The good times that you have with your pet dog can turn into a frustrating experience when you have to deal with their urinating and defecating needs. Just like toddlers need to be potty trained, so does your pet. However, you need to remember that dog being an animal may have a much slower pace of learning than humans. Hence, the whole experience can be testing at times.

You have two options to potty train your pet. Either you can send your dog to a professional who will give him behavioural training. However, getting professional expertise may prove to be expensive. Another cheaper and better alternative is to self-train your dog. The task may be tough, but the rewards will be certainly worth the efforts. Most pet-owners claim that self-training their pet dogs have resulted in nurturing a better relationship with them.

As you begin to train your dog personally, remember to set up a mode of communication. You can communicate with your dog either by using hand signals and gestures or voice commands. Establishing commands for common day-to-day activities may give good results. However, keep in mind that the tone used must be firm and friendly at the same time.

Having established the communication method, allocate a place for your dog to urinate and defecate. This can be your dog's personal "Poop Place". Initially, you will need to guide your dog towards his poop place whenever he shows sign of peeing or pooping. You can set up tracks leading to the particular area to help him go there by himself. Or you may leave a piece of paper sprinkled with his pee in his "poop place" so that he may be directed towards the right spot by sniffing.

Next course of action will be to plan a schedule for your dog's peeing and pooping needs. A daily routine should be helpful in letting your dog understand as to what is expected out of him. You can take your dog out for walks early in the morning, after meals and before going to bed to perform his nature's call in the outdoors.

Two rules that you must remember while potty training your dog is - never use physical punishment in case of occasional mistakes and praise your dog every time he does it in the right place. Two attributes for success in your dog's potty-training endeavour will be your dedication and patience. Once you make up your mind and are ready to give your pet enough time to learn, personally potty training your pet will be a piece of cake for you!