How To House Train A Puppy – EASILY Potty Train Advice & Tips
Teach Your Puppy to Never Pee or Poop Inside – Ever – How To House Train A Puppy. The PRO’s recommend that we begin house training a puppy when he’s between 11 weeks and 17 weeks old. At that stage, he will have enough control of both his bladder and bowel movements to hold it in.
Short Answer – How To House Train A Puppy:
1.Frequently take your puppy outside – if possible every two hours – always immediately after your Pup wake up, after playing, and very important after drinking and eating.
2.Decide on a Potty Spot outside, and for better control always take your Pup (on a leash) to the same Potty Spot. …
3.Positive Reward – Always thank your Pup when he eliminate outdoors.
4.Feeding Schedule – Put together a regular feeding schedule for Puppy. Whatever your Puppy “take in” on a schedule will also again “come out” on a schedule.
5.Remove the Water Bowl – about two hours before his bedtime you can remove it, this will reduce the likelihood that he need to relieve himself during the night.
- House Training a Puppy Guide – Day 1 to Day 7
- Step-by-step House Training a Puppy Guide
- 1.First Day – House Training Your Puppy Day 1
- 2.Second Day – House Training Your Puppy Day 2 – 3
- 3.Third Day
- 4.Forth Day – Puppy House Training Day 4
- 5.Fifth Day – Puppy House Training Day 5
- 6.Sixth Day – Puppy House Training Day 6 – 7
- 7.Seventh Day
- Summary of House Training a Puppy Guide
- What is the fastest way to house train a puppy?
- Can an 8 week old puppy be potty trained?
- How do you train a puppy to pee and poop outside?
- How do you housebreak a puppy in 5 days?
- How to toilet train a puppy in 7 days
- How to potty train a puppy to go outside
- How to potty train a puppy on pads
- How to potty train a puppy fast
- Puppy potty training schedule
- How long does it take to house train a puppy
- Potty training 9 week old puppy

Take the puppy to the same spot each time to do his business – How To House Train A Puppy
House Training a Puppy Guide – Day 1 to Day 7
The Basic of How Dogs Think and Learn
If you want to succeed in house training a puppy, you need to understand how dogs think and learn.
How To House Train A Puppy… You might be thinking: “It will be cool if there is a device that can convert dog language to human understandable language or vice verse, so that I can communicate better with my dog”. Well, based on the current technology, this is only possible in our dreams.
I may surprise you; the fact is dogs do not think at all! Dogs react or respond through motivation and drive. When dogs feel good about something, they will continue to have that behavior. Ok, maybe dogs do “think”. They think in sensory impressions like visual, sound and odor.
Some examples could be:
- When it is almost time to feed your dog, I guess your dog will be looking at you. In her mind, she probably imagine the words that you usually say (eg: “meal time”) or the sound of the opening of the dog food can during her meal time or image of you carrying the dog bowl (even there is nothing in the bowl!).
- A Food treat is a very good motivator for most dogs. So, in order for her to get the treat from you, her mind probably learns to associate it with an action, maybe the command that you give her during that time (eg: “sit”) and how she needs to react (she needs to sit down).
Illustration of Human’s Command and Dog’s Action
Human: “Sit” command + the dog is sitting = give her the food treat.
For us, we will only give the dog treat when we say “Sit” and she actually sit’s.
Dog: Food treat = “sit” sound + I need to put my butt on the floor.
For dog, when she hears the sound “sit”, she understands that she has to put her butt on the floor in order for her to get your treat.
I hope that with this illustration, you might understand a little bit better how your dog think and hopefully this will further help in house training your puppy.
Four Dog Learning Stages – How To House Train A Puppy
- Acquisition
By definition, acquisition means the act of acquiring something. In our case, it is the training that we give our dogs. Dogs basically acquire the knowledge of the training when they are motivated to do so. Normally, we motivate our dogs by using food treat as reward. So, a dog will choose to engage in an action again and again so that she can continue to receive the rewards.
