Potty Training Puppies

There are numerous methods for potty training puppies and dogs. The following is one approach to the process of potty training puppies. The trainers at Hazelbaker Dog Training use this method initially to get all our students started in house training their dogs. It's very important to follow the instructions closely and consistently for at least 14 days. Puppies will show significant improvement by the end of 14 days of training. If you do not see any imporvement despite your efforts at potty training puppies, please call and speak to one of our trainers for some help.

Puppies Need Schedules!

Dogs are creatures of habit. Therefore they are happiest when the activities of their daily lives have structure. Puppies look for structure just like they look for a leader. In order to be successful in puppy house training, all puppies should be put and kept on a schedule. This schedule should include food, water, potty time, down time, and sleep time. Hazelbaker Dog Training also suggests that, in conjunction with the house training process, owners keep a journal of their dog's daily activities. Journaling means that you will document when your puppy eats dinner, sleeps, has a snack, eliminates, and what type of elimination has occurred. Journaling will allow you to see the individual schedule that a puppy lives by. In addition, a journal will provide a very valuable tool to a puppy's vet and obedience trainer when they are determining the apropriate course of action to solve medical or behavior issues. All dogs should be on a food and water schedule for house training. If you know when food and water goes into the dogs system, due to careful scheduling, you will start to see a pattern developing in the dog's elimination schedule. Even after completing the puppy house training, all puppies and dogs should remain on a predictable schedule for their health.

Scheduling The Puppy's Food

Part of the scheduling process is measuring out your dog's food; this is a wonderful way to prevent your dog from becoming overweight. Serious health problems can arise from obesity in dogs. By measuring your dog's food you can prevent and lower the risk of these health problems. When in control of your Dog's food, you'll also notice changes in your dog's appetite immediately. Since loss of appetite may be indicative of serious illness, your awareness through the food scheduling process could save your dogs life.

Puppy's Access To Water Must Be Controlled

Only during the puppy house training process should you be using a water schedule. For example: every hour, on the hour, you will lay down a bowl of water for five minutes. All dogs should be offered water regularly to keep them from becoming dehydrated. If you're not home, or when keeping the dog outside, always leave free access to water. The only exception to this is if your dog has a medical condition that requires free access to water at all times. Please consult your puppy's vet for further details.

Once your dog is fairly reliable with his or her potty schedule and is successfully eliminating outside (or in the designated potty spot), then you can start leaving the water down in the house. If accidents increase go back to the water schedule for 14 to 21 additional days.

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