Housebreaking, house training and dog potty training all mean training your dog not to mess your home, but to go outside when he needs to.

This is one area of dog training that almost every dog owner views with absolute despair.  You can find you are given contradictory opinions from everyone you talk to and can find yourself thoroughly baffled by the prospect of potty training your dog. Although some breeds will possibly need slight amendments, the following rules will help you to successfully potty train your puppy or dog.

-  Make sure that you feed your dog at the same time.  This way it will be easier for you to know when your dog’s potty time is likely to be.  This will help to avoid accidents.

-  Make sure you are consistent and give your dog plenty of potty oportunities.  Take him out as often as possible – if you are only going to take him out 3 or 4 times, then make sure these 3 or 4 times are all at the same times each day.  This will help your dog get into a routine, and stop him from becoming anxious.

-  He will have accidents!  Don’t rub his nose in it – many of the older generation potty trained their dogs in this way, but it is not very effective at all.  Your dog needs to understand that it is not the actual mess that was bad, it was where he did it.

-  Always make sure to reward your dog well when he does perform in the right place.  The reward can be treats, or just lots of petting – you will learn which reward brings the best results from your dog, they are all different.

-  When your dog is producing both number one and number two, then give him an extra reward, perhaps play a game with him.  All dogs love to play.  This can be something simple like throwing a frisbee for him to catch.

Dog potty training need not be an issue, but it is a very important step to having a dog that is well behaved, and one that you can happily take anywhere.

More information on Potty Training here