- Automation
Automation is when your puppy performs certain action to a particular command without being lured. Let’s say your puppy has passed the acquisition stage with accuracy of 90%. You may slowly reduce the dog treat when asking your puppy to perform the same action. Until your puppy reaches a stage where she is able to perform actions without the food treat, then she is in the automation stage.
- Generalization
After the automation stage, you may further generalize the actions that she needs to perform. How? You may ask different people give the command or ask your puppy to perform the action in different locations or both. You may slowly change one aspect as a time. Your puppy will learn that she needs to perform the actions in any situation when commands are given.
- Maintenance
In order for your dog to continuously behave or perform certain actions based upon your command, you will have to maintain the association of her sensory with the actions. So, refresher training from time to time is needed. In any case when your dog has any accident in your house, this is the time you will have to repeat the puppy house training.
Step-by-step House Training a Puppy Guide
How To House Train A Puppy – I have included the four dog learning stages in the guide: 7 days to house train a puppy. This is a general guide which can be applicable to most dog breeds. Please adjust the in home dog training plan according to your own needs.
1.First Day – House Training Your Puppy Day 1
Your puppy is now in acquisition stage. So let’s dive into the subject “How To House Train A Puppy” – She is learning to get use to your house and is learning some basic commands like potty training and crate training. She needs to be repeatedly trained to execute these main commands: potty training, crate training and meal time.
“House Training Your Puppy Day 1 MUST-DO List”
Below is a list of things you must do during the first day of the house training:
- Let your puppy get use to her name.
- Show your puppy affection and love.
- During potty training, use the potty training command.
- During crate training, use the crate training command.
- Learn to praise your puppy.
“House Training Your Puppy Day 1 MUST-AVOID List”
Below is a list of things you must avoid during the first day of the house training:
- Avoid feeding too much.
- Avoid letting your puppy walk to elimination spot.
- Avoid changing location of crate, feeding and elimination spot.
- Avoid puppy from getting free access to dog bowl all the time, especially water bowl.
“House Training Your Puppy Day 1 Schedule”
You are about to begin the day 1 of the house training dogs session. Remember that your puppy is in the acquisition stage, she will take some time to understand you. Below is the suggested timeline for the first day.
7:00 AM If you are getting the puppy from the breeder, you need to prepare crate in your car. If you prefer to carry the puppy on your lap, make sure that you have towel with you and hold the puppy like your new born baby. Make sure that she eliminates before you continue your journey.
Pet Puppy Car Seat
TIP: Let your puppy get use with her name, starting from inside the car and show affection and love to the puppy.
8:30 AM The moment you reach your house, you MUST carry the puppy to the elimination spot immediately. Puppy potty training starts at this moment! Use the potty command that you have selected (eg: “go potty”, “potty time”, “go pee” and etc.). Repeat the command until she has done and say “good girl” to praise her. I will use “potty time” for this guidance.
TIP: Note that if your puppy is less than 2 mouths, it might pee every 15 min as she has little control of her bladder.
9:00 AM After that, if it is the time for your puppy to have breakfast. Then go ahead and prepare her meal and also fresh water. Give her only 20 minutes time. Take away the bowls no matter if she finishes it. Make sure that you give her meal at the same location (eg: next to the crate) and same time everyday.
TIP: Small puppy generally requires more daily meal frequencies (3 or 4 times daily) compare with the older dog (2 times daily).
My suggested time for the meal for puppy is 7 am, 1 pm and 7 pm. But, it is actually up to time that you are convenient with. For your information, my dogs eat at 6 am and 6 pm.
9:35 AM Bring your puppy to the elimination spot after 15 minutes after the meal. This is another puppy potty training session.
TIP: If you want your puppy to be housebroken faster, it is important to have consistent food schedule together with the consistent trips to elimination spot.
9:50 AM After she has done, may be it is the time for her to look around your house, introduce to the family members or introduce to her dog house or dog crate.
TIP: Together with the command and the same location of elimination spot which has her own smell, this could help her to connect to the elimination act during the in home dog training.
10:20 AM After that, your puppy might be tired and needs a nap and I believe you need a rest also. So, this is the puppy crate training session, introduce her to dog crate and make sure that she is comfortable with it. You could associate it with the command “inside”.
