Time and patience

No training is more basic for pet owners than that first important lesson:
Do it outside!

Training your dog not to make a mess inside the home usually begins between six and eight weeks.

House or potty training requires a good deal of patience, probably more than other behaviors as it can take weeks before your puppy is clean.

Watch for the signs that your puppy exhibits when it is getting ready to eliminate waste. This makes it easier to command them and when the puppy does as you desire to follow this with praise. The trick with house training is to get them to do it where and when you want them to.

If you see your puppy squatting or circling then pick it up and say outside as you take it out. It may circle again or squat immediately, say 'go potty' or whatever phrase you use and when it does be sure to praise it lavishly. Don't exhibit anger or impatience if you fail to catch your puppy before it eliminates it will take a while for the dog to understand what you mean by outside. You should also remember that just like a baby it takes time for a puppy to develop the muscles which control the bowel and bladder.

Young dogs may need to go every few hours. You should take them outside even if there are no pre-elimination signs, say outside, go potty and then wait. Have patience as it will take time before the dog begins to understand what you want.

If the desired behavior occurs when outside then give the command, the point is to teach the dog to associate the behavior with the command. If it still hasn't gone after the command then take it back outside. If you see the dog circling when you get inside then it is time to go outside again.

Your dog will soon learn what you want due to their association of behavior with a command especially when followed by praise. When you are trying to house train your dog punishment is counter productive and you should never rub a dog's nose in its waste.

Some people prefer to use paper or a crate for training. You can train a pup to use newspaper or one of the chemically treated pads designed for the purpose. These pads mean that some small breeds may not need to go outside at all.

There are limitations to this technique, unlike cats dogs will not use a litter box and newspapers even when removed as soon as the dog goes can make your home smell. More importantly the dog can smell it, rather than being put off they are quite happy and this means that they are likely to continue going in the same place.

If they miss and leave a mess on the floor the odor soon penetrates the floor covering and this will encourage dogs to go there again. This can make it harder to get the dog to go outside, it is better to persevere with teaching them to eliminate outside. House training is the first test for you and your dog.

There are good and bad ways of training your dog and it is a good idea to be aware of how not to train your dog.