The first thing to remember is to never yell or become angry at your dog.  This is especially true if he has a potty accident in your home. It is not bad for you dog to relieve himself, and you don't want to teach him that.  There are going to be mistakes, this is all part of house training a dog and even potty training a child. 

If a dog were living in the wild, he would do his duty anywhere but where he slept.  So, in the beginning, you dog does not know where to go or not go, except for his own bed.  This is something that you are going to teach him. 

You want to watch your interaction with your dog, see if you are sending the message you want to get across.  You just want to let him know that he is supposed to go outside and not inside.  Make sure you are giving him regular chances to be let out and you are using the same phrase each time reinforcing the reason for being let out. 

Below are the most common mistakes used in house training a dog.

1. Stick his nose in it – Please do not ever do this!  This is cruel and wrong.  You are not teaching your dog anything but to think his pee or poop is bad, not that he did it on the floor.  This will not prevent him from doing this again because he does not really understand what you are teaching him.  No matter how many times you punish him for doing his duty, he is not going to just give it up.  But yet, he has no idea what it is you are expecting of him, other than you are upset.  Some dogs may hide and do it where you can't see him.  You may even find that when he is outside where he can go, he will be afraid to go in front of you.  There are some dogs that become so fearful of their owner, that they will actually eat their own mess out of fear.

2. Punishing after the fact – First of all, you never want to punish your dog.  The only way your dog is going to learn is through praise.  But if you have found something your dog has done and not actually saw him do it, you cannot correct him on this.  If you start yelling at your dog for something he may have done a few minutes before or an hour before, you don't know because you didn't see it happen.  Nevertheless, your dog will have no clue what you are upset about.  By yelling or even saying "bad dog" or "no" or "outside", he doesn’t understand these words unless you are correcting him while in the act.  Only use these words or commands when they apply to the situation at hand.  Take him outside, let him do his thing, then praise him, let him know that he is doing a great thing and to keep repeating that each time you take him out, and they love praise, so you can go wild with it. 

3. Wrong message being sent – If you catch your dog messing in the house and start yelling, you are not getting the right message sent to him.  You haven't given him an option as to what the right thing is. If you catch him relieving himself in your home, then say "no" firmly and with a calm voice.  Then you pick him up and carry him outside so he can finish.  When he is done, go crazy with the praise again.  You are reinforcing his "good" behavior with praise and he will do whatever it takes to get that praise again and again. 

4. Diet change – A diet is something that needs to be consistent in your dogs life, but there may be a time when you need to change it.  It may be for health reasons or maybe your dogs brand food is no longer available.  This is ok, there is nothing really wrong with changing his food, but what is wrong is expecting him to get a regular elimination cycle and be house trained while changing his diet.  While you are house training a dog, you need to keep  his diet and feeding times consistent during the entire training process.  You and your dog will be able to set up a regular routine and schedule helping him to have success.

5. Bringing your dog back in right after he's done – You are standing in the backyard with your dog, waiting patiently for him to do his thing.  Well, you will soon notice first that they like to walk around sniffing for that perfect spot.  So you need to be patient and quiet while he does this.  Then, once he is done, let him stay out for a bit longer. He may go find another great spot and go again.  They usually do this at least twice and they always will pee in one spot and poop in a totally different spot.  Then when you think he is done, call him to come to you.  If he is not done, he will hesitate, if he is, he will come running for his praise.