Housebreaking your dog

There are really two completely different things a dog needs to learn to be properly "housebroken"

One is "don't do it in the house" and the other is "do it in the correct place."

If you only teach the dog to use the yard he'll do his business in the yard until he gets distracted or has a need to go without the ability to easily get to the yard. He doesn't understand it's bad to go in the house, so eventually it will happen, and he won't have a clue he shouldn't have done it.

Tools needed for housetraining a dog:

A crate
A leash
Time
Patience
Gentleness
Attention

The principles are the same whether you're housetraining a new puppy or an older dog you're introducing to your home.

The first principle is to remember to NEVER leave him unattended in the house until you're confident he's really trained. One accident can undo a huge amount of training.

He should think of his crate as a refuge, not a punishment cell. See my page on crate training.

The more time you can spend with your dog during this important part of his learning the better. When you can't be with him, and paying close attention to him, he should be in his crate or outside.

The crate should be small enough to make it uncomfortable for him to relieve himself in it. He doesn't want to lie in his own waste. He should have room to stand and turn around, and lie down, but no more room. If your crate is too big for effective training you can block off part of it temporarily.

The first thing in the morning you should take him outside on leash to his appointed bathroom place, then wait patiently for him to do what he needs to do. Don't do or say anything to encourage him until he actually pees or poops. While he's actually doing it you should quietly praise him. Not with much enthusiasm or you'll distract him from what he needs to do. When he's finished you can be just a bit more enthusiastic.

As soon as you're sure he's done everything he's gonna do, take him back into the house for his breakfast. Stay with him while he eats it, then take him out to the yard again to romp and play a bit. He'll probably need to potty again. If he does, praise him as before.

Once he's emptied himself he can come into the house to explore or play, or rest, but only under your very attentive control. Don't take your eyes off him for a moment. If he begins to relieve himself in the house you should immediately respond with a "no!" and hustle him out to the correct place. Don't punish him or do anything to make him think you're angry at him. He didn't do anything bad. He's just learning. The "no" is to explain to him that he isn't doing it right, not to scare him or punish him. When he does what he should where he should, praise him as before.

When you have to do something else and take your attention away from him, put him in his crate. He should have chew toys and water and something soft to lie on. And when he goes into the crate he should frequently get a small treat.

The more times you take him out the better, but be sure to take him outside immediately, every time he comes out of the crate and every time he finishes eating.

Especially for a young puppy, be sure to take him out often enough that he isn't forced to relieve himself inide because he's just not able to wait long enough. He can learn to wait, but it has to be a gradual learning.

He'll gradually begin to understand the rules. Don't make the mistake of assuming he understands more than he actually understands. If he pees or poops in the house and you don't catch him in the act, just quietly clean up the mess and scold yourself for not paying closer attention. Punishing him won't help and it might hurt.

One fairly effective way of paying close attention to him is to attach his leash to you and expect him to stay with you wherever you go in the house. At least that way he'll be where you can see him. Of course you can still get so distracted if you aren't careful. And it will have the side effect of helping his leash training.

Don't assume he's completely housebroken just because he does what he's supposed to when you take him out. If you forget to take him out what will happen? He should wait for you, or ask you to let him out, or if there's a dog door he should let himself out. Keep watching him after you're pretty sure you don't need to. If you're right and his training is complete, good for you. But if you catch him using the house for a bathroom you'll have the chance to explain to him how you feel about that.

And don't ever punish him more than 10 seconds after he commits the crime. Dogs have a very short attention span. If you see him doing a bad thing from across the room you can speak to him about it (HEY!, or NO!) right away, and he'll probably be able to understand if it takes you more than ten seconds to get to him.

Sister sites:
Auntie Donna's Dog care and training tips

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