Potty Training Your Best Friend

House training is one of the most important parts of training any dog to be a valued part of the family. As with many other aspects of dog training, the best way to house train a dog is to use the dog's own nature to your benefit. The great thing about dogs, and the thing that can make house training much easier, is that dogs are instinctively very clean animals. Dogs would rather not soil the areas where they sleep and eat. In addition, dogs are very good at developing habits regarding where they like to urinate and defecate. For example, dogs that are used to eliminating on concrete or gravel will prefer to eliminate there rather than on grass or dirt. It is possible to use these natural canine habits when house training your dog.

The first thing you need to do to begin house training your dog is to set up the training area. A small space that is confined is best for this purpose. For example, a bathroom or a part of the kitchen or garage will work best. Please do not confuse this with crate training. Crate training is great for both puppies and small dogs. However, many larger dogs will find a crate to confining.

It is important for the owner to spend as much time in the training area with his or her dog as possible. It is important for the owner to play with the dog in the training area, and to let the dog eat and sleep in that area. The dog should be provided with a special bed in the training area, anything from a store bought bed to a large towel to a large box. At first, the dog may eliminate in this area, but once the dog has recognized it as his or her own space, he or she will be reluctant to soil it.

When the dog is used to sleeping in the bed the owner can move it around the house and relocate the bed from room to room. When you are not with your dog; the dog should be confined to the training area.

The second part of house training is to set up the toilet area for the dog. It is important for the dog to have access to this place every time he or she needs to eliminate. It is also important for the owner to accompany the dog each time until he or she gets into the habit of eliminating in the toilet area. This will ensure that the dog uses only the established toilet area.

A set feeding schedule will make potty training easier. Feeding your dog on a regular basis will create a regular schedule for the dog's potty training habits. Once you know when your dog is going to eliminate it will be easy to take your dog to the correct potty training area.

It is very important that your dog has access, to his area, on a regular basis. If he is unable to get to his potty area he may have an accident and this will make house training much more difficult.

After the dog is consistently using his toilet area and not soiling the training area it is then time to expand his training area to the rest of the home. This process should be done slowly. First start with one room and expand to the rest of the house. The area should only be expanded when you are sure of the dog's capability to control his bladder.

First, expand the dogs training area to a single room. You need to let the dog eat, play and sleep in that room. But, you need to supervise that dog. When it is not possible to supervise the dog place the dog back in the original training area. Then when the dog has accepted the area as an extension of the original training area you can then extend this area.

In order to speed up this process you must be cautious. It is easier to take your time at first than to to retrain a dog that has learned bad habits. You can speed up house training by rewarding the dog each time it goes where it was supposed to go. Also, you should not punish the dog for his mistakes. Punishing, your dog, will confuse your pet and further slow down the house breaking process.