1. Arrange toilet times reasonably. Chow Chows often like to eliminate after playing, sleeping, eating, or drinking. After those activities, take the dog to the designated toilet spot and reward it appropriately when it finishes there.
2. Control the amount of food and water, because what goes in must eventually come out. Remember that when and where elimination happens is largely determined by the owner, and scheduled feeding leads to a semi-predictable bathroom schedule.
3. Once you have chosen a good-quality dog food, do not keep changing it. Lower-quality foods often contain fillers with little nutritional value. Even if they are safe to eat, they may increase the number of times the dog needs to eliminate each day. Sudden diet changes should also be avoided.
4. When you are not at home, use a crate or pen to limit the puppy's range of movement. This is one of the best ways to reduce accidents. A crate can be very useful, but long periods of confinement, such as more than eight or nine hours, may cause the puppy to eliminate inside it.
5. Use treats as rewards. This is one of the most effective methods, yet many people do not fully use it when teaching a dog not to urinate indoors.
6. Establish a toilet ritual. Use the same door every time, go to the same patch of grass, and wait patiently until the puppy eliminates. Then praise it with a phrase such as ?good dog.? Avoid talking too much or distracting the dog. Once you begin to predict when it needs to go, you can add a cue such as ?go potty? before the action. After it finishes, praise it and offer a treat.
7. Gradually give the dog more responsibility. First bring it to the toilet spot and leave it there until it finishes. Later, let it walk a little more of the way on its own, and over time it will learn the full routine by itself. Just be certain it really has relieved itself before taking it away, otherwise you may get an unpleasant surprise later.
8. Be willing to get up at night for your puppy. Dogs younger than three months old often need nighttime toilet trips. Letting the puppy urinate in the room will only delay the overall training process.
9. If the puppy has an accident outside the designated place, never punish it harshly. That will only make it afraid to eliminate in front of you in the future.
10. Once a Chow Chow reaches five or six months of age, it becomes more capable of controlling elimination like an adult dog. The fewer accidents it has during puppyhood, the easier that later control will become.