How Rewards Work in Puppy Potty Training

Dogs do not respond to negative reinforcement. They are programmed to please their owners, therefore, they want to know they did something good. Hence, there will be a language barrier if you get mad at your puppies. They just don't understand what you are saying.

So, the best way to potty train a puppy would be through positive reinforcement. Now, positive reinforcement happens when you award or reward your dog for a good behaviour. These rewards can range from verbal praise, to touch to treats.

Training with positive reinforcement is tested and more likely to be effective and achieve the desire results faster. Just like in humans, motivation is a key in any good HR Department, because they know that rewards are more effective than reprimands.

Now, in puppy potty training, this usually happens in the form of a verbal phrase. And should be given only when the puppy does his deed in the proper area.

For this to be effective, however, you should always be there when the puppy poops. This is to ensure that you will be able to praise it at once. In this case, he will be able to associate the praise with the act of pooping in the specified place. Giving praise to a puppy after a long period of time will not be useful in this case, because in an hour or so, the puppy would have already done so many things and could not associate what the correct deed resulted to the praise.

In this type of training, timing is very essential. Without good timing, the puppy will not be motivated to behave on a specific deed. Only the right timing will enable him to realize which deed resulted to the treat. Puppies appreciate a form of training that gives them a reason to repeat a good behaviour. Without the proper timing, they won't know which task to repeat.

These are just simple information on how positive reinforcement works. This may or may not work depending on how you implement it. So make sure to know when and when not to give a reward. If you give a dog a reward for pooping in the right place but took to late and the dog have already chewed on your shoe before you even notice it, then the dog might think he is receiving a reward for chewing your shoe! Since your dog thought so, then you can be sure to expect another shoe chewed on anytime soon!

If you choose to potty train your puppy using this method, just look around the site. You may also find more dog tricks and secrets to training older dogs.