The Best Way to Housebreak Puppies



There are two things a new puppy owner can do to make housebreaking go as quickly and smoothly as possible:

Schedules are important to dogs; they thrive on routine. Whenever possible, feed, water, play with and take your puppy outside at around the same times every day. It is important to remember that puppies have to go outside after playing, after waking up from a nap, and within a few minutes of eating and drinking. If you see your pup circling and sniffing the floor, he is looking for a place to go. Get him outside quick!


Young puppies cannot hold it the way an older dog can, so they will have to go outside several times a day and usually at least once in the night for the first few weeks. We recommend taking away food and water 2-3 hours before you go to bed. Take the pup outside just before you go to bed and give him plenty of time to do his business. Then put him in his crate. By picking up the food and water earlier, you will be able to make sure that he has cleared everything out before bed, and he will be more likely to make it through the night without having to go out. Then first thing when you get up in the morning, out he goes again. When you take your pup outside, don’t assume he’s done after he urinates once. Puppies will often urinate several times and defecate one or two times, each time they go outside. So if you bring him back in to soon, he may have an accident in the house because he wasn’t finished.


We also strongly recommend using a command, such as “go potty” or “go outside”. Whenever the dog does his business outside, praise him lavishly and tell him “good outside!” If he does have an accident in the house and you are able to catch him in the act, show this is inappropriate by giving him a firm verbal correction of “phooey outside!” as you scoop him up and head for the door. Then immediately take him outside and when he finishes what he was doing, again praise lavishly with “good outside!” In this way, the puppy will quickly learn that by doing his business outdoors he gets praise, while doing it inside garners your displeasure. The potty command also has the advantage that within no time the dog will associate the word with his actions. Using this method, by the time our dogs are only a few months old we are able to tell them “hurry up outside” and if they are just sniffing and playing around, they will get down to business. When they are restless in the house, we can ask them “do you have to go outside?” and if they do, they will go to the door.


In addition to trying to keep the pup on a schedule and using a potty command, have a crate for the puppy and keep him in it when you cannot supervise him. Dogs are den animals and like their wolf ancestors will naturally seek out a quiet and secure space to call their own and to retire to when they want peace and quiet. If a dog does not have a crate, he will still seek out such a place, often under the table or in a closet. Crates simply provide the dog with a safe spot that is his.


Dogs also have an instinct not to soil where they sleep, and this is why crates work so well for helping teach housebreaking as they work with the dog's natural instincts to have a den and not to soil it. When it is time to play with or train the puppy, immediately take him outside after letting him out of his crate. Then when he’s done, bring him back in for play. In this manner, the puppy never has the opportunity to make a mistake in the house because he himself will try not to go in his crate, and the first opportunity he has to go when he gets out of his crate is outside.


Not only are crates invaluable as housebreaking aids, they also keep puppies safely confined when they cannot be supervised. This avoids damage to your belongings from a rampaging, chewing puppy and also keeps the puppy safe from possible household dangers. Whenever you cannot supervise the puppy, it is best to keep him in his crate.


For housebreaking, we recommend the plastic airline crates over the wire ones. While people often prefer the wire crates because they feel the dog should be able to see everything that is going on around him, dogs seem to prefer the plastic ones for the reason that they are more enclosed and den-like. They allow ample ventilation and do allow the dog to see out if he wants to, while providing a greater sense of security for the dog. The same thing can be accomplished by throwing a blanket over a metal crate, but many puppies will just chew up the blanket. The plastic crates are also quieter when the dog moves around inside and have the added advantage of keeping dog hair and any accidental messes confined, rather than all over the walls and floor outside the crate.


Whichever crate you choose, it is important that the puppy have only enough room inside to turn around in. When he lies down, he should fill up most of the space. If he has too much room so that the crate does not feel sufficiently enclosed and den-like, many puppies will sleep in one corner and use the extra space as their bathroom. Rather than buying several crates to accommodate the puppy as it grows, you can purchase a crate that will be large enough for the puppy when it is an adult and partition it off, gradually increasing the size of the area he has access to as he grows. Many crate manufacturers make crate partitions for this purpose, and you can also use plastic milk crates or anything else you can think of that will fill the extra space while being relatively destruction proof.


Most puppies and dogs will not take to the crate immediately, and may whine for a day or two when put in it. The important thing to remember is not to give in. If the puppy starts to cry, take him out of the crate and immediately take him outside. If he doesn’t do anything after several minutes, take him back in and put him back in his crate. Only take him out for playtime or training when he is being quiet. This teaches him that crying is not the way escape puppy prison or to get attention, it only gets him a chance to go to the bathroom. Before long, the pup will be quiet when in the crate and will only cry if he has to go outside. Providing toys for the puppy to play with, and feeding him in his crate, will help make it a more enjoyable, comfortable place and will also make his desire not to soil it even stronger.


The absolute key to success with housebreaking is not to allow the puppy to ever eliminate in the house. Crates help with this because the puppy will do his own part and try his best to avoid soiling his crate. Proper supervision when he is out of his crate and catching him and getting him outside when he shows signs of having to go will cut down on the chance that he will eliminate in the house. If the puppy does have an accident in the house, it should be cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner made specifically for pet messes, such as Simple Solution or Nature's Miracle. These are available at most pet stores. Regular soap and carpet cleaners will not do the job. While they may remove the stain, even more important is to remove the odor. Dogs are extremely scent oriented and have much better senses of smell than humans. The dog may be able to smell urine or feces on the floor, even if you can’t, and they will instinctively eliminate in a place where they can smell that it has been done before. Enzymatic cleaners created for this purpose will remove all scent of the accident, thus eliminating the possible trigger for the puppy to do it again. Likewise, if the puppy has an accident in his crate, the crate should be cleaned immediately. If regularly left to wallow in the mess, young dogs can lose their natural aversion to soiling where they sleep and will become extremely difficult to housebreak and crate train.


It is important to remember that if a puppy has an accident in the house, it is not his fault. It is the owner’s fault. If the puppy is properly supervised, he shouldn’t have the opportunity to eliminate in the house. As soon as you seen him circling and sniffing at the floor, get him outside immediately. If he starts to cry in his crate after being quiet, get him outside because he has to go. Soon you will learn your own puppy's individual signals and body rhythms and this will make it easier for you to predict when he will have to go and get him outside before he has an accident. All of this will help him build the right habits of only going potty outside, and letting you know when he has to go. And as dogs are creatures of habit, this habit forming is the surest way to reliable housebreaking.