Potty training a new puppy often tests our patience and sometimes leads to us despair, but as owner of and provider for our new puppy we need to put ourselves in our puppy's 'shoes' so to speak and think about how this young one feels with so much to cope with such as: New surroundings: As well as new people, no siblings to cuddle up to, and his new world being such a big place.
In saying that, toilet training a puppy correctly can be time consuming and tolerance on an owner's behalf can become fully stretched.
However, most puppies respond well to their owner's commands and, although some accidents with a young puppy are inevitable, it can be said that the behaviour of a pet is as good as the training given by the owner.
Remember that there must be a pack leader and you, as owner of the puppy have that responsibility.
Of course there will be times when you are not available, so you have the additional responsibility of insisting that other members of your household follow your direction when it comes to commanding your puppy.
So with that said, let's look at what can be done to make potty training your puppy a pleasure rather than a time of desperation.
Decide on where puppy's toilet will be: Are you providing a litter tray, or will you be teaching your puppy that out-of-doors is where his toilet area is?You will want to make this decision according to your personal likes and dislikes as well as being influenced by whether your puppy is small or on the larger side, and also on what works best for the area inside or outside your home.
Once you have made that decision you will need to adhere to it strictly because changing your mind about the appropriate toilet area will confuse your puppy.
Confusing a puppy is so often the cause of what appears to be bad behaviour on the part of your pet, when in fact it is actually not so.
Decide on a word or phrase that will be used for toilet training only, and always use this same command as a tool for potty training.
It might be 'potty time', 'toilet time', 'go potty' or whatever.
I've heard a few intricate phrases used in this respect, and most of them have been amusing and nice, so choose something to say that makes this a happy time rather than a chore.
Puppies love to please their owner and they love to be made a fuss of for being good, so you can be sure that your puppy will go out of his way to please you.
It is important that you remain regimented in keeping your decisions so as not to confuse your puppy.
Along with this regimentation, try to keep your voice light and happy as it is essential that your puppy understands toilet time to be a good time in his life; not a time to be feared.
Feeding routine: Regular meal times are important particularly for a young puppy, and this helps to form a pattern of when or how long after a meal that puppy is likely to need to relieve himself.
This requires diligence on your behalf in getting to know your puppy and the way his body-clock works.
Every puppy is different of course, so it can't be said that it will be a certain period of time after a meal that he will need to go to the toilet.
It is up to you to watch for the signals your puppy is conveying to you.
Drinking water: Restrict water after his evening meal.
Feed him early enough to allow him to have a drink of water in the early evening but certainly not within an hour of his bedtime.
Potty time before bed: This is essential and you may find it rather exasperating initially but with your patience and understanding he will learn to respond appropriately.
Waking in the morning: Hopefully your puppy will remain dry through the night-time but he will need to relieve himself early in the morning and it's important that you provide for this by waking early enough to attend to his needs.
Praise your puppy: When puppy has urinated or passed a motion, make sure to praise him.
Tell him that he is a good boy, or whatever words you wish to use, and then give him a treat.
Treats are really important in the early stages of training your puppy, and you do not need to be concerned that treats are forever; once puppy is well trained he will forget the treats as there will be other things 'more important' in his life.
Potty time will by then not be training any longer, it will be routine and part of his daily 'round of duties'.
So to summarise the main areas where diligence must be applied for very young puppies are: puppy learning about his surroundings; identifying his toilet area; specific word or phrase for potty training,; feeding routine, drinking water; waking in the morning; praising puppy for good behaviour; playtime diligence on your behalf And last of all: A happy environment: When your puppy has an accident, as he will when very young, be absolutely sure not to punish him.
That is the worst thing you can do as he will become timid and scared of receiving more punishment and if this happens you will have an ongoing problem.
The most you should say to your puppy is 'No'.
Show him what he has done and tell him 'no, not here'.
Be sure not to use the word 'good' as in 'no, not good', as this will again confuse your puppy.
He won't know the difference between when you tell him he is 'a good boy' and when you tell him 'no, not good'.
It is essential to use the word 'good' appropriately when it comes to training a puppy in any form of obedience.