TIPS: The dogs usually will relieve themselves after a nap.
12:00 PM So, bring her to the elimination spot again after her nap. Should I repeat again? Remember to do it together with the potty training command that you have selected.
1:00 PM Time for her lunch. During this time, try to teach your puppy basic dog obedience training command “Sit” before she is allowed to have her lunch.
This is how it is done. Tell your puppy “Sit”, then gently push the lower back of your puppy to the floor. If you puppy has done the action, give her part of her lunch. You may repeat the command for as many times as you want. If she is able to sit without you to push her body then it will be a great achievement for the first day. Make sure that your action will not hurt your puppy. Here is a video showing how to teach a puppy “Sit” Command.
1:35 PM Another puppy potty training session.
TIP: It is better to carry your puppy to the elimination spot rather than give her walk in the first day of puppy house training to prevent accidental leak on the way.
1:35 PM – 7:00 PM You may include a play time (eg: catch ball game) in this house training your puppy session. The “Sit” command is again trained with dog treat. Try your best to tire your puppy out during the play time. This is to make sure that she will sleep throughout the night until the next morning. Try not to give your puppy to have a chance to nap during these hours.
7:00 PM Dinner Time. Just repeat actions you have done during lunch time.
TIP: Prevent your puppy from getting access freely to water bowl after dinner.
7:35 PM Last potty training of the day. Watch the video below for the tips on potty training.
7:50 PM – 9:30 PM If your puppy is not tired yet. Here is your chance to make sure she walks or exercises enough.
12:00 AM Some puppies will need to relieve themselves at this time. You could visit your puppy and see if she is awake. If she is, bring her to the elimination spot.
“Review of House Training Your Puppy Day 1”
Before heading to bed, you can review on your puppy house training on the first day.
Ask yourself some questions:
- Was she comfortable with your house?
- How was her potty training? Is she able to associate the elimination spot with your command?
- How about her crate training? Did she like her crate?
- How was her energy level during play time?
- Was she able to acquire the “sit” command?
After the review, you may think about how you can do better tomorrow to help the puppy to be more joyful and comfortable with your family.
FINAL TIP OF THE DAY: Don’t give up! House training your puppy needs time, patient and consistency. You can do it!
2.Second Day – House Training Your Puppy Day 2 – 3
How To House Train A Puppy – Your puppy is still in acquisition stage but slowly move to automation stage. Same like the first day, your puppy has been repeatedly trained with the same commands during potty training, crate training a puppy and meal time. Additional to that, she is introduced to her collar and leash. This is to train her to recognize the path from her crate to the elimination spot. All these actions are repeatedly done with the same person and same location. Your puppy should slowly associate commands in the house training.
“House Training Your Puppy Day 2-3 MUST-DO List”
Below is a list of things you must do during the second and third day of the house training dogs:
- Bring her to the elimination spot when she wakes up.
- Repeat the potty training with command.
- Repeat the crate training with command.
- Introduce to her collar and leash.
- Do some puppy obedience trainings.
“House Training Your Puppy Day 2-3 MUST-AVOID List”
Below is a list of things you must avoid during the second day of the house training:
- Avoid to have her urine smell in her crate because it will make your puppy wanting to pee inside the crate.
- Avoid your puppy from having her dog toys in the crate.
- Avoid your puppy from chewing your finger or
“House Training Your Puppy Day 2-3 Schedule”
You are about to begin the day 2 and day 3 of the puppy training session. Day 3’s training is just repetition of Day 2’s. Your puppy is still in Acquisition Stage but slowly move to Automation Stage. Below is the suggested timeline for the second and third day.
6:45 AM The very first thing in the morning is to potty train your puppy by taking her to the elimination spot. Let she sniff around the spot so that she will recognize her own smell and will eliminate at the same place in future. Do not worry if there is any accident in the crate as your puppy is still young and yet to get use with the crate. Just clean the crate and eliminate the smell of urine with odor eliminator or pet stain removal.
