Whether you are having difficulty house training your older dog, or starting fresh with a new puppy, here are some helpful guidelines that will have you on a path to house training success in no time at all!

1. Remove all towels, blankets etc. from their area
   This seems like harsh treatment at first, but dogs generally search for absorbent surfaces to potty on. For this same reason, make sure that the outside area where you take your puppy to is an absorbent surface such as grass and not cement. Once your dog is potty trained, then you can go back to letting them sleep on a blanket.
2. Use a command when outside like, "Go potty, or hurry up"
   Believe it or not, “potty” can actually become a command like sit or stay! My dogs will potty on command. This is useful because they then also hold it during neighborhood walks and showing in the ring. Having a trained potty signal will help you be more consistent with praise and it makes it easier for travel with your pet.
3. Reward the proper behavior
   When your dog does go outside you should be ready with a little liver treat or bit of cheese - IMMEDIATELY - and repeat the command by saying your cue word with the praise, such as "Good Potty, or Good Hurry Up!"
4. If your dog does not go when outside, pick him/her up and place them in their crate/area of confinement for 15 minutes
   Do not talk to or pet the puppy at all as you take it into the house. Place him/her in the crate. Then you should try again in 20 minutes. Repeat this step until you achieve the desired behavior. When your dog does the right thing outside, be sure to reward heavily ( see #3) then you can bring them in the house and have supervised play with your pet as a reward.
5. Supervise your puppy 100%
   Never, never, never leave your puppy unsupervised; watch him/her like a hawk. The reward should be associated with you and with going potty outdoors. You want your puppy to realize that by waiting to do it outside always feels good there AND I there is a special bonus involved for waiting. The extra bonus is of course the praise and the liver treat!

So this is the basic structure to a successful potty training program. You might also consider teaching your puppy to ring a bell to go out. Use a command like, "Bell” or Ding" and then praise them and put them outside the minute it happens. This has proven successful with many clients. It is a nice signal to have, and it can be put away easily, unlike barking.

Often housetraining goes south due to lack of supervision on the puppy as well as missed signals. Your puppy may paw once at the door and if you miss it they may never do it again thinking, "Well, that didn't work." A bell has many advantages. You can travel with it and you can also put it away if you feel that your dog begins to abuse its privileges!

You should begin to see a pattern of your dog's needs and every dog is different. You should be monitoring your dog's food and water to help the potty schedule.

If you ask what to do if the puppy makes a mistake, you should pick the puppy up, take them immediately outside and give them the command. If nothing happens, go to #4.  Do not punish the dog for an accident you find in the house after the fact. Often, by the time you find the accident your puppy has moved on to other things, and will be unable to make the association, only making you appear unpredictable and threatening. Make sure you completely remove the odor from the accident (do not clean the area in front of your puppy) so your dog doesn't attempt to remark the area.

Also, at some point when the area is clean and odor free, you should get down on the floor there and play for at least 10 minutes with your puppy and its toys. Hopefully, this will clue them in that the particular area is intended for play and fun. Dogs like to potty away from resting/play areas.  You should also feed your dog off of the crate floor for awhile to send this same message if you are having trouble keeping them from urinating in the crate.

I hope this has been a helpful overview. If you practice these guidelines on a very consistent basis you should begin to see positive results. Be patient, consistent and most of all supervise your puppy!

The Fine Canine School of Dog Training © 2004