House training a puppy who has diarrhea or irregular bowel movements can be a little challenging. There may be a few reasons your puppy has loose stools. Let me also say, that you should always consult with your veterinarian if your puppy does develop diarrhea.

First, make sure your puppy is not eating something he shouldn’t be. Puppies like to explore, and they tend to find things and eat them. This can easily cause loose stools or diarrhea. Part of your puppy house training is making sure to puppy proof your house.

Second, do not feed your puppy any people food. Your puppy’s digestive system cannot handle it, and they may develop loose stools or diarrhea.

Third, for young puppies under 12 weeks old, your vet probably has you feeding your puppy around 3 times a day. Every dog is different, and their digestive systems are different. In your house training, some puppies may need to be fed 4 or 5 smaller meals a day as their systems develop. This will help avoid overloading their digestive system, and allow time to digest their food. This can help your puppy avoid loose stools or diarrhea.

You will have your work cut out for you. You will basically be doing the same house training for your young puppy with diarrhea as a puppy without, but much more frequently.

You will really have to keep an eye on your dog and read his body language. When your puppy tells you he has to go out to go potty, take him out. Yes, your dog can tell you when he has to go out.

Depending on how bad your puppy has diarrhea, you may just want to set up a schedule of taking your puppy out every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or whatever seems best to let your sick puppy releive himself and to avoid any accidents in your house.

You will also probably want to fast your puppy. This means that you should not feed him for up to 12 hours, until he stops defecating. After fasting your puppy, you may also want to start with feeding your puppy some plain canned pumpkin, or some boiled chicken with rice.

As always, anytime your dog has any health issues, you should consult with your vet for help. They may suggest you bring your puppy in for testing to make sure your puppy’s diarrhea is not something more serious. You also need to make sure your dog does not get dehydrated, which is a danger with diarrhea.

If your puppy does get diarrhea, you will be in a tough position. If it’s a weekend, then you should be able to take care of him without a problem. If your puppy happens to get sick during the work week, then you may have a dilemma.

You have a puppy now. You will either have to stay home from work to make sure your puppy is taken care of, or have someone else take care of them. Preferably, this should be someone who has been taking part in your puppy’s house training, or someone who has experience in house training a puppy with diarrhea. Do not leave your puppy alone.

A puppy with diarrhea is a delicate situation, but this is a defining moment in your puppy house training. You must take the good with the bad, and this may be bad. But it is your responsibility.

I get asked this question all the time. Just how long will it take to potty train a puppy?

The answer is, it depends. Wow. What an enlightening answer.

This is the truth though. There are many factors that come into play when doing your puppy potty training. Such factors as:

• What technique you choose to use.
• Will you be persistent and consistent in your training?
• Will you follow the techniques and tips that work to potty train your puppy?
• How long will you leave your puppy alone?
• Are you very responsible?

This list could go on and on, but you may notice that I did not mention anything about the puppy. Hmm. Why is that. All the things I mentioned have to do with… YOU!

Now, there may be factors of your dog that could make it harder to potty train your puppy. But, for the most part, the dog is not the main factor in your success. The main factor is you. You are the one who has the responsibility to house train your puppy.

If you find a puppy potty training program that works, and follow directions, be consistent, and truly work at house training your puppy, then it will only be a matter of days before your new puppy is house trained. Now, if you do not take the responsibility to do these things correctly, then it will take a longer time.

Remember, your puppy potty training success will depend on you. Your puppy is not to blame for having any accidents, and there will be some. Even if you train your puppy in a few days, you must continue to work at it. Only over time will you be able to completely trust your puppy and know that he is completely house trained.

I have worked with people who have gotten a new puppy, and they are angry at their new dog for not telling them that he had to go out to go potty, and he had an accident in the house.

Yes, this really happened.

Your puppy does not come pre-programmed to tell humans that they have to go potty. They cannot say, “Hey Human! My bladder is full and I have to go potty now. Take me outside.”

Well… they actually can tell you, but you need to:

1. First, potty train them
2. Then, learn to read the body language of your puppy

He can tell you when he needs to go potty, especially if you teach him to go to the door. You can teach him to sit, to bark, to touch the door knob, or even to ring a bell.

The key is, that you need to potty train your puppy to do these things.

Is there just one secret? Hmmm… 

That’s a good question. Is it crate training? Is it simply keeping an eye on them at all times? Is it a feeding, water, and potty schedule that is the secret? Maybe, you need to have a dogwalker come in during the day to help you.

Well, all four of those are very essential to quickly and easily potty training your puppy. There are other so called ’secrets’ as well, but there is one absolute, positive secret that will help you in your puppy potty training.

Want to know what is is? Of course you do!

The one secret is that you MUST be consistent. No matter which tools you use, which procedures you follow, you must stick with them, and use them over and over again. You cannot concentrate on the potty training one minute, and then have a ‘whatever’ attitude the next minute.

If you are true to yourself, and to your puppy, and follow the proper potty training procedures every waking minute, and follow them properly, it will only be a matter of days before your puppy is fully potty trained.

Let me know what you think.

If you are here, then I can only assume that you have either just adopted a new puppy and need help with the house training, or…

You have had your puppy for a little while, and you are having a very hard time potty training your puppy. You may be very frustrated, and you may think there is no answer for you. You have been cleaning up after your dog when they constantly seem to be having accidents  in the house, and you are probably wondering why you ever adopted a dog in the first place. You may even be thinking that you are going to have to give your puppy back to the breeder or the pound.

Let me say this. You have not failed your puppy… unless you quit. You know that if you return your puppy, he may not survive.

I am here to help each and every one of you. Please leave your questions for me by commenting to this post.