Puppy House Training

When you first get your new puppy, the most basic rule that you will need to teach her is where to eliminate. Training your puppy to eliminate outside the home and not in it, will usually begin between about six to eight weeks of age.

As with any form of puppy training, the two most important factors are the puppy’s temperament and the patience of the trainer. Where the usual 'Sit' and 'Stay' commands can be learnt in days, potty training usually takes from weeks to months.

Methods of House Training

To begin your puppy house training regime, the first thing to look out for is what your puppy does naturally when she is just about to eliminate. A lot of dogs will circle round and round over the area that they are just about to eliminate or may stoop into a half squat or full squat.

When you see this behavior, pick the puppy up and take her outside to where you want her to eliminate in the future. This will become the 'potty area'. More often than not, your puppy will eliminate soon after you place her down. As soon as the puppy starts to eliminate, say in a loud voice (but not angry or aggressive) "Go Potty" or whatever command you feel comfortable with.

When your puppy has finished, a lot of praise is needed to reinforce the behavior. It may take your puppy a while to link the voice command "Go Potty" to the actual process of going outside to eliminate. Eventually though it will sink in. Try and be patient.

One very important thing to remember is to NEVER punish your puppy for urinating or defecating in the house. This is probably because you didn't spot when your puppy wanted to go, so is as much your fault as the puppies'. Your puppy will not associate the act of eliminating inside the house with the punishment and will serve only to build a feeling of distrust between you both. At this time only patience and a lot of praise will prevail.

Young puppies will need to eliminate approximately every 2-3 hours. If your puppy hasn't been for this long, take her outside and put her where she normally goes. If after 5 minutes the puppy still has not eliminated, take her back indoors BUT keep an eye on her. As soon as she shows the signs, take her straight outside with the voice command followed by lots of praise when she has finished.

You can use a feeding schedule to help with your puppy house training. You may notice that your puppy will tend to want to eliminate shortly after waking, and also about 30 minutes after having a meal. If you make sure that you feed the puppy at the same times every day, you will be able to predict when your puppy needs to eliminate. If you need to leave the house for any reason, plan around these times so that you are always there when your puppy needs to go.

Other Housebreaking Methods

An alternative method of house training your puppy, is paper and/or crate training. It is possible to train your puppy to go on a newspaper or a specially treated chemical mat designed specifically for this purpose. These are more often used with small breeds that will rarely leave the house.

Although convenient for some dog owners, these do have their downside. With newspaper training, the newspaper will quickly create an unpleasant smell around the home. Also because you are letting your dog eliminate inside the home, your dog will find this preferable to going outside. If your dog misses the mat or newspaper, or decides to go somewhere else, there will also be a mess to clean up. Following this, your dog may seek out that spot because it has become 'its place' to go.

Using this method of house training your puppy needs careful consideration.

In summary, lots of praise, heaps of patience and a good relationship with your puppy are the key to house training your puppy successfully. The hard work put in now, will pay off in the future.

For more information on house training and housebreaking your dog, take a look at this article.