One of the most important things dog owners should teach their pets is potty training. You can usually begin effectively housebreaking a puppy when it is around 6 or 8 weeks old. Some dogs may be able to start elimination training as early as 4 weeks, but most of these pups have not yet developed the proper muscular control to hold "going to the potty" until they are let outside.

As with almost any dog training program, patience of the trainer is required. Often, dogs can learn to quickly obey commands like "sit" and "stay" within only a few days. Potty training, however, might take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month or more.

Like other taught behaviors, it is a good idea to look for signs of the intended behavior, then guide the puppy with a voice command and reward it with praise. This technique works to the pet owner's advantage as all pets have to eliminate waste sooner or later. The idea is to train the puppy to do their business at the appropriate time and place.

If you notice that your puppy is circling or squatting, then pick it up, say "outside" and run outside. The puppy may continue to circle for some time, but mostly it will squat immediately. As it begins, clearly say "go potty" (or any special phrase). Your tone has to be firm but not angry. Then, wait until it's finished and show your appreciation for what the puppy did.

It is not always possible to catch the puppy when it is about to begin. You should not become angry or lose your patience if the dog eliminates indoors. It takes some time before the dog learns to tell you that it needs to go outside to eliminate. It also takes some time for the dog's muscles to appropriately control its bladder and bowels.

Usually, a puppy will need to go once every two or three hours. If you don't observe any pre-elimination behavior within that period, bring the dog outside, just in case. Tell it to "go potty," and then be patient.

Of course, in the beginning, the dog will have no idea what you want it to do. Watch and wait for the appropriate behavior, and then give the command. That will allow the dog to quickly link the command with the behavior. In case nothing happens after several minutes, let the dog inside again but watch for behavior that may indicate a need to go potty. Then return outside and let the puppy go potty.

It's uncanny how quickly dogs can learn to obey the commands of their alpha, or the leader of their group. These commands are often given verbally, and reinforced with praise. Punishing the dog is often unhelpful, especially when it comes to elimination training. Also, it is counterproductive to physically harm your dog and to put its nose into its own waste.

Paper training is another method that some dog owners use. A dog can be trained to go potty on a newspaper or on highly absorbent housebreaking pads that are treated to attract dogs to use them. A few smaller breeds of dogs that stay at home all day can be potty trained indoors. This is also an option for pet owners who do not have a yard where they can do elimination training for their dogs.

However, there are a few major downfalls to using this method. Unlike cats, dogs will refuse a pleasantly scented litter box. Also, even when the soiled layer of the newspaper is removed, an odor will still develop in the house.

Dogs can also detect these unique odors much sooner than humans, and the problem is that, while humans dislike these odors, dogs actually enjoy their own smell. This poses a problem because dogs who are paper trained indoors will detect their own smell and prefer to keep going potty inside. To add to that, once in a while, they will sometimes miss the paper by a few inches, resulting in a huge mess that requires cleaning.

When the dog picks up its odor, it will associate the smelly area with the place for going potty. This raises the difficulty of training the dog to eliminate outside. Rather than developing such a habit, it is better to suffer a few accidents.

The most important thing to remember when training a dog is that patience, praise and consistency will go a long way in getting results. Housebreaking a puppy has its challenges, but if you keep at it, you will eventually succeed.