House Training Tips For Your New Puppy

The Ultimate House Training Guide

It's a good idea to spend a little preparation time when a new puppy joins your family.

If you equip yourself with some knowledge and a good attitude, the ordeal of house training will be much easier.

When you get your new puppy home, take her out and let her do her thing. The excitment of the car ride, along with all the new sights and sounds, will have her needing to go anyway. Besides, if you can get her first potty break to be outside instead of inside, so much the better.

Take her to your designated toilet area and put her down.

Let her sniff around. Don't pet her or play with her while she is doing this. She will associate this area with play and you don't want that. You want her to learn that this area is for toilet breaks only.

When she starts to go, say a phrase that you want her to associate with with toilet breaks. "Go pee" or "potty time". The phrase should be short and recognizable to your dog. Use the same tone of voice each time you say this phrase.

When she is finished, shower her with praise and make a big deal that she "went". Give her a treat, too.

When you take her inside, your house training should begin immediately.

Crate training is generally accepted to be the most effective and efficient means of house training a puppy in a short space of time.

Crate training is the use of a small indoor kennel, used to confine your dog when you are not actively supervising her.

Crate training is based on the fact that all dogs dislike soiling the area in which they sleep. Because you have restricted your dog's movements to her sleeping area, she will hold it until you let her out (as long as you don't leave her in there too long).

Make sure the crate(kennel) isn't too big. If she can move to one end comfortably to go, she will. That would defeat the whole purpose of crate training.

As a general guideline, it’s more cost-effective for you to choose a crate that’s big enough for her to grow into. It should be big enough for the adult dog to stand up comfortably without crouching, turn around in, and stretch out – but no bigger (so that she doesn’t choose one part as her bed, and one part as her toilet!)

If your crate is too large, use a barrier to reduce the inside area. A board or wire grill will work.

Crate training works like this... your puppy is in that crate at all times unless she’s sleeping, eating, outside with you going to the toilet, or being played with.

Be consistent. Don't let your puppy wonder around the house un-supervised.

If you allow her access to the house before she’s thoroughly house trained, you’re basically encouraging her to relieve herself inside – and remember, each time she does this, it’ll be easier for her to do it again (and again … and again …).

Here's a little schedule you might try. Change the times to fit your schedule:

7am- Wake up. Puppy comes outside with you for a toilet break.

7:25- Breakfast time.

7:45- Back outside for another toilet break (accompanied by you, of course.)

7:50 – 8:45- Play-time! Puppy is out of the crate being actively played with, cuddled, etc.

8:45- Outside for another toilet break.

8:50 – 11:00- Puppy goes back in the crate for a nap.

11:00 am- Puppy comes outside with you for a toilet break.

11:05 – 12:30- Playtime! Puppy is out of the crate being played with and petted.

12:30- Lunch time.

12:45- Puppy comes outside with you for a toilet break.

1:00 – 3:30- Puppy goes back in the crate for a nap.

… and so on throughout the day.

Crate training usually takes one to two months. Reduce the time she spends in the crate as she gets older.

Your puppy won't enjoy being in the crate at first. She'll want to be out with you getting a lot of attention. But don't give in even if she cries. Soon she will come to see her crate as her own little haven where she gets to relax and sleep un-interupted.

Make sure you put your puppy's crate where most of your household activity is. Even though she is in the crate, she needs to feel like part of the family. Don't isolate her.

Lay some blankets and a chew toy or two in the crate and leave the door open when she's not in it.

Here's a couple of toilet facts about puppies that might come in handy:

Puppies’ bladders and bowels are so small and weak that they have only a very small window of opportunity between knowing that they need to go, and having that need become an immediate reality. Because of this, it’s important that you take her outside as soon as she wakes up (she’ll let you know she needs to go out by pawing the door and whining), and within ten minutes of eating or playing.

Behaviors that show she needs to go outside include sniffing the ground and circling. Again, because she’s only little, she won’t show these warning signs for very long. So as soon as she starts, take her out straight away. Better an unnecessary trip to the yard than an unnecessary wet patch (or pile) on the carpet!

The maximum amount of time that a puppy can be crated at one time is figured out using the following equation: her age in months, plus one. So, a three-month old puppy can be crated for a maximum of four hours. However, this is likely to be physically pretty uncomfortable for her (not to mention hard on her emotionally and psychologically: it’s tough being cramped up with nothing to do), so you should really take her out at least once every two hours during the day. If she’s sleeping, of course, just let her sleep until she wakes up naturally.

 For a ton of information about house training your dog, get a copy of The Ultimate House Training Guide.