How to Housebreak a Puppy in 10 Days or Less

A lot of my clients ask me if their puppies could be housetrained in 10 days or less. I tell them, "Yes, it can be done"--and my answer to you is the same--as long as you follow the steps in this article.

Things You'll Need

• Leash
• Collar
• Treats
• Crate
• Patience

Instructions

1. Put your puppy on a feeding schedule, but don't follow the feeding instructions on the puppy food bag. Most instruct you to feed your puppy four times a day. This makes it almost impossible to housebreak a puppy. Your puppy has a very short digestive tract, and by being fed four times a day your puppy will constantly have to relieve himself. I always feed my puppies twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening.

2. Find a quality dry puppy food. Canned puppy food is about 80 percent water, which can work like a laxative on your puppy, setting your puppy up to fail. To housebreak a puppy in 10 days or less, we have to focus on setting your puppy up for success.

3. Start using a crate. As stated previously, we have to set your puppy up for success, not failure. By giving your puppy too much unsupervised freedom in the house, you are setting your puppy up for failure. Puppies generally do not pee or poop in a crate; therefore, when you cannot watch your puppy, confine your puppy to the crate, and when you can keep an eye on your puppy you can let her out. Without a crate, you are almost guaranteed to come home and find that your puppy has had some accidents.

4. Baby gates are also excellent tools to keep your puppy in the room with you. By always keeping an eye on your puppy, you'll be able to catch your puppy in the act. Since we are trying to set your puppy up for success, an even better thing to do is take your puppy out before he has an accident.

5. When you bring your puppy outside, make sure that you always stay with your puppy. You need to be right there to positively reinforce your puppy for going in the right place. Just as you have to catch your puppy in the act of making a mistake, you have to be there to reward your puppy for doing the right behavior.

6. If you and everyone else in your house can be consistent, if your puppy is put on a feeding schedule, if you can catch your puppy in the act of making a mistake and if you reward your puppy for going outside, you'll be able to housebreak your puppy a very short period of time. Good luck!

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure everyone in the house is consistent with the training.

• Get my FREE Report: "7 Biggest Housetraining Mistakes and How To Avoid Them!" (see Resources below).

• Don't train when you are stressed or tired.

• Puppies under 9 weeks should not be crated, because they need to eliminate very frequently. Older puppies shouldn't be crated for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time.

Resources

• Get the Free Report