TIP: If your puppy recognize her own urine smell in the crate, she might pees inside repeatedly. So, eliminate the smell is needed.
7:00 AM This is her breakfast time and do it with the basic obedience command “Sit”. Take away the food and water bowl after 20 minutes.
TIP: By limiting the duration of meal for your puppy can train your puppy to finish it within time as she knows you will take away the bowl shortly.
Chihuahua Dog on Collar and Leash
7:35 AM After her breakfast, you may introduce to her collar and leash. Using the collar and leash, direct her to the elimination spot for her second puppy potty training of the day. When reaching the elimination spot, remove her leash and let her sniff around that area. Do it together with command “Potty Time” and she soon will eliminate.
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM You can do some basic dog obedience training within this moment. You can teach your puppy command like “Sit”.
You may want to crate train your puppy by using dog treat to lure her into the crate and associate with the command “Inside”.
TIP: If you want your puppy to be housebroken faster, it is important to have consistent food schedule together with the consistent trips to elimination spot.
1:00 PM Her lunch time.
TIP: Differentiate between full meal and also dog treat. If that day, I were to train my dogs, I normally only give them 75% of full meal in the morning and afternoon. During the dog training session, dog treat is given if they are obedient and successfully complete the trick.
1:35 AM After her lunch time, walk your puppy to her elimination spot with leash on. With the repetition, she will soon recognize the path from her crate to the elimination area.
1:35 PM – 7:00 PM After the potty session, you can begin your puppy training and some exercise. A “Fetch Ball” game is a good idea. She will slowly learn to get use with her collar. With leash and collar on, you may walk her in the garden or yard that is near your house.
Dog Fetch Ball Game
Make sure that you tire out your puppy so that she has a good night sleep tonight.
TIP: During the in home dog training, make sure that there is NO dog toys in the crate and only blanket is allowed inside. The reason is dog toys are only given to your puppy as a reward (like food treat), during obedience training.
7:00 PM Dinner Time.
TIP: Prevent your puppy from getting access freely to water bowl after dinner.
7:35 PM Last potty training of the day, do it with leash and also puppy potty command.
7:50 PM – 9:30 PM If your puppy is not tired yet. Here is your chance to make sure she walks or exercises enough. So, tonight, your puppy will sleep with her collar on.
TIP: DO NOT get your puppy to chew your finger as this shall prevent or stop your puppy biting problems in future.
12:00 AM Some puppies will need to relieve themselves at this time. You could visit your puppy and see if she is awake. If she is, bring her to the elimination spot.
“Review of House Training Your Puppy Day 2-3”
Before heading to bed, you can review on house training your puppy on the second or third day.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- How was your puppy reaction with the collar and leash?
- Was she able to sit herself with the command during meal time?
- Was she able to recognize the path from the dog bowl to the elimination area?
- Was she able to understand the crate training command “Inside”?
- Was she becomes more comfortable with your house environment?
FINAL TIP OF THE DAY: If your puppy has been more comfortable with your house, it is a good sign.
3.Third Day
How To House Train A Puppy – The third day is practically repetition of the things in the second day. You will realize that your puppy’s actions will be more automated.
4.Forth Day – Puppy House Training Day 4
How To House Train A Puppy – The forth day is the day to change one of the variables. For example, during the potty training, you can ask a different person to bring her to the elimination spot and use the same command you have used. She is now in the generalization stage. She needs to know that different people give the command, the response should be the same. During the puppy obedience training, you may also ask a different person to give the command.
“Puppy House Training Day 4 MUST-DO List”
Below is a list of things you must do during the forth day of the house training dogs:
- Do some dog obedience trainings without giving food treat.
- Let a different person to carry out some tasks.
“Puppy House Training Day 4 Schedule”
For the Day 4 of the puppy training session, I believe you have a grasp of the schedule already. So, I will just keep the suggested timeline as simple as possible while highlighting some important Tips. Remember that today your puppy is in Automation stage and slowly going to generalization stage, so some of the trainings can be carried out by a different person.
