Introduction
House training your puppy begins long before you bring him/her home. Not soiling his quarters is both an instinctual quality as well as a learned behavior.
The dam assumes the bulk of the responsibility of keeping both puppy and the nest clean. Some mothers are more diligent about this than others, regardless, this is where the learned behavior begins. As soon as the puppy begins to crawl they will instinctively attempt to crawl away from the dam to relieve themselves.
As a breeder, we can do much by keeping the area as clean as possible by frequent changes of absorbent material. As the puppy grows, so should the size of the puppy pen. We want to encourage the pup to relieve itself as far away from the sleeping area and feeding area as possible. By increasing the size of the puppy pen we also minimize the chances of a pup soiling himself with feces.
You can always tell the puppies that come from clean and meticulous breeders. These are the puppies that seem to house train in no time with very little effort. Then there are those pups that will soil there own crate and lay in it with no remorse. That is the difference a quality breeder can make.
House training puppies should be looked upon as a training exercise. In that light, we can expect a slow progression towards an attainable goal. We can expect mistakes, which will occur with less frequency as training progresses. We try to make the process as clear and simple as possible, so the concept is clear to the pup. We try to minimize the chances of failure by being in control of the variables.
From the moment you bring your puppy home, you must be in control. This means that you are either watching your puppy or he is confined to his crate. There can be no exceptions to this rule. Every mistake that he makes is a behavior that will have to be relearned.
Try not to change your pups diet until after a week or so in his new home. The changes in environment are stressful enough, without adding undue stress on his digestive system with a new food. Chances are it will cause loose and frequent stools that will only complicate the house training process.
Crates
It is important that your crate be sized properly. If the crate is too big, your pup may decide its okay to set a corner aside as a toilet area. If too small he will be uncomfortable. This doesn’t mean that you need to purchase several sizes of crates if you have a large breed. You can buy one crate that will accommodate your dog when he is full grown. You may place a box inside it at the back, so as to make the inside smaller. Place smaller boxes inside as your puppy grows.
We do not want a young puppy to be in his crate any longer than three hours without being given the opportunity to relieve him/herself. Puppies metabolisms are such that they need to consume and excrete at a far greater rate than an adult dog.
As a general rule of thumb, when your puppy is out and supervised, he should be taken outside to receive himself…
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Every 2 hours.
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Immediately upon waking
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After playing
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After feeding
It is important to designate an area of your yard as the toilet area. It does not need to be very large. Your pup will soon associate this place with the appropriate action. Once he is finished his job, remove him out of the toilet area to reduce the chance of play with or eating stool. It is much easier for you to keep this area clean than to hunt all over your yard for piles of feces. Taking the time to do this now will save much time in the future, and reduce damage to your yard from urine burns to lawns and shrubs.
Corrections
Mistakes will inevitably happen, it is important not to take it personally. The only time you correct a puppy for soiling in the house is if you catch him/her in the act. Period! After a few seconds, puppies do not associate the correction with the behaviour. Any strong correction, ie: shouting, posturing that is intimidating, physical corrections of any kind, will invariably encourage submissive behaviour that will result in more accidents.
Witnessed accidents
Walk over to puppy calmly, pick him/her up, say a sharp “NO!” and take out side to finish the job. Give the puppy lavish praise when he/she does relieve themselves in the appropriate area. Bring puppy in, put him/her in the crate while you clean up the mess, out of sight.
Unwitnessed Accidents:
Put puppy in crate as you normally would. No verbal interaction. Clean up the mess. Leave puppy in the crate until the next potty time, we want to be sure that he/she goes in the appropriate place the next time so as to not reinforce the previous transgression.
Routine
Puppies and dogs thrive on routine. If house training is to be successful, then we must develop a routine that is both manageable for us and the puppy. We have planned to constantly monitor the puppy while he is out of his crate. We have taken him/her outside every 2 hours, after playing and immediately after he wakes and after all meals.
It is a good idea to feed your puppy his/her final meal in the early evening and to withhold fluids after the final meal. By doing this you will minimize the number of times you will have to get out of bed at night to take junior out.
Conclusion
If you follow the concepts in this article you will be surprised at how smoothly house training will go. Remember that until your puppy is 6 months old, he/she will be susceptible to accidents due to not being able to hold it long enough, changes in metabolism and hormonal changes due to growing, teething. etc.
These concepts are those that I use on my own puppies and have worked for me. I hope that you find these principals helpful in laying a foundation of trust and respect between you and your puppy.