Puppy Training – Housetraining Your Dog in a Few Simple Steps

Soon after you get yourself a new puppy, you will have to start puppy housetraining sessions. What for, you may ask. Let’s see. Everyone just adores a cute and cuddly little puppy with its big adorable eyes and perpetually wagging tail. But when this cutie leaves you a special “gift” on your expensive Persian rug, he is suddenly not all that cute anymore. There is just one answer to stop this “gifting” from going on forever: introduce your pup to the basics of housetraining.

The task of puppy housetraining may seem overwhelming at first but you might find comfort in the fact that even the best-trained dogs started their lives by leaving pee and poop in the most unexpected places. In other words, your puppy is definitely capable of being trained as long as you put in the time and effort to train him.

Starting with the Basics: Choosing a Dog Crate

Dogs, like many other animals, like to keep their resting place clean at all times. This is the premise that you would rely on in buying your dog his own crate. Once your pup recognizes that the crate is his den, he will not relieve himself as long as he is inside the crate.

Some people might tell you that you don’t really need to get a crate for puppy housetraining. While it is possible to housetrain a dog without a crate — people have done it successfully for the past decades — the process will be so much easier if you do use one.

Crates can be very constricting to a puppy when he stays in it for a long time. As an alternative, you can also get baby gates, which will give your puppy more freedom but still keep him within his “den area”.

Selecting a Potty Area

After purchasing a crate, the next step in puppy housetraining is to select a potty area. The ideal spot is somewhere outside the house but near enough so that you don’t need to walk too far with your dog when it is time to relieve himself. The backyard is usually a great place for this purpose.

In addition to being very near your home, another advantage of using the backyard as your puppy’s potty place is that here, you can keep your young dog safe from diseases that may be acquired in public potty spots. When a particular spot has been used by another dog, your puppy can easily pick up bacteria from the place even after the poop has been removed.