Top 5 Tips to Potty Training a Puppy

Credit: Erin Patterson via Flickr

Puppies are so cute and adorable that it’s almost hard to get mad at them, especially when they pee and poop all over your house. It may be a little frustrating since these pups don’t seem to understand you no matter how many times you tell them where the “toilet” is. To avoid this from happening, you want to start teaching them early on when they are still puppies. Potty training a puppy will definitely be to your advantage because it’ll be a great way for both of you to bond, and you get to teach them how to control “having to go” anywhere.  

Here are Top 5 tips that will aid you on your journey to potty training your pup:

• Tip #1 - Set up a place that will serve as their doggy bathroom. A dog won’t pee/poop in their living area, so you have to create a space where your pup will go. If you live in a tight space area, you can simply create a small pen in the house, or use your bathroom. Or if you live in a less dense neighbourhood, you can set up a space in your backyard.

• Tip #2 - Follow a strict routine when you accompany your pooch to go potty. Travel the same route to the pup’s bathroom, and always take your puppy to the same spot. They will remember the smell of their pee, and will soon associate the smell with the bathroom as the place for them to relieve themselves. In case you find them peeing midway somewhere else, pick them up, and bring them back to the bathroom. This will teach them to finish peeing at their designated area.

• Tip #3 - Don’t yell at your puppy if they“went” somewhere else. Shouting doesn’t help your pup to listen to you at all. You should watch out for clues when your dog wants to pee or poop. They will circle or pace around if it needs to use the bathroom so before they accidentally do this, take them to potty spot right away. And instead of yelling, try to use other methods, like using a spray bottle. Fill a spray bottle with water and a few drops of lemon juice. Your puppy hates the smell of lemon juice, so once you see them “go” some place other than her bathroom, spray them once or twice.   

• Tip # 4 - Teach your puppy to potty even if you are not at home. Create a playpen in a safe place (like the bathroom), and make sure to have enough space for your pooch to play around. Line the whole area with tissue paper. At first, she won’t pee/poop on the lined tissue papers, but just clean it up, and line more tissue papers in the playpen. Once you have conditioned your dog to think that it is okay to pee/poop on a tissue paper, she will make this a habit. Over a week, start reducing the number of tissue paper lined in her potty area for them to think that it’s okay to “go” on that potty area, even without the tissue paper.

• Tip # 5 - Potty training a puppy will require a lot of patience, so you better prepare yourself for it. The time it’ll take for your cute little pet to properly potty will differ from other pups. As a loving owner, just make sure that you are giving them positive reinforcement whenever they potty correctly.

In my experience it took me 8 days till my 3 month old puppy Dexter was fully potty trained through the help with the book below. 

I'm interested in hearing your story how long did it take you to potty train your pooch? Is there any more tips you can share to other readers? Just leave a comment below if you do. 

 

Puppy Potty Training - The Expert's Guide to Easy Housetraining FAST
Amazon Price: Buy Now
(price as of Oct 10, 2015) This book is extremely effective on teaching you how to potty train a puppy. Teaches you the fastest ways and more essential tips. PetZoom Pet Park Indoor Pet Potty, 25" x 20" x 0.5"
Amazon Price: $34.99 $20.00 Buy Now
(price as of Oct 10, 2015) This is a perfect idea if you have limited and compact living areas with no real backyard.