House training your new puppy

House training rarely presents a problem with puppies who have been reared under normal conditions. That's because a puppy reared with his mother until 6 or 7 weeks of age will have learned to move away from his sleeping area to relieve himself. Puppies instinctively want to be clean, and very few puppies will foul their sleeping area if given the choice.

A young puppy needs to relieve himself frequently, as he has a very small bladder and bowel. This gives you plenty of chances to praise your puppy for relieving himself in the correct area – and this feedback helps your puppy to learn quickly. Don't punish him if he makes a mistake. It's your responsibility to ensure that you take him to the area that you have designated specifically for this use as frequently as he needs to go – generally as soon as he wakes up, after every meal and at hourly intervals. Take your puppy outside, wait with him until he finishes, and then praise him by giving him a treat or playing with him. While your puppy is learning it is helpful if you wait with him, so you can praise him at the correct time.

Accidents during house training

Young puppies will inevitably have "accidents." It's important to ignore these, and to clean up well so the smell doesn't linger, as this may encourage him to repeat the performance in the same spot. Don't scold your puppy for mistakes. Rather, reward him when he's correct, and he'll soon want to go outside.

Advanced house training

It's also possible to train your puppy to urinate and defecate on command. As he relieves himself, add a command word you have chosen, such as "quick." Your puppy will then build up an association of the command word with the action. It's important that you only use the word you have chosen as a command in this situation, so as not to confuse your puppy. Teaching your puppy to relieve himself in your yard before you leave your home can help prevent accidents in parks or on sidewalks. Also, always carry a scoop (a "pooper-scooper") so that you can clean up after your puppy.