House Training Your Puppy
House training your puppy means teaching him where he is allowed to go to the bathroom. This is one of the first lessons you need to teach your pet, and it is an important one. The precedents you set for your pet in the first days of his time with you can last for a lifetime. And you and your puppy need a clean and sanitary home to live so teaching basic house training is very important for your healthy living environment. Unsanitary conditions due to pet urine and feces can promote germs and can lead to many health problems for you and your pet.
You should start house training your puppy the first week he is in your home. Young puppies learn very quickly, but unless you can be with your pet 24 hours a day don’t expect him to be perfect at it right away. Your puppy is a baby and still growing so his bladder may not be completely under his control. You can expect little accidents up until he reaches about 6 months of age.
Also remember that what goes in also needs to come out. It is natural for puppies to eat a lot (think of the amount of energy they spend) so it goes without saying that they also need to eliminate a lot. It is wise to take your puppy to the place where you want him to go to the bathroom every time after he eats.
When you first begin to paper train your puppy, confine him to a limited area in the house. Cover the area with newspapers to catch whatever happens and to make clean-up easier. But, don’t be surprised when your puppy chews the papers, or misses them entirely. Puppies are puppies and they will be exploring everything that is within their reach. They won’t immediately connect the papers with what you want them to do on them. They won’t know yet what the papers are for.
Praise and reward are key at this time. Praise your puppy each time he goes ‘potty’ where he is supposed to. When he goes on the paper, praise him. If he misses, ignore it. As mentioned, puppies tend to learn quickly and he will soon realize that he gets praise for going on the paper. Then gradually lessen the papered area each day by a small amount. Take a few papers away. Don’t be discouraged or impatient with puppy if he ‘messes’ up. Remember that he is still growing and learning.
When you begin trying to teach your puppy to go outside, you need to have a lot of time to spend in the training. You need to take puppy outside whenever he needs to eliminate, which is probably about every 45 minutes for a young puppy. He will need to go when he just wakes up, after he eats or drinks anything, and even after an energetic play session. Again, the key here is reward and praise. When puppy eliminates outside, praise him profusely. Never scold him or reprimand him for mistakes inside the house.
You will have to be patient and consistent. That is how your puppy will learn the best—repetition and praise. Remember too that most puppies are not really able to be trained until they are about 6 months or older.
Housetraining your puppy is an important part of his learning experience. Once he masters the housetraining, you will be able to use the same techniques to train him in other things. Using praise, repetition and reward is the right way to housetrain your puppy.
