Raising Puppies

This guide's goal for housetraining is to teach your dog to eliminate outside and only outside. It's best to start this program the day you bring your puppy home. The more accidents your puppy has indoors, the more she is practicing eliminating in your home. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to change this habit as your puppy grows into an adult. You want her to practice eliminating outside your home so that this becomes her habit instead.

Your first steps are to set up a feeding schedule and realistic daily schedule for your puppy. Try hard to keep to this schedule every day. Dogs respond well to routines. You may soon learn that your puppy tries to keep you on schedule! The more that you can stick to a daily routine, the faster your puppy will learn housetraining.

In general, puppies need a potty break when they wake up (even from a nap), after they eat, after they play, and after a bath. They also need a potty break after the "zoomies"when their eyes glaze over and they run around like crazy animals. (That's a typical puppy behavior. They usually outgrow it, but it can be startling the