Dog Potty Training: The 5 Most Important Rules

Dog potty training, also known as housebreaking or house training, is something that most new dog owners face with dread and despair. The advice you get from other dog owners is often conflicting and can leave a new owner baffled by what course of action is the right one to take.

To some extent, different breeds respond to different methods of training and you may need to adjust a few methods to account for whether your dog is from an easy breed to train or a hard one. But you can always follow these five simple rules to make those adjustments as painless as possible for you and your pet.

Rule 1 is to maintain a consistent feeding schedule. Free feeding is popular amongst the dog lovers of the world, and for older dogs this is usually not a problem, but during dog potty training it will be best to feed at certain times. Feeding at the exact same times each day means that your dog's potty time will be predictable too. This makes it easier for both you and the dog to avoid accidents.

Rule 2 is to maintain a consistent potty opportunity schedule. Make sure to take your pet outside as often as possible but if you are going to take him or her out 3 times a day, make it the same three times every day. This will not just teach the dog when to go potty, but also will give him or her a sense of security and routine. This will prevent the dog becoming anxious. Anxiety causes digestive problems in dogs just as it does in humans.

Rule 3, if an accident should occur, do not rub your dog's nose in it. Some old timers may tell you to do this but it is an outdated and ineffective form of training. Teaching the dog that his BM is bad is not helpful, since he cannot avoid producing it. What you need to teach him is the importance of producing it in the right place at the right time.

Rule 4, always, always, always, reward your dog for doing the right thing during dog potty training. You can reward him with either love and affection or treats, or both, but give the reward immediately so that he associates it with what he just did. If you are using treats, keep them handy in your pocket or purse. For each objective that the dog fulfills, give the according number of treats. One treat for number one, two treats for number two.

Rule 5, when your dog accomplishes one or both goals of your dog potty training session, use play as a reward too. Dogs love to play. If you are doing dog potty training in a fenced in back yard and your dog has run of the lawn, you can throw a frisbee and let him or her go catch it. If you are training with a leash and walks, and the dog does not have free roam, just bouncing a tennis ball and letting him catch it mid-bounce is something he can do on a leash. It will make your dog happy and the pet will associate his 'completed mission' with happiness.

We all love our pets and we know our pets love us. We want to give them the best that we can and have them trained not to destroy our homes so that we are free to love them all the time. It is so much easier to love a clean dog! Dog potty training is a very important step to having a happy, healthy dog in a happy, healthy home.