This article is more about teaching your dog to behave when it’s time to outside, rather than potty training per se. A well behaved dog should be able to go out of the home to do their stuff, rather than looking for a comfortable spot inside the home. House training your dog in this fashion takes some time to perfect. You will need to invest a considerable amount of effort, but in the end, most pet owners would agree it’s worth it.
The most basic technique of house training your dog is through the use of newspapers. Pet owners complain that their dog doesn’t bother looking for a spot to leave their excrement, they just go whenever and wherever they feel like it. I am pretty sure that every pet owner reading this article has tried leaving their dog outside until he is finished doing his business before they let him in the house again, in an effort to communicate to the dog that outside is the place for potty. To the pet owner’s misfortune, he finds that the dog waited patiently outside until he was allowed back in to do the job right, in most cases, somewhere where they can’t be seen. It is also common to find a behavior of vengeance in some dogs, who will do their potty in the house as a result of bad treatment. It is useless to punish your dog for something he doesn’t understand. If you happen to find his mischief on the rug, and immediately sprint over to where he is and beat him, you would have only made room for hard feelings, and a broken relationship. The animal needs to be reprimanded at the moment he does the bad thing, or else it’s useless. A lot of people suggest taking the dog to where the excrement is, and stuffing his face with it. However, there are no indications that this technique has any positive results either.
Your first move as a trainer would be to teach your dog to do his business at your command. You can start practicing inside, and slowly work your way out the door. Select a designated area in the house, and spread enough newspaper around. Then, every two hours or so, take your dog to this spot and instruct him to do his potty using the same voice command every time. At some point he will do his potty in the paper, at which time you need to follow up by keeping a close eye on him. When you catch him looking to do the potty again, take him back to the paper, and using the same command let him do his business. Once he is finished, the most important part of this training exercise is to praise him for doing the right thing. Once you feel comfortable with his behavior inside, you can start showing him to go outside instead of the paper.
Other very aggravating issue that potty training can be of help is urinating. There are some occasions where your dog will get very excited, and urinate when surrounded by other dogs, or being praised by someone he likes. This undesirable behavior can also be modified by using the same technique depicted above.
Again, a lot of time and patience is required in order to succeed.