Bringing a new puppy into your home doesn't have to start out as a frustrating experience even thoug house training a new puppy requires time and energy. There are a number of ways to make the training process relatively easy for both you and your pup. Here are some tips that will help you get through this transitional time with the fewest headaches.

Maintain a Potty Schedule: Your puppy is going to have limited bladder control at first, so it's up to you to set up and maintain a schedule for potty breaks. Generally, puppies need to use go to the bathroom first thing in the morning, immediately after waking up from a nap, about a half hour after eating and just before going to sleep at night. Other than these times, you should take your puppy outside every hour or so.

Prevention is the Key to Success: As a new puppy owner you should strive to prevent accidents from happening. Maintaining a potty schedule along with keeping an eye out for visual cues from your pup, you should be successful. Anticipate his potty needs, and let him outside in the appropriate area. Give him lots of time to finish his business, and then praise him. Puppies will usually have a bowel movement after a meal, so give him time to get that done. Some puppies get their business done quickly, while others take a longer to find that perfect spot. A walk around the yard can help speed things up a bit for the slower pup.

Purchase a Crate and/or Baby Gate: It's likely you won’t be able to keep a close watch over your puppy 24 hours a day. Therefore, you'll have to create a safe place he can go when you can’t keep an eye on him. A dog crate is excellent because it's a snug area for him to call his own. Most dogs are reluctant to soil their sleeping area, so that shouldn’t be an ongoing problem. Baby gates also help to keep your dog out of specific areas of the house. Keeping him confined to the kitchen when you're away will help make clean ups easier than letting him run all over the carpeting.

Feed your Puppy Dry Dog Food:  Dry dog food is the better choice because it isn't saturated with liquid as is canned foods. Moistened canned foods put extra fluids in your puppy’s system, which increases the need to urinate.

Do Not Punish Mistakes:  If you catch your puppy urinating on the floor, scoop him up immediately and place him outside in the appropriate area. Let him finish, and then bring him back indoors. Screaming, spanking or rubbing his nose in the spot on the floor isn't necessary and could make the problem worse. If you're confident your puppy understands where the appropriate place to go potty is located, but he still goes in the house, scold him for the mistake, but don't punish him.

Thoroughly Clean up Accidents:  Dogs like to return to the same spots to go potty, so it's absolutely necessary that you remove all traces from your floor. An enzyme based cleaner will eliminate the smell, breaking down the bacteria and ammonia of which urine odor is comprised. Don't use ammonia-based cleaners, since they'll make the problem worse.

Be Patient: It takes time for a puppy to become fully house trained, so don't expect overnight success. If you get frustrated, your puppy will pick up on that and this could impede the training process. Keep your cool, be patient because your efforts will eventually pay off.

Although these tips at potty training a dog are aimed at training a puppy, it's possible to retrain an older dog. Sometimes dogs will go through a phase of testing the boundaries, so to speak, and you'll need to be firm and teach him that it isn't okay to use the house as a bathroom.

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