House Training 101

The first thing that you should know about house training your dog is to be certain that you are feeding your animal on normal, regular time schedules. Try not to "free feed: your pet by leaving food out all day or a full bowl. This will keep your pups system in constant function. There will never be times his system is empty and it becomes impossible to control the bathroom times.

If your pup has a gassy belly or lose stools or poops more than 3-4 times a day, you may want to look at changing food.

Another thing to consider about food is the amount of filler in the form of wheat and corn. Too much filler and the pup will have to go frequently. The best foods have no corn or wheat in them.

Premium Dog Food by Life's Abundance is a good alternative to many of the mainstream brands, and is not on the recall list as it is human grade food.

Take your puppy out first thing in the morning. Take him to your specified location designed for potty time.

Give him 15 minutes to go. If he does not go in that time, bring him back in and place in the crate.
• Too much time waiting for him to go and he will not know what he is suppose to do outside. Making the process less important.
• Bathroom runs should take precedent over every thing else. No play is important to keeping your pup from becoming too distracted and forgetting why he is out there.
• You do not want to give your pup the benefit of the doubt and guess maybe he just doesn't have to go.
• Placing him back in the crate removes the option of going in the house and teaches him there is a task first.
• Not allowing him free access will keep him from going where ever and when ever he wants.

You will only be leaving him there for about 5-10 minutes, then take him back out again. Repeat this until he goes outside. Your time schedule will tell you what he should be doing at what time.

Once he goes outside, tell him "Good Boy" in very pleased tone (because you really are) and bring him back into the house. At this time he gets free time, fed and played with for 20-30 minutes. Then back into the crate.

Set your timer to alert you to the next out time. This way if you get busy and forget, the timer will remind you.

Set the timer to as close as possible for the next "out" time. Your time frame will tell you what this should be.

Do not give the pup treats for going outside. Many dogs do will not understand what they are being treated for and think being outside or coming back in is what get them the treat. These dogs grow up to be very annoying door dogs, barking to go and come in a hundred times a day just to get a treat.

His reward is free time in the house. He will learn that going outside gets him free time, not going outside removes him from the house. The pup will understand what gets his four paws in the house and what does not!

• Putting him back in the crate prepares him for the next out time. This is where you are building physical control.
• Teaches him to quiet and settle down.
• Prevents having in between accidents.

Follow you schedule. Your pup will be in and out of the crate through out the day. Have play time, sleep time and learn House Training rules of the road.
As your pup gets older and develops more control, this time frame will change accordingly.
• Increase free times by 10-15 minutes as you see the dogs need to have bathroom time extend. You will begin to remove out times and replace them with free time. Let the pup’s behavior tell you when this should happen as they do/don't go at a specific time.
• At any time the dogs seems to back slide, go back in time to the best working schedule and begin from there.
• Do not look to get your dog out of the crate too quickly. This is your safety net for many behaviors and a safe living space for you pup.

There will be more free time, the outside runs will lessens and before you know it the dog is going out when you need it to and your house will potty free.