6:45 AM The very first thing in the morning is to carry your puppy to potty training your puppy.
7:00 AM Her breakfast time, take away the food and water bowl after 20 minutes.
Puppy Potty Training
7:35 AM Time for another potty training. So, you may ask your children or someone else to help you put on her dog leash (leash training your puppy) and lead her to the elimination spot. Teach the person to give the potty command. You puppy needs to know that no matter who is the person, she needs to follow the command.
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM You can do some light dog obedience training this moment. Before letting your puppy to have a nap, puppy crate training can be conducted with a different person with the command “inside”. Give you puppy a treat when she went into her crate.
TIP: If you want your puppy to be housebroken faster, it is important to have consistent food schedule together with the consistent trips to elimination spot. Yes! I know I repeat this TIP for the 3rd time! As this is an important piece of information.
1:00 PM Time for her lunch and her “Sit” training. Below is another video on teaching your puppy how to sit during the in home dog training.
1:35 PM Another puppy potty training session with a different person with the same command.
1:35 PM – 7:00 PM You can conduct varieties of games, basic puppy obedience training or crate training your puppy during this moment. You might realize that during you conduct the basic obedience training with the “Sit” command. Your puppy will sit even without the food treat (Automation Stage). So, you may try to conduct the training with different person and try your best to tire out your puppy.
7:00 PM Dinner Time.
7:35 PM Potty Training.
7:50 PM – 9:30 PM Obedience or crate training can be conducted during these hours.
12:00 AM Some puppies will need to relieve themselves at this time. You could visit your puppy and see if she is awake. If she is, bring her to the elimination spot.
“Review of Puppy House Training Day 4”
Before heading to bed, you can review on your puppy training on the forth day.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- Did she feel comfortable with your house?
- How did she react when different person gave her the command?
- Did any accident happen?
FINAL TIP OF THE DAY: Good things take time…Like fine wine! #patience is a virtue #Good things come to those who wait. You need to carry on and finish the steps:)
5.Fifth Day – Puppy House Training Day 5
How To House Train A Puppy – With no doubt, her automated acts will happen more often. During the obedience training, you may change to a different location. She is still in generalization stage. But, change location during the potty training is not advisable. You need to understand that some trainings can be generalized but some can not. Generalization is more applicable to obedience training.
“Puppy House Training Day 5 MUST-DO List”
Below is a list of things you must do during the fifth day of the house training dogs:
- You may start puppy obedience training with less food treat.
- Some of the in home dog training can be carried out in a different location inside the house and a different person.
“Puppy House Training Day 5 Schedule”
This is the Day 5 of the puppy training session. Your puppy is in still in Automation and Generalization Stage, you can conduct some of the trainings in a different location with less food treat.
6:45 AM Potty Training a Puppy should be conducted the very first thing in the morning is to carry your puppy for her first puppy potty training of the day.
7:00 AM Breakfast + basic obedience training.
7:35 AM Time for another potty training that is carried out by you or a different person in the same location. See if she is able to walk on a loose leash (leash training a puppy) to the elimination spot.
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM Dog obedience training is carried out with less food treat. Change the location of the training will help your puppy understand that she needs to obey the command no matter where is the location.
Puppy Crate Training
1:00 PM Change the location of her crate and also the dog bowl. This time she is having her lunch and her “Sit” command training in a different location.
1:35 PM Lead your puppy with different path to the elimination area without the dog leash. She is still in Generalization Stage; so, puppy potty training session is done with a different person with the same command “Potty Time”.
1:35 PM – 7:00 PM You can conduct varieties of games, basic obedience training or dog crate training during this moment. Try to conduct with different person and try your best to tire out your puppy.
7:00 PM Dinner Time, same location and same person as lunch lunch.
7:35 PM Potty Training. Walk her from her crate to the elimination spot without the dog leash (Automation Stage).
7:50 PM – 9:30 PM Obedience and crate training a puppy are conducted in different location.
12:00 AM Check your puppy at this time to see if she needs to eliminate.
“Review of Puppy House Training Day 5”
You can review on your puppy training for today.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- How did she react when the trainings carried out with different person and different location?
