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.

Here is more information on each of 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 method for keeping your puppy close is to put on a belt and then attach one end of his leash to it.

If you do this, wherever you go, your little guy will go right along. The two of you will be bonding too! Whatever ways you devise to make it work for you, do keep your puppy close at hand as much as possible. Consider crate training for when you need to be away. This article doesn't get into crate training -- it's a big topic in itself -- but there are some pages on it at my website on dog training.

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 has a meal. This means a lot of trips for you and the puppy over the course of a day.

Also take him out shortly before you go to bed at night. A word about his pottying spot: If you have a fenced yard, that is great and you can even take him to a particular part of it if you wish. If you will be walking him on leash in your neighborhood, take a plastic bag or two for cleanup. You can also train him to use papers or even a litter box indoors, and this can be the best choice if you live in a high-rise apartment, for example. 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. Repetition is a very important part of the potty training process, as dogs learn that way. So keep on doing each step, as often as you can. There's lots more to say about potty training a puppy, but these tips will get you well on your way to a successfully trained dog!.

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