Housebreaking Puppies

Puppies are warm and fuzzy creatures that need to be trained properly to use the bathroom in certain places. The problem is many people purchase puppies without educating their family on how to properly train them. The solution to this problem is to paper train your puppy. The owners need to understand that accidents do happen, and owners need to be patient and understanding about these accidents. Problems arise with housebreaking puppies. The problem is that puppies have little bladder control and want to relieve themselves at any given time. This is where the problem begins. Puppies will soil carpets, which goes through to the pad; and if not cleaned properly, the smell of the urine will be overbearing to the owner. Soiling of the owners carpet may cause them to replace the carpet which can be a big expense to the owner. The carpet needs to be cleaned thoroughly with an odor eliminating disinfectant. Ammonia products are not recommended since these may remind the puppy of its own urine smell. Regular household cleaners will mask the smell from humans, but not from the puppy. The cleaners usually attract the dog back to the same place. A veterinarian will usually recommend white vinegar and water rubbed over the area to help remove any stain or smell from the carpets Paper training puppies can be a rewarding experience for both the owner and the puppy. The owner needs to pick a spot for the newspaper where he or she wants the puppy to relieve himself. The puppy needs to be placed on the paper after eating, playing, drinking, and waking up (Fogle, 1993, p. 36). Every few hours the puppy needs to be placed on the paper and say to them "go potty." Eventually the puppy will understand after praise is given what "go potty" means. As much as puppies tend to eat and drink, and if the owner places them on the newspapers often enough, sooner or later the puppy will catch onto what is expected of them.

The owner needs to be consistent with this process to reinforce the behavior that is desired. The biggest influence on how quickly a puppy becomes housebroken is how much time and effort the owner puts in. More input from the owner will speed up the time taken to become completely clean; less input will prolong the process (Bailey, 1995, p. 70).

Every time the puppy relieves himself correctly, praise the puppy excessively. The owner can do this simply by saying "good dog" and rubbing him, or by offering the puppy its favorite treat as a reward for good behavior. Once the puppy has been rewarded for a job well done, remove the soiled paper, but leave a small amount of urinated paper under a fresh sheet (Gardner, 1996,