House Train a Dog

I have read article after article on how to house train a dog. I read somewhere once that its the number one reason for getting rid of dogs. Its funny, with kids, we know it will take a long time to get them to understand going on the potty, but somehow we don’t extend the same grace to puppies.

House training a dog has a lot of variables including the size of the dog and sometimes even the breed. If you think about house training a yorkie, they have little bladders and need to go more often versus a larger dog. Retriever and other breeds who love water will drink and drink and that can cause issues with house training a dog.

My advice, keep it simple.

1) Train the dog to ring bells to let you know they have to potty outside.
2) Put them on a schedule.
3) Reward them for pottying outside, I like to use cheerios for this.
4) Keep a record of the accidents and potty schedule.
5) Don’t punish them for pottying inside, just work on watching them closer.
6) Limit their access to the house – i give access one room at a time as they gain reliability.

My last two pups had less than 3 accidents while teaching them to be house trained using the above method.

Happy house training!

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