- Did any accident happen?
6.Sixth Day – Puppy House Training Day 6 – 7
How To House Train A Puppy – If your puppy has reached the generalization stage during obedience training, then you may introduce more different commands to her one at a time. But remember to repeat the previous commands so that you can maintain her behavior (maintenance stage).
“Puppy House Training Day 6-7 MUST-DO List”
Below is a list of things you must do during the sixth and seventh day of the house training dogs:
- Repeat all the previous puppy trainings.
“Puppy House Training Day 6-7 Schedule”
This is the last 2 days of the puppy training. Your puppy should be in Maintenance Stage. You will have to repeat all the previous potty training your puppy, crate training your puppy and puppy obedience training for the next couple of months to maintain the behavior of your puppy.
6:45 AM Always start your day with carrying your puppy to elimination spot for potty training.
7:00 AM Breakfast + basic obedience training in home dog training.
7:35 AM Maintain the potty training after the breakfast with or without the dog leash depends on you.
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM Dog obedience training can be conducted during these times. During the training, you can slowly teach your puppy other commands like “Down” and “Come”. Change the location of the training will help your puppy understand that she needs to obey the command no matter where is the location.
1:00 PM Time for her lunch.
1:35 PM Maintain your puppy behavior in potty training after he lunch, always with the same command “Potty Time”.
1:35 PM – 7:00 PM You can conduct varieties of games, basic obedience training or puppy crate training during this moment and with introducing a few new commands.
7:00 PM Maintain her behavior during her dinner time as well.
7:35 PM Potty Training. Walk her from her crate to the elimination spot without the dog leash to maintain her automation behavior.
7:50 PM – 9:30 PM Obedience and crate training are conducted in different location.
12:00 AM Check your puppy at this time to see if she needs to eliminate.
“Review of Seven Days Puppy Training”
Some questions to ask yourself:
- How did she react when the trainings carried out with different person and different location?
- Did any accident happen?
7.Seventh Day
This day is maintenance stage and I believe you have successfully housebroken your puppy! Congrats! You can slowly move on to the next step which is teaching your advance puppy obedience training, leash training a puppy, collar training, dog clicker training, agility training and more.
Summary of House Training a Puppy Guide
To succeed in house training a puppy is not an easy task. The dog will go though different stages of learning. Patience and Consistency are the keys in successfully house training dogs.
People also ask…..
What is the fastest way to house train a puppy?
No matter how inconvenient it might be for you, try to get him on a schedule as early possible. Take your puppy outside at the same time everyday, try to feed him at the same time, and also play with him at the same time. By getting him on a schedule, neither you nor the puppy will have those any unnecessary accidents. Obviously those outside times might be more frequent when he is younger, but this should reduce by about half as he gets older. Important, remember to make a potty run about 10-20 minutes after he eats. As he gets older that will also change. I have a 2 year old pup and I have to walk him about 40 minutes after he had a meal.
So, it’s important to come up with a schedule that you and the puppy can live with – and then stick to it. It might take about 6-9 months before the accidents will completely stop, but you will definitely see a difference after the first few days.
Can an 8 week old puppy be potty trained?
We just love the euphemistic notion of potty-training your pup:) You probably want to house-train your pup, unless you actually intend to use a potty.
Best is to start to train your puppy, and with time, and consistent training and also patience your pup will become potty trained. You will never completely train your puppy at 8 weeks, but many pup’s will use pads, newspaper or designated grass. Expect your puppy of 5–6 months to be effectively potty trained, but normally failures happens because You have failed to support your puppy, so if you need to punish, it better be you and not your puppy.
Always be persistent, when he opens his eyes take him to the designated potty area. At this stage, treat him like your baby , when your baby wakes they want to feed and to poop. Same will apply to your puppy he wants food and then to potty or toilet then food, so be vigilant, be persistent and he will learn quickly.
Please don’t get angry if your puppy have an accident, rather gently start so that he gets the idea. When he get it right make sure you give him all your love and a happy voice . Like children they all learn at their own pace . Good luck.
