Housebreaking a New Puppy
How to Train Your Puppy to Go Outside on Cue to Urinate and Defecate
Apr 4, 2009
Housebreaking a puppy is the process of teaching the puppy to go outdoors to urinate and defecate. Housebreaking puppies is time-consuming, but is fairly easy to accomplish if you are consistent in your training techniques.
How to Start Housebreaking Your Puppy
Start by providing your puppy with a "safe place" where he can stay when you are not able to supervise him. A crate works well for this purpose. You can also use a small, unused room in your home. Barricade the doorway with a baby gate. Don't use a closed door to keep your puppy in his "safe place".
Your puppy will be spending a lot of time in this "safe place" so make certain it is large enough for him to be able to stand up, turn around and curl up to sleep. He needs to be comfortable here.
In the early stages of the housebreaking process, your puppy will need to be placed in the "safe place" when you cannot directly watch and supervise him. This is so that you can see what he is doing and can interrupt him and take him outside if you see him beginning to urinate or defecate in the house.
You will need to make a point of taking your puppy outside very often in the beginning. Choose an area in your yard where you prefer your puppy to get used to urinating and defecating. Take your puppy to this spot often and always make certain you have your puppy's favorite treats with you.
When you see your puppy relieve himself outside, give a treat immediately. The idea is to teach your puppy that he will get rewarded for this behavior. So be consistent in the beginning and always be generous with the treats to start.
You can also start teaching your puppy to urinate or defecate on your command by saying something like "go pee, Spot" or "potty now". Soon your puppy will begin to associate the act of urinating and defecating with receiving treats and will also soon realize that when you say "potty now", you wish him to perform his duties, after which he will receive a treat.
When Housebreaking a Puppy, How Often Should the Puppy be Taken Outside?
The more often you can take your puppy outside, the more chances you will get to reward your puppy for appropriate behavior and the faster your dog will become housebroken.
Try to take your puppy outside at least once per hour at first during the hours that you are at home and not sleeping. As you get to know your puppy, you will start to get a feel for his personal schedule and the signals that will tell you that your puppy may need to relieve himself.
When you do see your puppy start to urinate or defecate inside, pick him up immediately or leash him and take him outside to his potty area.
Make sure you take your puppy outside as soon as he wakes in the morning. You also need to take him outside before you put him to bed in the evening.
Following a regular feeding schedule for your puppy will help make it easier for you to housebreak your puppy as well. By feeding on a regular schedule, you can start to learn your puppy's bowel and urine habits in relation to his meal time and get a better idea for when he will need to be taken outdoors. A regular feeding schedule will help keep your puppy's bowel habits on a regular schedule also.
In addition, feeding a high quality puppy diet will help keep your puppy's stool firm and healthy so that he does not have accidents in the house due to loose bowels. Along the same line of reasoning, making sure your puppy does not have any intestinal parasites will aid in the housebreaking of your puppy also.
When Your Puppy Urinates or Defecates in the House
If your puppy has an accident during housebreaking and relieves himself in the house, do not punish him. Punishing him will only confuse him and make him apprehensive. Realize that the fault is yours because you were not watching your puppy when he had the accident and you did not see the signals that he needed to go outdoors.
To clean the mess, move your puppy to his "safe place" and clean the mess without any fanfare. Make certain that you use an enzymatic cleaner to clean any urine so that no odor remains to attract your puppy back to the area.
How Long Does Housebreaking a Puppy Take?
Most puppies are not mature enough to be able to gain control over their urine and bowels until at least 4 months of age and some puppies take longer.
Puppies learn at different rates, just like people do. Keep following the steps outlined above and be patient and persistent. Your puppy will learn eventually and be housebroken before you know it.
