinking, do
not use this time to play. Simply stand or sit off to the side and wait until
he finally goes. When he does what he is supposed to and potties make a
HUGE deal out of it. Praise, treats, excitement, make sure he knows he did
good. Additionally, every time the puppy goes potty or when you are waiting for
him to go, use the word you want to associate with training him to go. For
example, you might repeat, "Go potty, good boy! Good potty!" This
will train him to understand what you want him to do, which is go potty in the
designated spot.
Crate training is also imperative in house training a puppy,
as well as teaching the dog a crate is a good thing. There’s nothing worse than
trying to crate a 200lb dog that has never been in a crate before. Choose a
crate that is large enough for the puppy to stand and turn around in; never use
the crate as punishment, such as a "time out" corner. It should be a
place where the puppy feels safe and comfortable. Take the puppy outside to go
potty before putting him in his crate. He can be safely crated for three to four
hours; puppies rarely use the crate as a potty and will learn to hold it while
in the crate. Take him outside to potty as soon as you let him out of the
crate. While you may feel like you are imprisoning him, puppies who are crate
trained begin to appreciate the safety and security of their crate, and it
becomes a safe place for them. I always give a tiny treat when they go in their
crate and eventually turn it into a command the dog knows. When I say crate,
the dog goes in the crate. It actually becomes quite handy.
Repetition and consistency are two key factors that will
help your puppy learn to let you know he needs to go potty. Whenever you take
the puppy outside to go potty, always take him through the same door and to the
same area of your yard. This will help to train him to go to that door when he
needs to go potty. I have also had luck in making your puppy sit before he goes
through any door, anywhere. This teaches the puppy two important things: not to
pull you through a door or run out of a door and secondly, to go sit down in
front of a door when he wants to go outside. I prefer this to the bell on the
door knob methods because some dogs simply ring the bell incessantly just to go
out and play, which can get pretty annoying pretty fast.
If while training the puppy does have accident inside NEVER
punish or scold the puppy unless you catch them in the act. Dogs don’t
generalize and if you punish them after the fact they really don’t know what
they are in trouble for. Other unacceptable behaviors that have been popular in
the past are hitting the dog with a newspaper or rubbing his nose in the
accident. These are not productive training methods and in my personal opinion
would be considered abusive.
On a side note if you have a dog that has been potty trained
for a time and all of a sudden starts having accidents inside, the first step
is a vet visit. The dog could be suffering from a urinary tract or kidney
infection and not be able to control their bodily functions.