How do you train a puppy to pee and poop outside?
You need to really be consistent, and I suggest You have a ton of Good old patience.
Have a schedule where you can Feed him and then take him outside to do his thing. My suggestion is to be with your pup at this time, and if not possible, to either crate him or leash him to you or a pen. A Pen is like sectioning off a part of a garden or area, with a crate in the same area for sleeping. Puppies will do their thing far away from where they sleep so keeping them on leash on a pen keeps them contained. Food and water can also be in this little area. Try everything to make it difficult for the pup to make a mistake, and as easy possible to get it right.
Watch him closely, check for signs where he wants to pee or poo … circling, sniffing, etc. … and if you do notice any of these behaviors, I suggest to take him outside on the spot! Put him in the area you want him to ‘Do his Thing’ … and then wait patiently. Don’t show any interest or interact with him during the period … no playing, no talking. Just wait. He WILL go Eventually, and then when he does, make a BIG thing about it! ‘Good doggy! Good poo poo! Good peepee!’ … and if you can, give him a nice treat.
I suggest to do this for a couple off months, and your Pup will be housetrained. The main concept of housetraining is to get the Pup to understand the difference between outside and inside, and why it is GOOD to poo or pee outside, and why it’s bad to do it inside. Only when you achieve some kind of positive outcome here can you work on a ‘sign’ such as barking at the door, ringing a bell, scratching at the door, or something similar.
How do you housebreak a puppy in 5 days?
Amazingly if you do it right you could get your puppy to follow a routine.
So you might ask yourself why your pup should follow a schedule or routine, the crate, and also why a couple of housetraining words could make the difference?
It will always work because it’s been proved that:
• Dogs will always develop potty habits in their first month if kept on a routine.
• Dogs will always make sure they don’t potty in the place where they sleep.
• Dogs always go back to the exact spot they did potty before.
• Dogs can be conditioned according to Pavlov, which means they can be trained to potty in a specific location and by repetition of certain instructions do exactly what you train them to do.
So lets look at the fundamentals of your puppy’s potty training? The main fundamentals will include:
1.You want to understand your pup’s potty schedule – Pup’s have to go after their meals and also at certain times of the day.
2.Consistency – Dogs are crazy about routines and consistency. Pup’s learn and associate with areas and will always associate the time of day and specific
areas as their potty areas.
3.Praise, praise & praise! – Please always praise and support your pup
when they potty outside!
4.You also want to Paper training when potty training your pup – You want to use paper training to assist your pup to understand where to potty if they can’t hold it any longer. You don’t want them to get used to going indoors. To
overcome this you want to place paper outside as well and teach them to potty on the paper outside.
5.Limit water and food at bedtime – Maybe your pup will have an accident during the night? You want to limiting the amount of water and food they have in the vicinity at bedtime and also through out the night.
6.You might have to try again and again if your pup doesn’t relieve themselves – At times you’ll take your pup out to go potty and either a) they have stage fright or b) they don’t have to go.
7.Potty training “outside” only means going to bathroom – When a pup
goes outside to potty they may become distracted by a cricket hopping on the grass or the leaves blowing all over the place. Best to rather not let them play outside until they are properly housetrained.
8.As Big Brother you need to watch over your puppy all the time – Always best to prevent accidents before they even happen.
9.Younger pup’s need priority to go outside so frequently, more often then older pups do.
10.Be patient – Sometimes they will fall off the bandwagon from time to time. This is expected and also normal.
11.A Classic sign would be if he triple all over the place, the tinkle dance as they call it, this is the classic sign that your pup is about to potty. Pup’s will be sniffing the floor. The sniffing will always become more intense over time and the your pup will be walking around in circles.
12.Verbal Instruction – once outside you can tell your dog to
“Go potty” or “Tinkle”. It’s basically a short word they will remember & associate with Potty…
13.You want to create a safe outside environment – Take your dog out on a six foot leash to go the bathroom if your yard is not fenced in.
14.Your pup will always prefer a clean sleeping area – Crate training is the best method to use when potty training your dog.
