DIET:

Believe it or not, your choice of food can have a big impact on potty training your puppy. A High Quality, High Protein food is your best choice for many reasons. A high Quality food provides the best nutrition so therefore, your puppy will be as healthy as he can be since high quality foods are more digestible than many lower priced foods, meaning that your puppy will have smaller stool volume because there is less waste to pass through his system. Fewer and smaller stools, means fewer opportunities for accidents making for a more predictable elimination needs and less clean up.  We feed our dogs Purina One dry dog food which in turn provides for maximum muscle tone and strong, healthy bones and teeth.

Avoid sudden changes in diet:

Sudden changes in diet should be avoided, as rapid diet changes can cause his little digestive track to become upset at a time when you are trying to establish predictability. If the food your puppy is on before you brought him home is not the food that you plan on feeding him, then transition him to his new food by adding small amounts of new food to his current food, gradually increasing the new food and decreasing the old food over several days.

Don't Feed Table Food:

A few words about feeding your dog the same things you eat. Don't Do It! A teeny morsel from your prospective is a large portion to a puppy. A Dog's digestive system is not designed handle the same things as ours. Do not blame your dog when he has potty set backs because you decided to share your dinner with him.

When to feed:

Develop a schedule when feeding your dog. Whether you feed him six times a day or just once this coincides with potty training to develop a certain routine.

Feed your puppy in the same place each time using his own bowl. Give him his food and allow him 20 minutes to eat it. If he has not eaten all of his food within 20 minutes, take it away and do not offer him anymore until his next feeding time. You must stand firm on this rule. Remember, if he were hungry he would have eaten it. Do not be tempted to place tasty tidbits in his food to encourage him eating more or at all. This will encourage him to become a picky eater.

Water:

If you allow your puppy to have access to water at all times during the potty training period you will have little control over his elimination of it. Your puppy should be offered water 4-6 times per day and MUST always be allowed to drink after meals and during and after play. NEVER refuse water to a thirsty puppy and always allow him to drink his fill whenever you give him water. The way to regulate this is to allow your puppy to drink at regular intervals throughout the day and NOT limiting the amount of water he is offered at any given time.

A MUST REMEMBER:

Shortly after your dog eats and drinks he will need to go potty and urinate