How To House Train A Puppy

National Puppy Day! We love that phrase, and that day, which is March 23. If you’re a new pet parent of a puppy you know how much fun they are. You also know how much work a new puppy is.

New puppies require:

1. Frequent veterinarian visits. Invest in a dog health care policy to help with the costs of raising your new puppy.
2. House training
3. Basic obedience training
4. Patience
5. A LOT of love (that one is easy, right?)

If you’re bringing home a new puppy, one of the first things you need to do is to begin house training. Some puppies quickly pick up on the cues that going to the bathroom in the house is not what she’s supposed to do; other dogs take much longer to grasp the concept.

When you’re housetraining your puppy the keys are to be:

1. Consistent
2. Patient
3. Diligent in taking your puppy out every hour
4. Positive in your reinforcement training

Prepare for accidents to happen

There will be days when your new puppy has gone hours, or even the entire day, with no accidents then the next day he’s piddling in the house again! Give yourself a month before your puppy is fully house-trained. A puppy cannot “hold it” for very long and you will need to accommodate his tiny bladder and make a LOT of visits to the outdoors to have him do his business. In many cases, a puppy will piddle in the house because it’s been too long between his treks outside.

How To House Train Your Puppy

You need a clear reward system. Your puppy needs to understand and see a connection with going to the bathroom outdoors. Praise is ideal, but offering a bit of a high reward treat is better. Your puppy will connect the praise and the treat with having gone to the bathroom outdoors.

Begin the praise, in a quiet voice, as soon as your puppy squats and begins to go to the bathroom. Quietly say, “Good boy/good girl.” Don’t say it too loudly because you don’t want to distract them from what they’re doing. Once they’re done make a big deal of it and then offer the treat.

Your puppy needs clear clues to go to the bathroom outdoors. If you see her beginning to squat in the house, quickly pick her up and say something like, “Let’s go out” or “Outs” some verbal cue that your dog will learn to associate with going to the bathroom outside. If your puppy has an accident in the house and you find it later, don’t punish him. Simply clean it up. Your puppy won’t understand what he’s being punished for. Positive reinforcement is the way in which to house train a puppy.

Take your puppy to the same spot. If your puppy gets accustomed to the idea that “this is where I go potty” he will understand that when he’s in that spot, it’s time to go to the bathroom. You will eventually want to get him accustomed to doing his business in different areas and on different surfaces; this will be helpful if you travel with your dog and will teach him to go to the bathroom no matter where you are or what surface you’re on.

Here are a few quick potty training tricks

1. Take your puppy out as soon as he wakes up. Say, “Let’s go out!” then take him out. Don’t wait for him to give you a signal (like squatting) before he goes out.
2. Take your puppy out as soon as he’s eaten his dinner.
3. Take your puppy out as soon as he’s done drinking.
4. Take your puppy out every couple of hours. Remember, your puppy cannot “hold it” and will need to go out a LOT.
5. Keep your puppy in sight at all times. If you can’t see him you don’t know if he is giving off clues that he has to go outside.
6. Take your puppy out before you go to bed or before you leave for work. Remember, when you have a puppy, he will not be able to hold it for more than a couple hours; you will need to make arrangements for someone to come and walk him so he doesn’t soil his crate.

Praise. Praise. Praise and your puppy will soon associate going to the bathroom outdoors and he will be housetrained. Most puppies will eventually develop their own “potty cue;” some dogs will bark, some will pace, some will go to the door and whine. You may want to train your dog to ring a bell that you’ve placed by the door when he has to go outside to do his business; this will give you a very clear clue that your dog is ready to go outside.

Getting a new puppy is the perfect time to consider getting pet insurance. Puppies get into all kinds of mischief, but coverage with PetFirst will help take care of any accidents or injuries that may occur. Get a quote for your pup here.