Potty Training a Puppy – When Accidents Happen

Knowing when your puppy has to go to the bathroom is not always an easy task. Sometimes you will see them sniffing the floor looking for the perfect spot to go, other times they will just go without you even knowing. It all depends on how old your puppy is and a 6 month old puppy can hold it longer then a 1 month old puppy which is important to remember.

Usually if you see your puppy sniffing the floor, walking in circles or just starting at you, it may be time for him to go out. When I was training my puppy, she would always go to the same corner of the house and sniff the rug. When I saw her doing that I quickly rushed her outside. I prevented a lot of accidents this way.

When you are potty training a puppy it is very important that you watch your puppy for these signs that he may have to go out. While you may not be able to prevent every accident, by watching what your puppy is doing, you have a better chance at preventing at least a few of them.

The first rule you should follow when potty training a puppy is simple; if you don’t catch your puppy going to the bathroom on your rug, then it is not a good idea to scold him.

The reason for this is because when your puppy is young, like less than 16 weeks, sometimes more depending on the breed, he doesn’t have a very good memory and something that he did 30 seconds ago he may not remember fully.So that means that the rug he peed on several minutes ago is not even a distant memory for him, as far as your puppy is concerned, it never even happened.

This is why scolding your puppy after he goes on your rug, or anywhere else in your home, does little to discipline him. The best thing to do after something like this happens, is just clean up the mess and try harder to watch your puppy better next time.

Now if you are potty training a puppy and actually catch him going potty on your rug, you can actually stop him right there by saying “no!” and quickly moving your puppy to the nearest exit so he can finish.

If you manage to get him outside in the nick of time and he does finish the job outside, then you can reward him with treats and tons of praise. This works well because it shows him that he must go outside if he is to gain your respect.

If your puppy does finish before you can make your move, you can say something like “bad dog!” and clean up the mess while ignoring your puppy. This will help him to realize that what he did was bad, and he will try and avoid doing it in the future with your help.

Above all remember that potty training a puppy takes patients from you so even if you catch your puppy going potty on your rug for the fifth time this week, it helps to keep your cool and follow the advice above and watch your puppy better next time.

Really that’s what it’s all about, you watching your puppy and correcting his behavior so that when he gets a little older, he will know that he should go to the bathroom outside rather than inside.

When potty training a puppy, you must expect an accident or two every so often. No one is perfect and having a puppy around means that you will have to watch him at all times to make sure he stays out of trouble even after you finish potty training.