How to Help House Train Your Pet

Puppies and kittens are so adorable they are a great addition to your family, however, like toddlers they have to be potty trained. House training your pet is an important part of taking care of your pet, not to mention keeping your house clean and fresh. To avoid stepping on a wet or messy carpet, learn how to help house train your pet. Nobody wants to step on a wet spot or a pile of poop but try to control your frustration and disgust when disciplining your pet. Contrary to popular belief, rubbing their little noses into the mess doesn’t prevent them from doing it again. What it may do is make your pet think taking a leak is wrong and that’s not the message you want to get across.

One thing you need to do in order to help your pet with house training is to keep a constant eye on them. If you see them walking in circles, going to a far corner, pawing the floor, or sniffing a lot they are probably looking for a place to relieve themselves. If you see them squat, that’s a definite sign say with a firm voice, “NO!” and immediately pick them up and take them where they are suppose to go. Make sure you wait for them to finish and say “good girl or boy”. They will slowly learn this is where I should go when I need to go. Once they have gone where they shouldn’t have make sure you cover the scent by cleaning it thoroughly, preferably with vinegar, bleach, odor masking products from pet stores, or some other antiseptic that will work to cover the scent. Most dogs will smell around until they find the last place they relieved themselves and will return to that same place.

Another way to help house train your pet is to confine them to a specific area don’t let them roam around the entire house you’ll have droppings everywhere. You can put them in a large box allowing them enough room to play but watch them so you’ll know when to take them outside so they can relieve themselves. Most pets don’t like to lounge, sleep or play next to their own waste so a large box is a good idea. What I use to do for my puppies is to put down newspapers. However, don’t put newspapers everywhere because then your pet will look to relieve himself or herself where there is no newspaper or you’ll have a ton of mess to clean up if the newspapers are spread everywhere. Put a few newspapers down in a particular area, like a corner or where you notice your pet goes often. Make sure you pile enough newspapers on top of each other to make it thick enough not to leak through. Once they get use to using it in a certain area you can cut back on the newspapers.

Once your pet gets a little older start taking them outside at specific times and say things to them like, “go pee.” Make sure you keep a regular schedule pets love schedules and often expect things to run like clockwork. For cats, make sure you have more than one littler box and make it easy for them to get into. Lastly, after your pet has eaten take them outside in about 30 minutes or so. One way to give you a better timing on when to take them outside after they have eaten is to watch to see how long it takes for them to go after they have eaten.