Village Veterinary Hospital, P. C. / K9 Housetraining

Housetraining Your Puppy

Housetraining can be a very rewarding or a very frustrating experience. While there are several different strategies to use in effectively housetraining your puppy, the key to all of them is consistency! Everyone in the household must follow the same rules and use the same commands so that your puppy will not become confused and will more easily learn what is expected. Here are some of the tips and strategies that will be helpful during this important phase:

Remember that puppies have a smaller bladder capacity and less control than adult dogs so they will need to eliminate more frequently.

Most dogs should be fairly well housetrained by 6-8 months of age, but remember that there is some variability between breeds and individuals.

Puppies should be taken outside every 2 hours if possible. They should also be walked immediately upon waking up from a nap, after busy play, before bed and 20-30 minutes after eating. Don’t wait for your puppy to “tell” you that it’s time to go out since many dogs will never do this.

When taking the puppy outside, use the same door every time to avoid confusion and always accompany the puppy on every trip so that you can immediately reward appropriate elimination.

Walk your puppy to a specific part of the yard and give a set command such as “go potty.” Everyone should use the same command and immediate praise should be given when the puppy eliminates. You may also add a treat intermittently.

Remember that dogs will often need to walk around and smell the ground before going to the bathroom and you may need to allow 15-20 minutes for this. Do not play with your puppy until it has finished. Play and longer walks should be saved for afterwards as a reward. Do not bring your puppy right back inside after it eliminates or the dog may learn to “hold it” so that it has more time to play and will end up eliminating on the floor when it is back inside.

Do not use puppy training mats or newspaper to housetrain young puppies. This is tempting but should be avoided if possible because it can be more difficult to teach a dog that it is not appropriate to eliminate in the house if they have been allowed to do so in the past on papers. If the puppy is left for long periods of time during the day and paper training is necessary, there are ways to transition your dog over to eliminating outside. The papers should be moved slowly, a few inches at a time, toward the door. Once the dog will use the papers just inside the door, the papers should be moved just outside the door and gradually to an acceptable area on the lawn.

Young puppies will have occasional accidents in the house no matter how diligent you are. When these accidents occur, resist the temptation to physically punish the puppy or to rub its nose in it. If you catch the puppy in the act, quickly say “NO” in a loud voice in order to interrupt the behavior and then immediately take the puppy outside. You may want to keep a towel handy to put under the puppy’s bottom to stop any urine or stool from leaking out. If you find a pile or puddle in the house, but did not catch the puppy in the act, clean the spot well with an odor-eliminating cleaner and then ignore it. The “guilty look” that puppies exhibit when owners are upset with them is a response to the owner’s tone and body language. They do not make the connection that the pile on the floor from an hour ago is the reason for your displeasure.

If a puppy is having difficulty housetraining in spite of the above strategies, another training option is “umbilical cord training.” The puppy is kept on a lightweight leash and is physically attached to the owner at all times. Wherever the owner goes in the house, the puppy goes. Most puppies do not want to eliminate in front of the owners, so this discourages the behavior. This also gives the owner an immediate chance to correct the behavior if it occurs or to take the puppy outside when it indicates an urgency to go.