Puppy House Training

House breaking, house training, potty training, toilet training or whatever you call it is one of the most frustrating and time consuming aspects of owning a puppy. Every puppy learns at a different pace and every owner trains a bit differently. This can take a week to a few months. No matter how fast your puppy learns there will be mistakes. It's very important to keep yourself focused and relaxed. Even after your puppy knows the deal there will be occasions where he can't hold it or just doesn't fully understand. If your dog is older, has been successfully house trained and has trouble controlling his/her bladder in particular situations it might be a problem of submissive peeing or excitement peeing (see Submissive Peeing and Excitement Peeing).

House Breaking a Puppy

1) Keep it small. The smaller area you confine your puppy to the faster he will learn. Many people confine their puppy to a laundry room or kitchen with newspapers. If your puppy is able to run around the entire house he will find a quiet corner and do his business there. Most likely without confining your puppy he will learn that he should just not do it while you are around. However remember it is important for your puppy psychologically to not leave him alone for long periods of time (see section on Socialization). Occasionally using your crate (see Crate Training) is a great way to teach bladder control. A puppy will never want to go where he sleeps or in an area that isn't off to the side so he will hold it as long as he can.

2) Don't confuse your puppy. An important thing you should know is that most dogs in the world today will NOT UNDERSTAND if you find the feces after they've defecated and then proceed to yell at them. If you walk into a room and find a big pile of you-know-what, DO NOT try to punish your puppy. You will only confuse your puppy and prolong the learning process and house training.

3) Take your puppy outside as often as possible. In the first few weeks this might be every 20-40 minutes. Take your puppy outside a short while after he eats, drinks, plays, naps, sleeps and so on. If your puppy won't go outside and you know he needs to then you will just have to wait until he goes. He can't hold forever and when you reward him he'll catch on fast.

4) Reward. Have a treat (see Treats and Rewards) ready when you go outside. As soon as your puppy does his business where you want him to immediately take out a treat he loves and give it to him. Give him lots of attention and even play with him after. Once he learns you want him to go outside don't give him any attention after you take him outside until he does his business. The last thing you want to do is stop play time after he goes in the grass. The more good that happens after he does it the faster and easier he will learn. This will be the primary way to get your puppy doing it where you want.

5) Negatively Reinforce. If you catch your puppy while he is doing it inside firmly yell "NO!" in a tone sharp enough for your puppy to understand that you are not happy. Ignore your puppy for the next few minutes and clean it up. Remember not to physically hurt your dog as this will lead to psychological problems like fear and aggression (see Fear and Aggression).

6) Clean it up well. Don't just clean what you can see, make sure there is absolutely no smell to your puppy (keeping in mind his smell is several times stronger than our own!). If your puppy smells feces or urine in an area he will likely go in the same place again. I highly recommend using vinegar to get the scent out. I find puppies do not like the smell of vinegar and that it is strong enough to completely mask any other smell.

7) Control his water and food. Don't give him water a whole 2 hours before bed time and if you see him drinking a lot you know it's coming real soon. He will always have to go within 30 minutes of eating. As he ages he will only need to go in the morning and after eating dog food (see Dog Food) and eventually just once or twice a day.

8) Expect and catch accidents. As you let your puppy go free in new areas of the house there are likely going to be accidents. Catching him in the act is important so keep an eye on him.

9) The process gets easier as your puppy gets older. Every few weeks that pass mean your puppy can hold it that much longer. Eventually you will develop a routine of letting your puppy outside about three times a day to go. If you let your dog out regularly you may not even notice when he goes. Also, taking your dog for walks and getting the body moving usually leads to doing his business. If you want you can train your puppy to "ask" to go outside. All you have to do is open the door whenever he goes near it. The first few times he will just coincidentally be walking by and you will do it. Eventually he will learn that walking up to the door means that you are likely to open it.

10) Your puppy should be able to sleep through the night without going. However this is not necessarily true for all dogs. Take him outside right before you put him to sleep (ideally in his crate-- see Crate Training) and IMMEDIATELY in the morning. Some dogs might need to be let out to go pee in the middle of the night while they are very young. However don't do this for him as he gets older as he will never learn proper bladder control. If you find an accident in the crate in the morning make sure you clean it up as best you can.

There are also pads that you can train your dog to do his business on. If you have a smaller breed this can work out well but for larger breeds training pads first and then training to do it outside is more difficult than the way mentioned above.

One of the methods that is discouraged is shoving your dogs face into urine or feces. Although this is the old school way of doing it, it can lead to your dog fearing you, psychological problems and it is quite possible your dog will think putting his face into feces and urine is acceptable.

House breaking and bite training (see Biting) are usually the two biggest and most difficult stages of owning a puppy. Keep focused, persevere and remember what's been said here and one day you'll probably be able to laugh about it.