How to Housetrain Puppies

Housetraining a puppy is essential to a successful lifelong relationship with your dog. Housetraining involves several steps, including the careful supervision of a puppy, and restricting the puppy to certain areas of your home until the dog is housetrained.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dog crate
• Leash
• Time and patience

1. Put your dog on a regular schedule. It is easy to housetrain puppies if you know when the dog is going to have to go to the bathroom. Dogs usually have to use the bathroom immediately after playing, sleeping or eating. The best way to housetrain a puppy is to get them used to doing all of these activities at the same time, and thus needing to go potty and the same time.

2. Take your dog outside at regular intervals. When you housetrain your puppy, you need to make sure the dog has access to the outside at the times when he is most likely to need the bathroom. If you take your dog outside 20 minutes after you feed it, or right after the dog eats or plays, your dog will be more likely to go to the bathroom outside and it will take less time for your dog to learn. Since the number one question most homeowners have is "how long to housetrain a puppy?", establishing a schedule fast can make life easier for both you and your dog.

3. Begin to recognize the signs that your puppy needs to go. Housetraining puppies involves knowing when the dog is going to use the bathroom and getting them outside to do so. Many dogs will circle before going to the bathroom, or paw at the floor or sniff the floor. Watch what your dog does before he uses the bathroom. The better you know your dog, the easier it will be to housetrain your puppy.

4. Provide plenty of praise. Housetraining puppies is easy if you have cooperative and happy dogs. When your dog uses the bathroom outside, immediately give him or her a treat. Dogs like to please their owners. If your dog understands that he is supposed to go outside, he will want to become a housetrained puppy in order to make you happy.

5. Only correct if you catch your dog in the act. A dog who is punished for going potty in the house after the fact won't understand what he is being punished for. He may think that he is punished for going potty at all. Since dogs need to go potty, the puppy may begin to hide in the house to go potty. Creating a dog who hides is not the best way to housetrain a puppy. If you catch your dog while he is going potty in the house, immediately correct your dog with a firm now. Take him outside immediately, and when he goes to the bathroom outside, praise him enthusiastically.

6. Clean up accidents thoroughly. Dogs go to the bathroom in places where they have already gone to the bathroom because they like to mark their area. Use Nature's Miracle or another cleaner specifically designed to clean up accidents to discourage this. Houstraining puppies is much easier if they don't have incentives to go inside.

Tips & Warnings

• Your main concern shouldn't be how long does it take to housetrain a puppy. This is the first training experience most owners have with their dogs, and can build the foundation for lifelong learning. Housetraining your puppy should be a bonding experience where you and your dog learn to communicate with each other
• Supervising your dog at all times during the housetraining process is the best way to housetrain a puppy. If you can't supervise your dog at all times, put your dog in a crate when you can't be with him. Most dog won't go to the bathroom in the crate because they view it as their den, so this will cut down on puppy housetraining problems.