We all know that at the heart of any cost-efficient house training strategy lies prevention. Punishment can never be part of the equation, so to speak.

But what are the key ingredients of a good plan anyway? Here are some of those advice on house training dogs.

1. Be consistent in giving your dog high-quality puppy food.

Feed your dog only high-quality premium brand dry (kibble) puppy food. Two things that you will need to limit (if you still do them) are giving your puppy table scraps or switching to a different dog food brand unnecessarily. In case you see the practical need to prioritize a different puppy food, gradually mix the new puppy food into the current food over a period of 4 to 7 days, until the old food has been exhausted. Now, is there a dietary detail that can affect the stool of the dog and even make him a challenge to housebreak? The answer is yes, since feeding instead your puppy plenty of canned dog food can loosen his stool, thus taking you back to square one in terms of training.

2. Designate your puppy's safety zone, grey zone and danger zone.

A good tip here is to maintain a journal of your puppy's urinating and defecating times for a week or so. You need to estimate the minimum interval between elimination. Deduct 15-30 minutes from this average amount of time and call this your puppy's indefinite "Safety Zone". This zone is a period of time wherein the dog can somewhat be capable of keeping his urine secure after he is taken around the neighborhood, or has visited his bundle of newspapers, unless he gets hold of a huge amount of water during this time. You need to ensure however, that he is still being watched over any time he is not confined to his crate or confinement area.

3. Early interactive socialization among people is an important start.

For a good start to house training dogs, Early, consistent and persistent interactive socialization with plenty of friendly new people (plus calm friendly children and adolescents) is very important. However, it is also important that your puppy be fully immunized to have a safe and worry-free walk. In this case the alternative is to encourage friends to drop by and visit your puppy and you at home. You can also bring your dog to public places to help him to be more familiar of the sights, sounds and movement of the outdoors (especially the hustle and bustle of the streets) a while after he got at least two series of shots, as long as he is not made yet to walk on the sidewalk or streets, and he is not brought near other dogs.

4. Get rid of urine odors using an enzyme-based deodorizer.

If your puppy can't help escaping with one or two housesoiling accidents in spite of your best plan to house training dogs, you can neutralize any soiled areas (whether on carpet or floor surface) using pet odor neutralizers like Nature's Miracle, Nilodor, Fresh 'n' Clean, or Outright Pet Odor Eliminator. Ammonia-based cleaners are not worth it when it comes to getting rid of your puppy's urine, since ammonia can decompose into to urea, which is an ingredient of pee.

5. Diarrhea can dampen any progress the dog has gained in housetraining.

Any less-than-solid type of stools will not help in housetraining.