How to Potty Train your Puppy

If you’re a dog owner, you know how difficult it may be to train your puppy at the beginning. They might not listen and they might not learn, which means that when they’re older there’s a big decrease in the chance of them actually learning anything new.

So the question is, what’s a good way to actually potty train your puppy? It can be difficult teaching potty training, but it’ll be made easy with a few simple tricks that I’m going to tell you today. Grab a few packs of treats and a crate and you’ll be ready to teach your pup.

As an owner of two dogs myself, I know how difficult it is potty training. They each have their own little personality, one more stubborn than the others, one not learning as quickly than the other two. It took a bit of time potty training each of them, but if you use this one routine then your puppy will no doubt learn with ease.

The basics of potty training consist of a crate, treats, and a strong will power to not give in to your pup’s cute face. The routine is simple. If your pup is making noise and causing a ruckus, place them into the crate until they become quiet. This teaches them that they can’t just be barking and whining without consequence.

The only exception is if you think they’re giving a potty cry. In this case, let them out so that they can go potty. If your pup is fooling you though, they have to go back into the crate or they’ll never learn. They’ll think that crying will get them out of the cage rather than silence or the need to go potty.

This is the part where the treats come in. Your pup needs to learn the act of going to the potty, so you need to marry the act of potty with treats. They’ll be able to understand over a course of time during their most susceptible period of learning. Soon enough, you’ll be able to potty train them to go potty at certain times too. This can be especially helpful if your puppy needs to be left alone during the day while you’re at work.

An important thing to remember is to never give too much freedom to your pup as it’s literally a toddler with four legs and teeth! Though dogs, especially puppies, are incredibly cute, you have to teach them the proper ways around your home and how they should be acting. If you want to potty train them, you have to be dedicated to making sure they learn from you.

Always keep in mind that trust is earned through reliability and time. You can’t expect your puppy to learn how to go potty after just a couple times of training, you have to be repetitive to ensure that they learn over time. It’s important to also know that once they’re able to go potty on their own or by asking you, they’ve become reliable enough and you can trust that they’ve learned.

Another great thing to teach with a crate and treats is how your puppy can deal with separation anxiety. Having two dogs means a whole lot of separation anxiety; crying at the door when I leave, and greeting me excitedly as if I was gone for a week when it was only ten minutes. While I love them deeply, I know they’re overreacting and suffer from extreme separation anxiety.

You can teach your pup to deal with this by placing them in their crate if they cry and show signs like this. Once they’re older, it’s basically impossible to treat their separation anxiety, so make sure you aren’t doing things that can possibly enable this behavior.

Remember to teach your puppy when they’re a puppy! As said before, chances of them learning once they’re older are slim. They can retain more information when they’re young, so be sure that you’re constantly dedicated to teaching them what you want them to know, like potty training.

Development periods are broken down into certain sections, and there are critical periods where your puppy is more susceptible to learning. This is why it’s so crucial to ensure that you teach your puppy during the proper time period. As an owner of two dogs, trust me, it’s best to teach them when they’re young.

The first opportunity you have to teach your puppy is the human socialization period. This begins at the seven week mark, and ends at the twelve. While just over a month may seem like not enough time, this is when they develop the brain wave of an adult dog. They can learn respect and behavioral responses. This is the time when the bonding with their owner begins, and they can accept a small amount of discipline.

Be cautious with your disciplining though, as the fear impact period is from eight to eleven weeks old. You don’t want to frighten your pup and possibly scare them away from learning how to go potty. Potty training is so crucial in your puppy’s development stages, so be gentle with your discipline so they don’t get frightened.

As a pet owner myself who didn’t do much training in general with my pups, let me tell you that it’s crucial to teach them when they’re young. My dogs are potty trained, but it took a lot more effort to teach them because I wasn’t aware that teaching them when they’re young is important. Today, they tend to cry a lot due to separation anxiety even if I’m sitting right beside them. They need constant love and attention, and can’t stand to be away from me for a moment.

Remember, if you want well behaved pups that are potty trained and don’t have separation anxiety, train them when they’re young! Use the crate and treats method to teach them the basics and they’ll learn quickly and smoothly.