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The first challenge new dog owners often face is potty training their puppy. It's important to understand that some puppies are more difficult to potty train than others.

The key to success is to always supervise your puppy and take him outside as often as possible.

To better supervise your puppy, it's recommended to close the doors to all rooms in the house. This prevents the dog from hiding to relieve himself. When it's impossible to supervise the puppy, it's advisable to put him in his crate, or to keep him with you on a leash to ensure the dog doesn't relieve himself inside the house.

When your dog shows signs of needing to relieve himself (the dog gets excited, smells the ground, moves away, etc.), you must take it outside immediately to ensure it relieves itself outside.
When your dog relieves himself outside, you can reward him with a treat to let him know that you encourage this behavior.

If your dog makes a mess in the house, don't punish him. Punishment will only encourage the dog to hide when relieving himself next time. So, if your puppy has urinated in the house, be sure to clean everything with a product that completely eliminates urine odors, as otherwise, the dog may be inclined to relieve himself in the same place again if the odor is still present.

It's important to know that a puppy can't hold it for more than 2 hours per month. For example, a 3-month-old puppy can't hold it for more than 6 hours. It's therefore normal for your dog to wake you up during the night to go out to go pee.

During the day, it's recommended to take your puppy out every hour so that he always pee in the right place, and to reward him with a treat and a loud encouragement when he successfully pees in the desired spot.

The more consecutive times your puppy urinates in the right place, the faster he'll be potty trained.

To teach your dog to ask for the door to relieve himself, someone must take him outside every time he's at the door. He'll then associate the fact that if he comes to the door, he'll be able to go outside and relieve himself.

The sooner you establish this discipline with your puppy, the steeper your puppy's potty training curve will be!