Ask any dog owners out there on what is the most important lesson for dogs to learn about and the answer is most likely to be potty training. Experience dog owners know that a potty trained dog will know where, when and how to relieve himself. The dog will no longer mess up the house which can be agonizing.

There are numerous ways to potty train your puppy, depending on your circumstances and dog type. Paper training is suitable for puppies that have not been vaccinated yet and for those who live in high raise apartments where access to a garden by the dog itself is almost impossible.

Crate training, suitable for urban living dogs make use of the dog's instinctive nature of not messing up their sleeping area to train the dog to control its bladder and relieve only when he is out of the crate.

The common choice would be to train your dog to go outside to the back yard or the garden to relieve.

A suitable time to start potty training as recommended by most experts is when your puppy is eight to twelve weeks old. Can you remember about the adage on old dogs that learn new tricks? It is not completely true but right in some ways because it is much easier to train a younger dogs when undesirable habits are not formed. So, don't take any chances.

There are many ways in life to achieve the same desired results. Of them, there are hard ways and easy ways, right ways and wrong ways. The best course of action is to use the easiest and fastest way to get the right results. Much effort, time and positive reinforcement is needed. Let's see how best to achieve what we want in order to potty train our new puppy.

To begin, you should allocate an area for your puppy to eliminate outside or inside the house, you should show him the way to this spot and praise him generously after he finishes

If you praise and reward him immediately after he finishes his job, it encourages him to eliminate in that area alone. The urine odor will be detectable by your puppy and he will learn to associate it as the place to relieve himself.

To help the puppy to remember, always use the same door and spot where you want your puppy to eliminate. Use soiled newspaper to mark the area and hint your puppy on where is the right spot.

The next part is to start an elimination routine and make your puppy familiar with it. Dogs are habitual animals, they are born instinctively to keep to routines. When your puppy is six to eight weeks old, you should bring him out to relieve after every few hours. The frequency will reduce as he grows older and can control his bladder better. During puppyhood, take him to the allocated elimination area at the following times of the day - Upon waking in the morning, after naps, meals, play, training session and just before bedtime.

Taking your pup out at around the same time every day will be very beneficial for the both of you. This is vastly useful in setting up a routine for your puppy and will help him to learn and control his bladder until you take him out.

At this time, you must learn how to look for clues, if your puppy is accustomed to roaming freely around the house, search for signs that show you he needs to do it. Be really observant of his behaviour, such as, heavy sniffing, circling an area, staring at the door with an intense look on his face.

Teach your dog the "Hurry up" or "Potty" Command to hasten the dog's potty time, teach him to eliminate when you give the command for it. So, say "hurry up" or "potty" in an encouraging tone just when he gets the urge to "go". Your puppy will understand and associate the command with potty time, and will get down to relieve himself. Once he's done, praise him lavishly.

It is common for puppies to make mistakes during the process of potty training. In part 2 of this article, you will learn how to excuse his mistakes and more tips to help you train your puppy in double quick time.