Indiak9s

Potty Training......
All other things being equal, Potty training is usually the top most priority for Puppy owners. Many a (first time or even otherwise) owner has pulled at his hair in dispair and frustration when it comes to Potty training. Vast majority of the complains are 'training does not seem to go anywhere' or some variation of the same. Potty training is unlike most of the 'tricks' training where results / milestones are quickly seen. Potty training takes T I M E and C O M M I T M E N T. Let me stress on this, the corner stones of all dog training is repetation and consistancy and Potty training even more so. To set expectations right It is not unusuall for a Puppy to be not completly Potty trained till about 4 to 5 months, in some cases even more.
Regardless of what You are trying to teach your Puppy, You would do well to firmly understand 'Not All Things Work For All Dogs'. You would need to observe and understand what works for Your Puppy and proceed accordingly. Puppies have small bladers and have no control over them. Puppies need to learn their blader control. Generally a Puppy can hold his blader the same number of hours as his age in months. Accordingly some of the most succesfull types of Potty training methods are shared here for your easy reference. However please note Potty training is not limited to these methods.
Choosing the Potty designated area :
It is advisiable to give due thought to Potty designated area. The area needs to be easily accesable. Common areas you can avoid are kitchen, living room or any other area where you routinely entertain your guests, your bedroom, other bed rooms in the house, routinely used balconies etc.
Some commonly potty designated ares are bathroom, toilet, out of the way unused balcony.
Whichever area you choose try to choose it with as much as forsight as possiable as it becomes combrulsome and confusing to the dog to change the established potty designated area.
Crate Training.
You would need a crate. Idealy, You should get a crate that Your Puppy would grow into and still be comfortable. You may partition the crate as per your needes. For the purpose of Potty training we need to have just enough space in the crate that enables the Puppy to stand up and trun around. Should you make more space available it will only enable the Puppy to eliminate at one end and rest at other. Prefferebly get a wire mesh crate or a crate which gives unhindered view of the Puppy.
Feed Your Puppy at regular times. Make a time table for feeding and implement it as strictly as possiable. This will assist You to predict with fair amount of certinity when your Puppy needs to 'go'. Avoid general feeding or 'Free feeding' this will only make your Puppy eliminate at random and You would not have any control.
Time Management is critical in Potty training and is needed for succesifull implimentation of all methods . You would need to observe and understand when Your Puppy needs to go. Some Puppies would want to go right after having their meals, having a large drink of water, heavy play or even when they are very exitited. Otrher Puppies take any where from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Every Puppy is different and You need to be very familier with Your Puppies tendencies. Once you can predict fairly correctly approximetly when Your Puppy is most likely to go, You would need to put him in his crate approximitely 15 minutes before his 'go' time. In case your Puppy usually eliminates shortly after meals You may put him in his Crate immiditely after his meal or even feed him in his crate, as per your prefference.
Understanding the 'Take Me Out Signals' is of utmost importance. A puppy will instinctivly keep his immidiate area clean. As metioned earlier, Your Puppy need not have too much space in his crate. You may partition the crate as needed and remove the partitions as your Puppy grows. When its time for your Puppy to go he will give some definite signals. Some Puppies scratch at the door, Some wine, some bark etc. You would need to know exactly what is Your Puppies 'Take Me Out Signal'. Once Your Puppy gives the 'Take Me Out' signal immidiatly take the crate to the Potty designated area and release the Puppy. After the Puppy eliminates in the Potty designated area lavish him with praise and rewards.
Thereafter the Puppy need not go back into the crate.
Having said this, please understand the Crate is not to be used for Punishment at any time. Your Puppy needs to have a very possitive association with his crate. Proper introduction and usage of the crate is essiencial.
Training Pads / Paper Training :
When you are not at home it becomes difficult to supervise and constantly observerve the Puppy. In such a scinerio how do we do Potty training ? This is a dilema faced by many of the Office going owners. It is not pragmatic to expect a Owner to take leave of some months from office to train his Puppy nor is it fleasable. In such a case You may consider Paper training.
You would need newspapers, disinfectant liquid, Deoderiser and lots of Patentence. As mentioned earlier (in Crate Training - Time) it would help a lot if your know your Puppies schedule times. Confine the Puppy in the long term Puppy containment area & cover the Puppy containment area with newspapers / training pads. Do not let the Puppy out till the Puppy relieves itself. Whes the Puppy does relieve its self do lavish lots of praise and rewards (this becomes optional if you are at office or otherwise unavailable). Repetation and consistancy is the corner stone of training. Very graduadely You may expect specific areas of the Puppy Cotainment area are soiled while others are not. Gradualy Your Puppy will percive the paper as a place to relieve itself.
Very graduadely then move the Paper to the Potty designated area. Should Your Puppy miss the paper then you have moved too fast. You would need to go back a couple of steps and start over. A time will come when the Puppy will eliminate only on the paper in the Potty designated area. Now its time to remove the paper and you would have finished the Potty training !!

Observe and Act :
Should one have time on hand and is inclined to give close attention You can consider the Observe and Act methodology. While the basic fundamentals remain the same this method some times gives relatively fast results as the output is almost directly proportional to the personal effort put in by the indivudial.
This involves as mentioned earilier a clear understanding of Your Puppies Potty schedule. As mentioned earlier regular feeding time is highly recommended as this will almost always result in regular elemination time. Your Puppy will give you little warning and even lesser time for you to act before he relieves himself. You would do well to understand his specific body language just before he relieves himself. A vast majority of the dogs circle or 'track' sniffing around. If this is done with their tails held a bit high then usuall then its almost always time to 'GO'. Immiditely pickup or lead your Puppy to the Potty designated area. Lavish praise and rewards are due when Your Puppy relieves himself in the right place.
Your Puppy and You would need to practice and practice this till Your Puppy is perfect.

Mistakes / Accidents :
Mistakes are inevitable. It is essential not to punish the Puppy for mistakes. Use disinfectant and deoderiser to clean up Your Puppies mistakes and continue Your efforts with renewed vigour and determination. Some trainers may recommend startling the Puppy if caught in the act in an effort to stop eleminating and carry the Puppy to Potty designated area however should one consider the expected total time of the training and the opportunites for error, an occossional mistake may not make much of a impact on the eveuntial outcome.

Remember Puppies are very sensitive and very intilligent. Use this training as an opprtunity to strengthten Your bond with Your Puppy. Consistently following a choosen method with dedication will certainly reslult in a perfectly Potty trained dog.