10 Key Puppy Parenting Tips below:

1. Get a crate. It makes housetraining incredibly easy.

2. Let your puppy sleep in your bedroom, at least for the first few nights. This whole experience is scary for a pup. Don’t make him sleep in the laundry room. Put the crate next to your bed so you can reassure him.

3. Supervise, supervise, supervise. If you cannot watch him like a hawk, he needs to be in his crate or in his “room,” see below.

4. Set up a puppy room for when you can’t supervise. Pick a small area like the bathroom or kitchen, block it off with baby gates. Another option I like is to use a hard plastic baby pool surrounded by a collapsible dog show pen. 

5. Pick a potty spot. Pick one area and take him directly there when it’s potty time. Set a daily routine. Housetraining proceeds more smoothly if your puppy knows what to expect from her day.

6. Make sure everyone is on the same page. Discuss the puppy rules with your whole family. Figure out who will do what when. Pick one set of training cues and stick with them. It will pay off 10 fold in the end.

7. Reward good behavior, don’t wait for bad behavior. Reward the puppy when you see him doing something you like. Don’t wait until he’s misbehaving to give him attention.

8. Avoid the dog park. Doing so can expose your pup to disease and unexpected dog agreession. A couple bad experiences could ruin your puppy’s opinion of her own species.

9. As a general rule of thumb, the number of hours a puppy can “hold it” is his age in months plus one. So a two month old puppy should be crated for a maximum of three hours at a time during the day. (When they sleep at night, puppies can usually hold it for longer).

10. Remember that your puppy is a baby – don’t ask too much of her. Focus on socialization and having fun.