How to House Train Your New Puppy

Adopting a new puppy is an incredibly exciting experience. However, house training your puppy can be confusing for both you and your puppy. By establishing a routine early on and following a few easy steps, house training can be a fairly simple and rewarding task.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Before you take your puppy outside for the first time, choose an area in your yard or near your home which you would like to be her designated relief area. This is where you will take your puppy to relieve herself.

2. Your new puppy will need a safe place where she can feel comfortable and at ease when you are not able to supervise her. A crate usually works very well for this purpose. The crate should be large enough to allow your puppy to stand, turn around, and lie down comfortably. You can equip the crate with a dog bed or some soft blankets to make it more enticing for your puppy also.

3. House training your puppy requires complete supervision. Your puppy should be allowed outside of the crate only when you or one of your family members are able to watch her closely. She should not be allowed loose in the house until much later when you are confident she is fully house trained.

4. When you see your puppy starting to have an accident in the house, pick her up quickly and calmly and take her outdoors to her designated relief area. It is important not to yell at or punish her. Doing so can damage the bond you are trying to form with her and make her distrustful of you. Instead, use positive reinforcement by praising her and/or giving her a treat when she relieves herself outdoors.

5. During the time that you are at home and not sleeping, try to take your puppy outdoors to her designated relief area at least every 1-2 hours. In these early stages of house training, it is important to go outdoors with her. This will allow you to praise and reward her with a special treat when she urinates or defecates outdoors. It will also allow you to make sure she stays safe while outdoors.

6. If at all possible, try to avoid leaving your puppy alone during the day for long periods of time without the chance to have a "bathroom break" outdoors. Sometimes this may be unavoidable if you work long hours and no one is home to take care of your puppy. However, using any method that allows or teaches your puppy to urinate or defecate in the house may confuse her and make house training her take longer.

7. Make certain that your puppy is receiving a high quality growth formula puppy food. It is recommended that young puppies are fed at least 3 times daily. A high quality diet will ensure that her stools are well formed and consistent and will help avoid accidents caused by an "upset stomach". It is important that she is fed at the same time each day. This will allow her to start to develop a routine and will make it easier for you to start to determine when she needs to go to her designated relief area to relieve herself.

8. As your puppy grows and matures, you will be able to increase the time between outdoor visits. You will also begin to be more familiar with your puppies signals and will learn to be able to tell when she needs to go outdoors.

9. Eventually, when you are confident your puppy is fully house trained, you can begin letting her loose in the house, first for short periods of time and then longer as you become more confident in her training.

Tips & Warnings

• When you are not able to supervise your puppy, she needs to be in her safe place where she cannot make mistakes. Remember, if your puppy has an accident in the house, it it your fault, not hers. It means you were not paying enough attention to her.
• Puppies do not gain full bladder and bowel control until at least 4 months of age. Some puppies take a bit longer to develop full control, just as some children do. Be patient with your puppy and give her the time she needs to mature.
• If your puppy does have accidents in the house, make sure you clean the spot thoroughly with a bacterial enzyme odor eliminator, such as Nature's Miracle. You can purchase this in most pet stores. You can also use white vinegar if the spot is still wet, but the vinegar won't work well once the spot has dried.
• Making certain your puppy is free of intestinal parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and Giardia, is important also. These parasites can cause loose bowels or diarrhea, making house training more difficult.
• Never punish your puppy by hitting her, rubbing her nose in her mess, yelling at her, or hurting her. This can create more behavior problems, such as a puppy who won't relieve herself in front of you or a puppy who starts to become fearful and defensive. She may start to snap at you or attempt to bite you out of fear of punishment, or she may start to urinate submissively in front of you.
• It is fine to bring your puppy's crate into your bedroom at night if you prefer. However, she needs to learn to be quiet in the crate so that you can sleep. So be careful not to let her out of the crate just because she is making noise.
• If you choose to let your puppy sleep on the bed with you, you should wait to do so until she is fully house trained.

Resources

• Housebreaking Your Puppy

[MrBrett]

on 7/6/2009 Great Article, thx 5's