Puppy Housebreaking Rule #1: The most important part of housebreaking a puppy is supervision. You must be able to see what you’re puppy is doing at all times, and not let them potty inside the house. Every time they potty inside, you are moving a step backward rather than a step forward.

Puppy Housebreaking Rule #2: Punishing a puppy for something they did in the past (even if it was only 10 minutes before) won’t get you anywhere. All it will do is confuse your puppy and make them fear you. Dogs, no matter what age, don’t have the mental ability to link a previous action with their current punishment. In other words, if your puppy pees on the floor because you weren’t watching them, and then they start playing with their toys and you notice their urine on the floor 10 minutes after the fact, you cannot punish them at that point.

If you find a mess on the floor when you get home, you need to resist the urge to scold your puppy, because they’re not going to get it. They’ll believe it’s their current action that’s being punished. If they’re asleep in their bed and you yell at them, they’ll assume sleeping in their bed is wrong.

Puppy Housebreaking Rule #3: No matter how well you follow these rules, it’s possible your puppy will have an accident in the house at one time or another. When this occurs, do not yell at or hit your puppy.

Why not? Because this will make your puppy afraid of going potty in front of you, which will cause problems when you try to get them to go potty outside. They’ll be too afraid to go potty with you around.

That doesn’t mean you should just stand around and watch them pee on the floor either though. What you need to do is pick them up, sternly tell them ‘No’ in a low voice, and take them outside.

Preventing an accident will take you much farther than trying to punish accidents that happen. Like I mentioned earlier, supervision will get you a long way. Keep an eye on your puppy at all times, and when you notice any signs of them needing to do their business, such as sniffing around on the floor or turning in circles, take them outside immediately.

Puppies will need to go to the bathroom about 30-40 minutes after eating or drinking anything.

Follow the simple housebreaking rules in this article and your puppy will be housebroken in no time.

If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this: you must never correct a puppy for something you didn’t catch them in the act of doing. If they’re not in your line of sight, you can’t catch them doing it. So be sure to supervise your puppy at all times, and if you can’t supervise them, crate them.

Thanks for reading my article, I hope it helped you out. Find out more tips and tricks to fix dog problems at http://www.DogBehaviorExpert.com

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