The best time to begin house training a puppy is when they are 7 to 8 weeks old. At this age, you can teach your puppy where to eliminate before he/she has established their own preferences. But don't worry if your puppy is older when you start house training: She will still learn, though it may take a little longer.

Choose an appropriate spot to take your puppy immediately after she wakes up, after play sessions and 15 to 30 minutes after meals. If you take your puppy to the same spot every day, previous odors will stimulate her to urinate or defecate. Be sure to pick up fecal material immediately as parasite eggs are often present in the material and can cause rein-festation. Many puppies need 15 to 20 minutes of moving around and sniffing before the eliminate. Stay with your puppy the entire time. House training problems can result if you're unsure whether your puppy actually eliminated and you let her return to the house to soon. And also remember your puppy needs to focus on the job at hand, so don't play with her until she has eliminated.

If you repeat the same phrase (e.g. go potty, take care of business) every time your puppy eliminates outdoors, she will learn this phrase means it's the right time and place to eliminate.

Reward your puppy by praising her, give her a treat, or playing with her. But remember the reward needs to be given immediately. Your puppy will not learn to eliminate outdoors if the reward comes when she returns to the house. Instead, your puppy will think she is being rewarded for coming into the house.

If you can't keep continuous watch on your puppy, leave her in a small puppy proof area, as a crate. If the crate is large enough to accommodate your puppy as an adult, partition it to avoid having your puppy soil in one end and sleep in the other. And remember, your puppies' bladder and bowel capacities are limited; so let your puppy out at least every 2 to 4 hours.

If your puppy has an accident in the house, don't go get her and rub her nose in it. This doesn't do any good because the misbehavior has already occurred. Instead, try to catch your puppy in the act. If you can see your puppy is getting ready to soil in the house, don't swat her. Instead, stomp your foot, shake a can filled with pennies, or startle her by yelling, "Outside!" Your puppy will likely stop what she is doing and you can take her outside to eliminate.

Feed your puppy at set times every day, and remove the food bowl after 20 minutes. This will create regular intervals at which your puppy will need to eliminate.

Use a safe, effective product that removes both the stain and odor. It is important to clean a soiled area completely or your puppy may return to the spot and soil it again.

Most puppies can be successfully house trained by 14 to 20 weeks of age. But a pet may take longer to house train for several reasons. Consult your local veterinarian if you're having difficulty.

If you have ever had puppies then you can bet you have had coccidia. People often first encounter coccidia when they acquire a young puppy who has traveled. The infectious organisms are canine/feline-specific and are not contagious to humans. Young puppies are frequently infected with coccidia and often develop active Coccidiosis -- even puppies obtained from diligent professional breeders. Undeveloped immune systems make puppies more susceptible. Stress is the #1 Cause of Coccidia..... such as new owners, travel, weather changes, and unsanitary conditions are believed to activate infections in susceptible animals.

Symptoms in young dogs are universal: at some point around 2-3 months of age, an infected dog develops persistently loose stools. This diarrhea proceeds to stool containing liquid, thick mucus, and light colored fecal matter. As the infection progresses, spots of blood may become apparent in the stool, and sudden bowel movements may surprise both dog and owner alike. Coccidia infection is so common that any pup under 4 months old with these symptoms can almost surely be assumed to have coccidiosis.

Fortunately, the treatment is inexpensive, extremely effective, and routine. A veterinarian can easily diagnose the disease through low-powered microscopic examination of an affected dog's feces, which usually will be replete with oocysts. One of many easily administered and inexpensive drugs will be prescribed, and, in the course of just a few days, an infection will be eliminated or perhaps reduced to such a level that the dog's immune system can make its own progress against the infection. Even when an infection has progressed sufficiently that blood is present in feces, permanent damage to the gastrointestinal system is rare, and the dog will most likely make a complete recovery without long-lasting negative effects.

We diligently work to prevent this from occurring. We treat our puppies for 7 days before shipping with Albon to prevent cocciosis, but stress from travel can still flare Coccidia up.

Incase the puppy does develop this from all the stress he/she is under when going to a new home, you may easily catch and treat this before it becomes a problem.