Housetraining Your Puppy

Housetraining a puppy requires time and patience. Following the guidelines below, you can minimize house soiling incidents, but every puppy will have one or more accidents in the house – it’s part of raising a puppy. The more consistent you are in following the basic housetraining procedures, the faster your puppy will learn and it may only take several weeks not months!

Routine! Routine! Routine!

Like babies, puppies do best on a regular schedule. They don't understand English or read but they do pick up very quickly patterns of events and what to expect. Take your puppy outside frequently, at least every two hours, and immediately after he wakes up from a nap, after playing and after eating. Praise your puppy lavishly every time he goes to the toilet outdoors and give him a treat immediatelt he performs so he understands exactly what the praise is for. The praise if for toileting outdoors not for walking back to the house!

Choose a location not too far from the door to be the bathroom spot. Always take your puppy directly to the bathroom spot and take him for a walk or play with him only after he has gone to the toilet. If you clean up an accident in the house, take the soiled rags or paper towels and leave them in the bathroom spot. The smell will help your puppy recognize the area as the place he is supposed to eliminate. You can train your puppy to empty on command by using a word or phrase, like "wee wee's" when he is actually in the process of eliminating. He will eventually associate the word with going to the toilet and you can use this as a command to request he goes empties himself at a tie that is convenient to you both - always handy before car trips!

Keep your puppy on a regular feeding schedule as feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that he’ll need the toilet at consistent times as well. This makes housetraining easier for both of you.

Be Watchful

Don’t give your puppy an opportunity to soil in the house. Watch his behaviour at all times when he is indoors and for cues he is thinking of needing the bathroom such as sniffing around or circling. When you see these signs, immediately take him outside to his bathroom spot. Use your chosen cue words and if he goes, praise him lavishly and reward him with a treat.

Crate Training

When you’re unable to watch your puppy at all times, place newspapers at the farthest point from his sleeping area as dogs will always eliminate as far away as possible from where they sleep. If this is by the doorway that you let him in and out of place the papers to the side so that if he jumps at the door to greet you he doesn't cover his feet in it! If he has used the papers, say nothing, just dispose of them - if he hasn't take take him straight to this toilet spot in the garden and when he does go praise him lavishly.

Oops!

Puppies will have accidents until they learn to control their bowels - it is a learnt bodily function and not something they are born with. As they get older they will learn to control and anticipate the need to go to the toilet.

When you catch your puppy in the act of soiling in the house, do something to interrupt him, like make a startling noise or call his name (be careful not to scare him). Immediately take him to his bathroom spot, praise him and give him a treat if he finishes going to the toilet there. If you find a soiled area, it’s too late to correct him. Do nothing but clean it up. Rubbing your puppy's nose in it, taking him to the spot and scolding him, or any other punishment or discipline, will only make him afraid of you or afraid to go to the toilet in your presence. Animals don’t understand punishment after the fact, even if it’s only seconds later. Punishment will do more harm than good.
Cleaning the soiled area is very important because puppies are highly motivated to continue soiling in areas that smell like urine or faeces.

It’s extremely important that you use the supervision and routine procedures outlined above to minimise the number of accidents. If you allow your puppy to eliminate frequently in the house, he’ll get confused about where he’s supposed to eliminate which will prolong the housetraining process.

Other Types Of House-Soiling Problems

If you’ve consistently followed the housetraining procedures and your puppy continues to eliminate in the house, there may be another reason for his behavior.

Medical Problems: House soiling can often be caused by physical problems such as a urinary tract infection or a parasite infection. Check with your veterinarian to rule out any possibility of disease or illness.

Submissive/Excitement Urination: Some dogs, especially young ones, temporarily lose control of their bladders when they become excited or feel threatened. This usually occurs during greetings, intense play or when they’re about to be punished.

Territorial Urine-Marking: Dogs sometimes deposit urine or faeces, usually in small amounts, to scent-mark their territory. Both male and female dogs do this, and it most often occurs when they believe their territory has been invaded.

Separation Anxiety: Dogs that become anxious when they’re left alone may house soil as a result. Usually, there are other symptoms, such as destructive behavior or vocalisation

Fears Or Phobias: When animals become frightened, they may lose control of their bladder and/or bowels. If your puppy is afraid of loud noises, such as thunderstorms or fireworks, he may house soil when he’s exposed to these sounds.