Potty training a puppy is one of the first projects to begin once you bring the pup home. The basic steps are easy to understand, though following them will take some patience. The steps are: Keep the puppy close to you whenever you can. At particular times, quickly get him to the place where you want him to potty. Do any clean-up in a calm manner. Repeat the first three steps many times. Eventually your puppy will be potty trained!

I’ll discuss these four points:

1. Have your puppy as near to you as you can, as much of the time as you can. That way, you will be more tuned in to when he needs to go out. Sometimes you will catch him just as he starts something and you can firmly say “No” and carry him or walk him to where you want him to be.

You can keep the puppy very close to you by connecting his leash to your belt. So then if you go somewhere, he does too! You may not get as much done on other projects as you are used to, but you and the puppy will be bonding.

Whatever method you choose, do keep your puppy nearby. You may want to use crate training for those parts of the day when you have to be apart. That topic isn’t covered in this article, but I do write a lot about it at my dog training website.

2. Potty training a puppy means creating in him the habit of going to his pottying spot whenever he needs to. You are going to spend a lot of time in your early days together helping him to form this habit. How will you do this? By taking him to his place at all the times he is likely to need to go there. These times are:

*** Each time he awakens, whatever time of day. Since puppies nap a lot, there will be a lot of awakenings!

*** Every time he has a meal.

This means a lot of trips for you and the puppy over the course of a day. Also take him out shortly before you go to bed at night.

A word about his pottying spot: If you have a fenced yard, that is great and you can even take him to a particular part of it if you wish. If you will be walking him on leash in your neighborhood, take a plastic bag or two for cleanup. You can also train him to use papers or even a litter box indoors, and this can be the best choice if you live in a high-rise apartment, for example.

3. When you wipe up any messes that he creates, don’t grumble. The dog will not understand that he has done anything to displease you. People sometimes say that the puppy “looks guilty” but really his expression is more one of unhappiness because he can tell you are unhappy. Puppies take a lot less time to potty train than humans, so just be patient!

4. Repetition is a very important part of the potty training process, as dogs learn that way. So keep on doing each step, as often as you can.

There’s lots more to say about potty training a puppy, but these tips will get you well on your way to a successfully trained dog!