How to toilet train a puppy in 7 days
Best Kept Tips that really helped us toilet train even a very stubborn puppy in the next 7 days or maybe faster.
This should give you a solid foundation to potty training your pup as fast and easily as possible.
You could start Training your puppy already from 8 weeks, but once your puppy hits the tender age of 12 weeks, their bladder control would be so much better. The chances of a 7-day turnaround then increase significantly.
The following steps is so important to establishing a solid routine that will work for both you and your pup:
1.Location So Critical – Number One on the List – Decide on the Location where your Pup will do his Potty and then stick with it! It will create a sense of familiarization that will quickly assist your pup to associate that specific spot as his toilet.
2.Set Up A Schedule – By Setting up a Schedule, it acts as a guide for you and the pup and it will work wonders to quickly potty train your puppy. So critical, there is obvious times that you need to take a pup to do his business, including but not limited…
- When he wakes up
- Always before bedtime
- 10-20 Minutes After he Drinks alot of water Or after he ate a meal
3.Other Warnings or Signs to Watch for – How would you know if puppy wants to do his business? Sometimes it will be difficult to know when he wants to potty. Other than the obvious, where he could quickly squat and do his business, there definitely is some warnings or signs you should be on the lockout for…..
- Pacing himself, tripling all over
- Assuming Position / When he Squat
- Sometimes a panicky expression on his face
- Sniffing around
- Scratching the door
- Whining in front of the door
Accidents can happen, but that should NOT setback your training progress. Accidents do happen and it’s all part of the learning process.
4.Do Your Best To Avoid Accidents – As per the previous point, accidents will happen and are all part of the potty training process. However, they could associate your reactions with negativity and these i itself could create negative feelings for your pup. This could lead to anxiety and they could become fearful of the whole potty training process. So keep all of this in mind when you react because he made a “LITTLE” accident!
The solution is always Prevention…
Either you keep a very watchful eye on him all the time OR if not possible, then best would be to limit his movements to a specific area in the house until he get better at the whole potty training process.
5.Giving Praise to Your Puppy – When your Puppy follows the rules and get the process right ALWAYS give allot of Praise – “Good Boy” or any other praise! It will go a far way, and you want your pup to know when he does something right and that he deserves praise.
6.Don’t Punish Your Puppy – Obviously most of people will never unnecessary punish their little pooch. However some people still feels that old school punishing is their best way to get results. We’ve got bad news for you if that’s the case. Punishing your little pooch will make him scared of you, it’s the Worst possible associations for your little pup.
With Positive reinforcement you wont only create a strong bond, but it’s bee proven many times before that it will create positive behavior that last your little fur ball for life!
7.Teaching Bladder Control – So to recap you’ve…
- Reinforced and Set a location for your pup to do his potty.
- Put together a solid Schedule.
- Familiar with the Warning Signs for puppy to go.
- Understand why to avoid accidents.
- Accept the fact that Punishment is Bad & Positive Reinforcement is Great.
When you get to this level, the next step would be to teach him a little bit of bladder control.
So next time you see any of the warning as discussed before, you want to make your pup wait a few minutes longer than his used to.
This will start with shorter periods, possibly 2 minutes, and then with practice and over time can be increased to 15 or 20 minutes.
Most important, always be patient and consistent with your puppy and you will get there soon!
8.Final Thoughts – Just to again highlight a few important points you should take in consideration with your pup’s potty training journey:
- Potty training can be frustrating and time-consuming, so for it to be effective soon it is critical to stick to frequent potty trips, and that will culminate into faster learning.
- Take note of right and wrong actions, this will assist with your learning curves and will lead to quicker results.
- When the accident happens, just remember that our humans are the ones that require them to change, and therefore we need to set them up for success.
- Steer away from creating fear & yelling at the pup when they do make an accident. Best would be to just take him outside to the right place. This is the time to reflect back and think of ways you can prevent any accidents in future. Prevent any negative associations that could make it even harder in future.
- Just think about it, with a little bit of patience and extra work from you, it can get you a lifetime of good potty habits. It’s worth it!
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