One of the most important first steps, when you adopt a puppy, is house training, aka potty training. The process of training a puppy (or adult dog) to learn the appropriate time and place to eliminate takes determination and patience. The key is to remember that successful potty training is based on positive reinforcement instead of punishment. So how do you potty train a puppy? What if you have adopted an adult dog that is not potty trained?
To begin with, you cannot expect your puppy to be wholly housetrained and trustworthy before the age of six months. That being said, housetraining a dog might take anywhere from one to six weeks. Your puppy's size and breed, as well as, for the most part, your efforts in housetraining him, decide a lot.
There is also the fact that your puppy will not regulate his urine and bowels until he is 16 weeks old. Simply put, he can not "hold it" for long periods. Therefore, you must be especially cautious at that time. But that does not mean you may not begin housetraining her as soon as he sets foot inside your house. It just implies that you should anticipate your puppy having a few accidents. But do not worry: this book has all the information you will need to deal with these bits of disasters, from how to respond to how to clean up.