Potty Training Dog Lessons that Truly Work

November 4, 2009 by · 4 Comments 

If you need to potty train your dog, there are many techniques out there so it can be hard to know what will work best for you. It’s vital that you take everything such as your personality, your dog’s personality, your lifestyle and the breed and age of your dog into consideration.

It doesn’t matter if you have a new puppy or an older dog that was never really trained you can still train them. You can even train adults in the same way that you would train a new puppy or young dog. However, you need to keep in mind that puppies as well as elderly dogs will have limited bladder control so they will need to be taken out more frequently and some accidents may still happen.

The best method for potty training dogs is to try to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. One way to do this is to set up a regular schedule. You can do this by revolving it around your dog’s natural schedule in the first place.

Dogs usually need to go when they wake up in the mornings, when they wake up after a nap, about a half hour after eating and before they go to sleep at night or for a nap. You can help prevent accidents and establish a routine by taking your dog out to go during these times.

You can cut back on accidents if you make sure you give him the chance to go to the bathroom in the proper place. Sometimes dogs are like small children who are potty training; you have to tell them to go or they become so preoccupied they forget and just go when the urge gets so strong they can’t hold it in.

As a dog owner, during the training process especially, part of your responsibility is telling your dog when to go. It’s best if you don’t wait for your dog to tell you he needs to go. If you offer your dog lots of praise when he goes outside, this will help him to understand that you want him to do this every time he goes to the bathroom.

You, the owner, have a very important role in the training process. It’s important that you always remain calm, patient and give lots of positive reinforcement and praise for a job well done. This is how your dog will learn what you want from him.

Punish your dog right away when you catch him going in the house. Your dog won’t understand if time has been allowed to elapse. Anytime the dog was left along with no way out and he had to go, he probably thought he had no other choice. It will get him confused if you come back later and punish him.

When your dog goes in the house never slap, spank or get physical with him. This can just create stress and anxiety and make the whole process harder when it comes to potty training a dog. The key to success is being as consistent as you possibly can with your dog and the whole training process.

Remember to completely clean up all accidents right away in addition to these tips. Dog urine can leave a scent that is especially strong to dogs and will cause your dog to want to pee in the same place again and again. This problem will be solved when you remove the scent completely.