The puppy is new and oh so cute. You cuddle with it every day and love to chase it around the yard or play tug of war with the stuffed animal that, in a year will probably be missing most of its limbs. However, all is not fun and games in the house with the new puppy. Now comes the hard part, house training the dog.

As the new puppy does one of two things to relieve him/herself in the middle of your new white carpet you find yourself wondering why it is so difficult for the dog to understand that you do not go in the house. You think to yourself why would anyone, animals included, go to the bathroom where they live? Would they not want it as far away as possible? You think your puppy must just be thickheaded, anyone with a dog has looked at their animal at this stage and said “you stupid dog”. However, then you remember that for a couple years after you were born you not only went to the bathroom where you live but actually in your pants and you feel slightly bad for being so frustrated with your dog’s seeming lack of intelligence.

House training a dog is without a doubt a frustrating process. You wish you could just throw them outside and they would figure it out themselves. Unfortunately it is not this easy; it requires a bit more patience and perseverance. So you do a couple things as you look at the seemingly hopeless situation that has the potential to turn very expensive if you are again forced to replace your carpet. First of all you remember that you knew house training a dog was not easy or fun, second you remember that you are the idiot that bought new carpet two months before you decided to get a dog. Now you suck it up and you go to the book store to get the newest book on house training a dog and hope that it has some enlightening information that will save you both time and money-discounting the $30 you just spent on the book of course.