About 90% of American pet puppies live indoors with their owners. If you are thinking of having your dog live inside with you and your family, you have to go through the process of housebreaking them. Many pet owners are daunted by the responsibility of potty training a puppy. But it's really not that hard to accomplish, it doesn't need to be messy, and you don't have to struggle with your pet when housebreaking him. You have to keep in mind though that this is a training issue and you have to put in a little more than just casual effort. You will need time, a little more involvement, as well as some training tools such as puppy training pads.

The Puppy is Boss

For those who own dogs or puppies, there are two major guidelines to follow. Remember to never punish your puppy for something you didn't see him do. Two, always remember to praise your puppy for good behavior. Do not train by only using "no" when you see your dog doing something it should not be doing. Desirable behavior should be met with praise and treats.

Housebreaking/House Training your Puppy

There are different ways to housebreak puppies. When you start indoors, encourage them to use papers or puppy training pads for their bathroom acts. Puppy pads are usually scented with chemicals that attract little doggies to use them. As soon as you see them starting with their pre-potty pattern of walking around and sniffing the floor, pick them up gently and without saying anything, and carry them over to the puppy training pads or paper and reward them for the doing their bathroom acts properly.

When the new dog is comfortable with the papers or puppy training pads, they can then be put near the door or even outside. The transition is accomplished by focusing their toilet habits in a specific in the home to an outside place. In the very near future you will have no need for papers or training pads indoors.

The drawback of this approach to housebreaking is that more time is required to get the pup to do his business inside. Some other popular techniques used for house training your puppy are puppy crate training or using cages which require constant looking after by the owner.

When you opt to use a crate or a cage for housebreaking your dog, take note that dogs can only hold their bladders and bowels for about seven to eight hours. This method usually works as most dogs treat cages and crates as their sleeping places and they do no want to soil their beds because they will be forced to lie in the mess. However it is not recommended to leave them in a cage or crate longer than necessary.

Constant supervision on the other hand, does not involve the use of training paper or puppy pads, and crates or cages. Here pet owners choose to spend all the time necessary with their pet puppies. This is very ideal for people who work at home, retired persons, or owners who can afford to spend a lot of time with their puppy. With this method, pet owners usually hustle their puppy outside as soon as they notice the pre-potty signs. Puppies should be watched at all times to ensure that no accidents or slip-ups occur.

To summarize, housebreaking and training your puppy should be included along with teaching them the basic commands like 'come' and 'stay'. However, toilet training and housebreaking your puppy will be the messiest types of training, and generally have more headaches than other sorts of puppy training. Have faith!