Tips on Housebreaking Your Puppy

Puppies respond well to a firm schedule.

When you housebreak a puppy, you are teaching it to signal when it needs to go outdoors to relieve itself. While the process does involve a few accidents, it is on the whole a fairly straightforward endeavor. It is important to remember that different puppies learn at different rates. Be consistent when you are training your puppy, because your puppy wants to please you. Housebreaking a puppy does not have to be a frustrating endeavor.

Praise Your Puppy

When your puppy relieves itself in an appropriate place, praise it. While the puppy does not know what it is being praised for at first, it does know that it likes the praise. Eventually, it will begin to associate the praise, the action and the location. While it is important to tell your puppy "no" if you catch it relieving itself where it should not, also give it positive reinforcement when it acts well.

Understand when the Puppy Is Going to Relieve Itself

While you can spot a puppy that is going to relieve itself by watching it sniff around at corners or the floor, also be aware of the times when a puppy is most likely going to need to relieve itself. Puppies will likely need to relieve themselves first thing in the morning, after any meal or snack, after an intense bout of play and right before they go to sleep. Take the puppy out during these key times to prevent accidents.

Ignore Excitement Urination

Some puppies urinate when they become excited. For example, a puppy might urinate when it is introduced to a new dog or when someone new comes into the house. This is not the same as the puppy relieving itself, and this impulse is out of the dog's control. Do not punish the puppy for urinating in this fashion, and clean up the mess. This is a stage that the puppy will grow out of.

Come Up with a Schedule and Stick to It

To reinforce the concepts of housebreaking to your puppy, keep it on a strict schedule. Get up at the same time every day, feed it at the same times and take it out at the same times. Dogs respond well to routine, and the routine comforts them and gives them security. The puppy knows what is going to happen and when, and it will not be stressed or confused as to what is going on.

References

• Pet Education: Puppy Housetraining
• Humane Society of the United States: Housetraining Puppies