How To House-Train Your New Coton Puppy
Coton puppies, like those from Family Puppies, are good dogs to have if you live in a small apartment. They don't grow to be too big where they will need a lot of room to run around in and they typically have a happy and playful disposition which makes them a good pet if you have young children. However, getting a puppy means adding more responsibilities to your list of responsibilities. Among the first things you'll have to do is teach the puppy to go to the bathroom outside. This can be a learning experience for you and your puppy. If you never trained a puppy to go to the bathroom outside, here is what you are going to have to do.
Be Consistent
One of the nice things about coton puppies is that they are really intelligent and will catch on quickly to what you are trying to teach them. You need to be consistent in doing the same things over and over again so they don't have doubts about what you want them to do. You should set up regular times when you take the dog outside. You also need to be consistent in your praise when they go potty outdoors.
Start First Day
The training starts the moment you get the puppy home. Before you start to play with it inside, you should take it for a walk outside. Walk around until the puppy finds a place to go the bathroom. As the puppy starts to pee and/or poop, say several times "Go potty". Continue saying this until the puppy stops peeing and/or pooping. You should bring a doggy treat to give them once they are finished going to the bathroom. They will come to relate the term "Go potty" with going to the bathroom outside.
Set Bathroom Times
You should take the puppy out about five times a day at set times starting when you wake up in the morning. Once you set the times, try not to vary from them the best you can. Take the puppy out and go to the same spot they went to the bathroom before. Say "go potty" and wait until the puppy starts to go to the bathroom. Again, repeat numerous times the term "Go potty" while it is peeing and/or pooping. Always give the puppy a treat after they go to the bathroom.
Use a Cage
While you may not think caging the puppy is a good idea, the fact is they like having a designated place of their own where they feel safe. This will also be the place where you put your puppy to sleep every night. Dogs have the instinct to keep the area where they sleep clean, and your puppy won't normally go to the bathroom in the cage (unless, of course, you are not adhering to the designated "potty times").
Your puppy should catch on within a week or so what you expect when it comes to going to the bathroom. Once the puppy is house trained, you can let it out of the cage more often and start training it to do other things.