Pets Smile Plus

Housebreaking your puppy is going to take a lot of patience. As soon as you bring your puppy home, you should begin to housebreak it. With puppies, nature calls about 6 times a day. You should take your puppy out immediately after each meal, as this is the time that it is most likely to need to relieve itself.

A puppy is not able to fully control its bladder until the age of twelve weeks. Up until that age, good housebreaking routines should be followed in order to avoid your dog relieving itself in your house.

Watch for signs that your puppy has to go out, including walking around in circles. That is the biggest sign that your dog needs to go outside to relieve itself.

Confining your puppy to a small area of the house, or using a crate are a couple of good ways to make sure your dog doesn’t end up defecating or urinating all over your house. Housebreaking your puppy is a lot harder if it smells urine in a part of your house that you don’t want it relieving itself in.

When housebreaking your dog, it is important to make sure that your dog knows when it is doing wrong, and knows what it is doing wrong. It’s no help scolding your dog for urinating on the floor if it’s not clear to the dog why you’re scolding him. Be firm, yet gentle, especially until your puppy knows better.

It is important to housebreak your puppy properly the first time, or you’ll be regretting it for years to come. If it’s not a hundred percent clear to your dog that it is not ok to urinate in the house, then you will be cleaning up a lot of messes over the course of your dog’s lifetime.

Information on proper housebreaking methods can be obtained from your vet, dog trainers, or on the internet. Do your homework ahead of time, before you bring your new puppy home, because the housebreaking needs to start immediately, as soon as your puppy gets home. You don’t want to be fumbling around, trying to learn how to housebreak your puppy while he’s urinating all over your house. Put yourself in the position of knowing how to do it before you bring your puppy home.

Chris Geldof is a dog lover and owns a dog-related website. Visit easy-dog-training-tips.com dog training tips for more information on dog obedience and dog training.

Housebreaking a puppy or dog of any age can be a daunting task at first. However, it really can be done so take heart.

Usually puppies respond well to housebreaking training when six to eight weeks old and the keys to successful results are confinement, training, timing and praise.

A dog does not normally like to soil the area where it sleeps so it’s wise to keep your puppy confined when unsupervised. Know its schedule and teach it a designated “restroom” area. Take it on a leash outside to his area immediately after it wakes up, after a meal, after a play session and before it goes to bed at night.

Praise your puppy as it eliminates and you may even wish to use a trigger word.

When your puppy is not confined, be alert to signs that it needs to use its facilities such as a sudden stop of play, circling and sniffing, and running out of the room. If you catch your puppy in the act of eliminating in the house, scold it, and take it outside immediately to his “restroom” spot.

Really no good results come from correction long after the act. What’s done is done so it’s best to clean up the accident with a vinegar and water solution to remove the scent; otherwise the puppy will continue to use that place to do his business.

What about “submission urination”? This is urination during an excited greeting and is an involuntary, natural behavior in dogs. It can mean that the dog recognizes that you are the leader of the pack or alpha dog. Reprimanding your dog at this time may only worsen the situation, as this may cause it to urinate more in order to show further that it views you as the one in charge. Usually this behavior stops by the time a dog reaches two years old.

Remember, a dog is a social animal. Long periods of confinement can lead to hyperactivity, excessive barking, elimination accidents and destructive behavior. With proper training, your puppy (or even older dogs) can become delightful, faithful companions.

Reggie Andersen is a small business office advocate and pet owner. Check out his dog resource sites: