Many people get new puppies and adopt older dogs and need to house break them.    It is important to remember they are dogs, not humans, and don't view going to the    bathroom in the same way humans do. We have been conditioned that urinating and    defecating in the house is nasty and disgusting. For dogs this is not true. It is true    they don't naturally want to potty where they sleep. There does need to be a meeting    of the minds between us and dogs as to where it is acceptable to do this deed.

Personally, I have in recent years always had a 'doggy door' in my house so potty    training has been extremely easy as it provides my dogs constant access to the    outside. The outside is where a dog will prefer to do it's business. Remember they    don't want to go where they sleep. This option is not available to many people    because they live in apartments or simply don't want to install a 'doggy door'.

There are two commonly used techniques for potty training, Potty Pads and Crate    Training. I, personally and not a big fan of crates and the potty pads are confusing    for the dog if you eventually want your dog to relieve itself outside.

There really are no 'quick fixes' when training your dog. Let me explain, it all begins    when you bring your new dog home. Dogs don't move to a new home the way    humans do. When a human gets a new home we pack everything we own into our    car or moving van, and go to the new location and immediately start unpacking our    stuff into the new house. We have the added advantage of knowing in advance that    we are moving and have probably scoped out the house and the neighborhood    before we ever make the move. Dogs don't move or migrate that way. They will get    up in the morning and start walking. They are looking for food and comfortable, safe,    surroundings.

When people get a new dog they are, and rightfully so, excited about getting the dog    home and introducing him to his new home and friends. He is taken directly from the    car to the house and plopped down. There is a lot of commotion as he is introduced    to the rest of the family and friends. The dog has probably been anxious and    confused about the whole experience, which has probably been pretty traumatic    from his point of view. Now as he goes about sniffing and learning about the place    where he is now there is a lot of noise and many distractions which are adding to his    anxiety. So what should you do?

When taking your new dog, or even your current dog, to a new home you should first    let him walk around the neighborhood and the outside area of the house. After all    this is where you will want him to relieve himself. Let him at least partially experience    the 'natural' moving process of dogs. Let him get used to the new surroundings.    While this is going on he will probably relieve himself outside. When he does praise    him for doing what it is you wanted him to do in the first place!

House breaking can take a couple of weeks so you need to be patient and    consistent with this process and the praise you give your new dog. Puppies will    usually go to the bathroom within 30 minutes after eating (see Feeding Your Dog).    Now this will, of course, vary with the dog. The important thing you need to do is to    take your puppy outside, or to the place where you want him to go and wait patiently    for him to relieve himself. Once he does praise him. Over time he will learn to go    where you want him to go. When you are outside with him you can 'encourage' his    going to the bathroom with some physical activity. Dogs will go to the bathroom after    walking, running, playing, or some type of physical activity. Once he has done his    business you can reward him with some play time. Some trainers will tell you to take    him back inside once he has used the restroom. The idea being he has done the    command and that is that. I believe the play time will teach him to use the restroom    so his reward is some quality time with you.