How To Housetrain Your Puppy Or Adult Dog
Housetraining is teaching your puppy the appropriate place for "pottying" or using the bathroom. When your puppy is first born, his mom takes care of his toilet needs in the whelping area. Later he learns not to soil the "nest" and he toddles off to newspapers or some other area of the room. With a little training from you, he will learn that your home is no place for pottying and he is to go outside.
There are a few basic things you need to know about housetraining your puppy. First, your puppy can't "hold it" for very long when he's young. He will need frequent trips outside. You have to watch your puppy closely when you start housetraining because he won't know what "cues" to give you to let you know that he needs to go outside. Instead, you need to be aware that there are some key times when puppies almost always need to use the bathroom:
- Take puppies outside when they first wake up from a nap.
- Take puppies outside right after they eat or drink.
- Take puppies outside after excited play.
If you catch your puppy at these times, you will avoid many accidents.
To housetrain your puppy you should start by confining your puppy to a "safe" area of your home until he gains more control of his bodily functions. This is an area where it would be easy to mop or clean, such as a linoleum floor in a kitchen. You may want to put up baby gates to keep your puppy in or out of certain rooms of your house. You're not isolating your puppy, but you are keeping him out of rooms where he can get into trouble or do things where you can't watch him. Make sure you spend plenty of time with him. He's a little guy and he craves companionship. You're his family now.
When it's time to go outside, make sure you show your puppy good places for him to go potty. Don't worry if it takes him a while to make a decision. Some puppies wander around and take their time choosing a place. Others rush to a spot. What's important is that you praise him when he does use the bathroom. Make sure he knows that he's done something wonderful in the right spot. The next time you take him out, lead him to the same spot. He will be able to smell the area and remember it. Keep praising him.
If your puppy has an accident in the house, it's useless to punish him. Your puppy forgets about what he's done as soon as it's over. He has no idea why you are punishing him. All he will do is associate you with yelling and screaming or hitting, and that's the last thing you want. If he has an accident, clean it up (preferably with an enzymatic cleaner to remove all traces of the odor - available at pet shops), and try to do a better job of watching him so you can get him outside faster the next time.
It may take a few weeks, or your puppy may be six months old before your housetraining fully takes effect. Puppies have to be able to fully understand what you want, mentally, and they have to be able to physically mature to be able to hold their bladder. You can usually count on a three month old puppy being able to go four hours between bathroom calls; four months/five hours; five months/six hours, etc. So, if you work outside the home all day, you will need some help getting someone to take your puppy out at least once for a bathroom break. They just can't physically hold it all day until they are adults.
Be patient with your puppy. Many dogs end up in the pound each year because people are bad housetrainers. Be persistent and you will be able to housetrain your puppy. Don't give up!