Ah, the joys of living with puppies! Their innocence and ability to live in the moment, and blithe ignorance of any consequences are charmingeven instructiveto us over-achieving, consequence-considering humansmost of the time. But when that adorable heedlessness and lack of impulse control causes a puppy to anoint a newly cleaned carpet or place a little pile atop an antique sofa, its hard not to wish that it would stop and think before taking action. All new puppy owners wish that puppies could channel Shakespeares Hamlet, and consider whether to pee or not to pee.

Alas, such channeling is beyond your canine companions capability, at least until it gets some help from you. Follow these seven steps, and your puppy will soon learn where and when to do the doo. 

Step 1: Get the Right Stuff
The housetraining process goes much faster when you have the right equipment. That stuff includes, first and foremost, a crate. This enclosure will be your puppys private space. Whenever you can't give it your undivided attention, your pup should be in its crate.  

You also need a flat buckle collar and a 6-foot leash of either leather or nylon, so you can safely take your dog to its outdoor potty spot.

Step 2: Make Scents
Your puppys nose is far more sensitive than yours. The canine sniffer has 40 times more scent receptors than yours, its brains olfactory center is considerably larger than yours and its nose is designed to intensify scents. All these differences mean that your puppy can detect scents you can't.

You can capitalize on your puppys smelling superiority during housetraining. Just try to get your pup to pee on a paper towel or old cloth, or simply wipe its bottom with the cloth after its tinkled. Then, save the clothyoull need it for the next step. 

Step 3: Pick a Potty Spot
Now you're ready to choose the place where you want your puppy to do the doo. Find an area in your yardor, if you don't have a yard, a sidewalk median stripclose enough so you can whisk your pup outdoors fast if it indicates a need to potty (Step 6 spotlights those signs and indications).

When you take your puppy to the designated bathroom, place the scent cloth you created in Step 2 atop the exact spot where you want it to do its business. Your pup will probably sniff the cloth intently, then re-anoint it. Repeat this process whenever your pup needs to make a pit stop, and soon it'll do the doo where you want.

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