Potty training a puppy is not difficult to understand, though it does require patience to do! There are just a few simple points that cover the basics, and I will describe them here. Keep your puppy right with you as much of the time as possible. Take him or her to his pottying spot at certain times. Clean up any messes calmly. Repeat this over and over. Sooner or later, you will have a potty-trained puppy.

I'll discuss these four points:

1. If you keep the pup close to you as much as you can, you are more likely to notice if he needs a potty break. Even when you catch him just as he starts to do his business, your potty training is enhanced. Tell him "no" in a firm voice and take his to his potty place.

One way to keep your puppy with you is to attach his leash to a belt around your waist. That way, whatever you are doing around the house, you know right where your new best friend is. This method is excellent for bonding between you. Very young puppies really want to be right with you all the time anyway.

However you do it, stay close to your puppy. Crate training is also very useful for the times you can't be together. That is beyond the scope of this article but I discuss it at length on my website.

2. Potty training a puppy means creating in him the habit of going to his pottying spot whenever he needs to. You are going to spend a lot of time in your early days together helping him to form this habit. How will you do this? By taking him to his place at all the times he is likely to need to go there. These times are:

*** Every time he wakes up.

*** Every time he eats or takes a big drink.

As you will soon discover, he wakes up, eats, and drinks many times in the course of a day! It's also a good idea to take him out just before you go to bed.

His pottying spot may be in your yard, or you may be walking him on leash. If you live in a place where it is hard to go outside fast, or if you have physical limitations that make it hard, then paper training is best.

3. Calmly clean up anyplace that his urine has soaked or that he has left a pile. Yelling at him does not help, because he really will not understand why you are upset. If it helps you, as it sometimes has helped me, you can remind yourself that this process should last a lot less time than if you were potty training a little human!

4. Repeat these steps over and over, even when you don't feel like it. The more consistent you are, the faster the puppy will get the idea.

So these are the essential points in potty training a puppy. Best wishes to you and your puppy!

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Potty training a puppy is just one of many things to do with your pup. Clicking on the link takes you to Rosana Hart's website, which emphasizes positive, pain-free ways to training dogs of all ages.