House Training Puppies

House training requires a commitment by the entire family. Puppies need to be given the opportunity to urinate and defecate outside multiple times during the day and night.

Define a small (6x6 foot) area conveniently outside an external door that is the “toilet area”.

Assign one person to be responsible for leading the puppy out on a regular basis to this area to “do their business.” Generally they all need to go out after sleeping, eating or playing times. After they have urinated and/or defecated they should receive dramatic verbal praise combined with a tasty treat.

Puppies up to 5 months of age need to go out to the toilet area every half hour to hour during waking hours. Those 5 month and older need to go out every 2 hours until house trained.

At night time puppies should be in their crate. Generally they do not want to soil their “bedroom” or den. In general, most puppies can wait over night for the number of hours that is equal to their age in months plus one. For example a puppy 4 months old should be able to be accident-free in his crate for 5 straight hours. Therefore, young puppies will initially need to have one or two potty breaks during the night.

If the puppy is free in the house, at least one person needs to be in charge of actively watching the puppy. By using this buddy system, the new family can learn the subtle cues indicating the need to go out as well as keep the new puppy safe. Cues may include whining, fussing, barking, circling, or just sniffing. This is their non-verbal way of telling you—“open the door—I’ve got to go to the bathroom!”.

Do not carry your pup to the toilet area. They really need to learn the way from their perspective which is inches off the ground—not four to six feet off the ground. A great exercise is to get down on the floor and look at your house from inches off the floor. This is a great way to see what hazards you need to remove from their world as this is what they see. They need to learn their way to the toilet area from this perspective.

The fastest way to house train a puppy is to follow the rule----your puppy is in the kennel if he can’t be with you or is in your lap or attached to you so you know what your pup is doing at all times. The Toy breeds and the Terriers are generally the most challenging breeds to house train. Commit early to getting them house trained or you will need to deal with accidents in the house for many years to come. This does not strengthen the human animal bond.

If you are consistent with the buddy system, there may be times when your puppy will begin to urinate or defecate in the house and you catch them in the act. Startle them to get them to stop what they are doing and quickly get them outside to their toilet area. When they have finished, praise as usual. If your puppy does wander out of sight and has an accident in another room, no discipline should be given. Scolding after the fact or rubbing their noses in the mess only prolongs the training process. Simply clean the area well and commit to closer observation in the future.

House training is a learning process for families, not just puppies. If these methods are not successful or if home situations require other options, please let us know. The team at West Hills Animal Hospital is honored to be a part of making the joy of having a new companion a life long success.