Puppy Potty Training Aids

One of the first tasks after finding a new puppy is potty training your dog.  For first time pet owners, this can be a big concern.  One of the keys to successfully potty train puppy is having the right tools and aids on hand to make the process as easy as possible, for both you and your dog.

Contain Your Puppy

While you may be tempted to let your puppy roam free throughout the house, it is actually a better idea to have him contained when you first bring him home.  A dog crate is a useful item to have on hand.  Crate training puppies will speed up their learning process, and the den like atmosphere of the crate will also help him feel more secure in his new surroundings.  In regards to potty training, a dog crate is essential to use as a dog will not urinate where it sleeps.

Another of the useful puppy potty training aids to have on hand is a dog gate to restrict the area your puppy has access to.  It is not a good idea to let him have free range over your entire house.  All the new sites and scents will be overwhelming to him and there will be too many things that will be irresistible for your puppy to pass up.  It will also increase your frustration level if your puppy is chewing, biting and peeing on things throughout your house.

Keep your puppy in one area, preferable one where it will be easy to clean up accidents.  It will be much easier to potty train your puppy if he has a specific “living” area where he doesn’t urinate and one area where he does.  As he becomes more consistent and reliably house trained, then you can allow him more access to the rest of the house.

Dog Treats

When training your puppy, it is very important to reward him for desired behaviors.   This is especially true when potty training your puppy.  Try out different dog  treats to see which he prefers.  What you want to try to find is a treat that he will do anything for (for my dog, it is Yogurt Drops.)  That will be the “potty time” treat.  Have another type of treat for all other training rewards.

Have the potty time treat in hand when you  take your puppy out for a bathroom break.  Immediately after he goes potty, treat and praise him.  The better he likes the treat and the more consistent you are, the quicker he will learn to go potty in the desired location.

Cleaning Supplies for Puppy Accidents

No matter how smart your puppy is or how good of a dog trainer you are, there will always be the occasional accidents.  Just accept it as part of owning a dog and be prepared with cleaning supplies on hand.

If you have contained your puppy in an area with a hard surface, the clean up will be a snap.  Just use bleach or your favorite household cleaner.

If the accident is on a carpeted area, the clean-up will be a little more laborious.  There will be two concerns:  the stain and the odor.  A stain remover like “Spot Shot” is effective at removing stains.  For odor, many dog owners have found enzymatic cleaners to be a good way to remove the smell.  It is important to do an immediate and thorough clean up of the area.  If the odor partially remains, your puppy will keep returning to the same spot to eliminate.

While potty training a puppy takes effort, being prepared with puppy potty training aids on hand  and being consistent will take much of the frustration out of the process.  Having the correct tools on hand to potty train puppy will make the training process much more expedient.