Comments on How to House-Train a Puppy

Although I disagree with the tip about locking your puppy in a room after an accident, a balance of punishment and reward must be achieved to properly house-train a puppy. We used puppy pads to train our puppy, and I strongly recommend them. It saves a lot of headache, especially in extensively carpeted homes.

Tie a bell on the door your pup will be going out. When you take the pup out to go to the bathroom, have him hit the bell. After awhile, the pup will ring the bell when he wants to go out to use the bathroom. I had my lab trained in 3 weeks using this.

Put bells on your door, and the dog will learn to ring them when it has to go.

Do not put water in the crate. This encourages the pup to eliminate. Do not put paper or a towel in the crate. This will soak up the urine and defeat the purpose. Until Buddy is trained, put nothing in the crate except maybe a Kong.

Whenever our new puppy messed in the house, we put him in a bedroom and closed the door to punish him. He didn't like being isolated and soon learned that the reason he was being put into a room all alone was because he had done wrong.

While housebreaking our Jack Russell we tied a large jingle bell from the doorknob by a long cord easily within her reach. Each time we took her out we rang the bell. She quickly learned bell rings = go out & now rings it herself when she wants to go.

Never discipline your puppy sharply for messing in the house. It is your fault for not taking him/her out enough or watching closely enough. New puppies are too young to be subjected to harsh punishment, and they don't understand what they did wrong.

I have found that "Puppy Training Pads" work. These pads can be found in any pet store, and they carry a special scent that draws the puppy to them when he needs to eliminate. I've never trained a dog so easily.

Take your puppy out at the same time each day. Reward with a "good dog" and a treat when he eliminates outside. Ignore accidents and don't clean up in front of the puppy. Reinforce good behavior with praise and treats.

Make sure that your puppy is old enough to be housebroken. So many make the mistake of trying to housebreak a puppy at 6-8 weeks old. Puppies are like humans - you wouldn't expect to potty-train a 6 month old. Most puppies aren't able to fully control their functions until they are around 16 weeks old. Be patient! Crate training (starting at around 12 weeks) works great. In the meantime, I put the crate inside a child's playpen. This gives them some room to play, and a quiet place to sleep.

Although I disagree with the tip about locking your puppy in a room after an accident, a balance of punishment and reward must be achieved to properly house-train a puppy. We used puppy pads to train our puppy, and I strongly recommend them. It saves a lot of headache, especially in extensively carpeted homes.

Our puppy is about 5 months old and he'll use the puppy pad, but that thing about puppies not messing up where they sleep isn't true! He uses the bathroom on the pad and anywhere else, even if we take him outside.

I have a Chihuahua and I know that punishment and rewards are keys to housebreaking pets. If you completely ignore your pet's accidents and just clean them up, they think that it's alright. Rewards must always be given when eliminating is where it's supposed to be. I took people's advice and didn't punish my dog for eliminating wherever in the house, but my dog didn't actually get the idea until I tried punishment! Do not go overboard and abuse your pets. There is a fine line between punishment and abuse. Always have patience. Make sure your dog is getting the proper attention because if not, they will purposely do things like eliminate in the house or tear up your couch. Love, patience, rewards, and punishment are all you need.

Be consistent! It's up to you to attain your puppy's success. Have lots and lots of patience and don't get mad at him if he has an accident every once in a while. After all, we all make mistakes - it's a part of learning!

Don't hit a dog to make him sit. Be nice to him and say "Sit," while pushing his butt down gently. Repeat the word 'sit' 3-4 times. Some of you would give a reward now. Don't. The dog will think that pushing his butt down is part of the command. After you have repeated the actions for 30 minutes or so, leave for 20-30 minutes. When you return, go to a different area and repeat the 'sit' command. At the end of the day, once the dog understands, give him a reward. I would suggest teaching your dog 2 words a week.

Take your puppy out at the same time each day. Reward with a "good dog" and a treat when he eliminates outside. Ignore accidents and don't clean up in front of the puppy. Reinforce good behavior with praise and treats.

Your dog shouldn't be trained by sticking its nose in its poop. That teaches it that you are mean to it.

Tie a bell on string, hang on knob of door. Each time you take dog out, make dog ring bell with nose even if have to help dog ring. Say "OUT? OUT?" at same time you ring bell. Encourage to ring bell alone. Must do potty! Praise if rings bell!

After our puppy eliminates outside, we gently pull her toward the door (she likes to mess around outside, and we don't want that yet) while happily saying "Good girl!" over and over. Once inside, we give her a small treat. It works like a charm!

Make sure that your puppy is old enough to be housebroken. So many make the mistake of trying to housebreak a puppy at 6-8 weeks old. Puppies are like humans - you wouldn't expect to potty-train a 6 month old. Most puppies aren't able to fully control their functions until they are around 16 weeks old. Be patient! Crate training (starting at around 12 weeks) works great. In the meantime, I put the crate inside a child's playpen. This gives them some room to play, and a quiet place to sleep.

Never discipline your puppy sharply for messing in the house. It is your fault for not taking him/her out enough or watching closely enough. New puppies are too young to be subjected to harsh punishment, and they don't understand what they did wrong.

While housebreaking our Jack Russell we tied a large jingle bell from the doorknob by a long cord easily within her reach. Each time we took her out we rang the bell. She quickly learned bell rings = go out & now rings it herself when she wants to go.

When you are training a puppy, make sure any other pets you might have, especially other dogs, are not around. A puppy is easily distracted and influenced.

The fastest and best way to toilet train a puppy is in a wire crate with a metal pan base. Do not use a crate with a pan UNDER the wire bottom of the crate. No matter how large the crate is, section it off so that he has only enough room to lie down.

Every puppy I know that was house-trained without punishment for eliminating in the house took longer and was not trained as well. A GENTLE rap with a magazine or paper reinforces that they were wrong, but I agree that praise should be the main tactic.