Dogs have the natural tendency not to eliminate (urinate and defecate) in what they perceive as their den area. When puppies are young their urinary and digestive systems do not allow them to “hold out” for long periods of time. Most puppies need to urinate every 45-60 minutes, a few minutes after waking up, eating, and about 20 minutes after drinking (what goes in usually must come out). Bowel movements tend to occur up to 5-6x per day as well as after waking in the morning, about 1/2 hour after meals and any time puppy gets excited or scared. After 3.5-4.5 months most puppies should be able to “make it through the night.”

Our goal then is to teach the puppy to eliminate directly outdoors by asking to go out and not using any part of the house as a toilet area, but rather to regard the entire house as his or her den.

Establish a daily routine taking the above points into account. Be consistent in meal and exercise times realizing that puppies up to twelve weeks old need 3-4 meals per day. From 3 to about 6 months 2-3 meals per day should be sufficient. DO NOT OVERFEED YOUR PUPPY AS THIS CAN CAUSE OBESITY THROUGHOUT LIFE IN SMALL BREEDS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL PROBLEMS IN LARGE BREEDS. Ask your vet for feeding suggestions. I recommend allowing about 20 minutes for each meal; allow fresh water to be consumed only at this time if you are having trouble with your dog urinating in house (unless very hot then leave water out at all times) Use a premium quality puppy food and manufacture recommendations for feeding by weight of puppy (depends of calories per cup or can of food). If you must err do so on the slightly underfeeding side.

Provide short periods of exercise (about 5 minutes) prior to each meal asking the puppy to do various training exercises. Spend at least 10 minutes calmly playing with puppy after meal practicing bite inhibition and handling exercises to get puppy used to handling. Look for any signs of wanting to go out; when these are seen, distract the puppy (clap, call it’s name, toss a bean bag or can filled with pennies near pup, say no! etc.) then bring to outside location (or paper if must paper train-I do not recommend it if you can avoid it since it makes teaching to go outside harder) and encourage to eliminate. Wait until the pup is finished and praise him/her and give small food reward.

1. Select only one outside toilet area where you keep tasty food treats to immediately reward puppy when he or she uses that spot.

2. If puppy is being difficult to housebreak do not allow free access to entire house. Use the leash to tie puppy close to you, which allows social contact without mistakes occurring out of your sight. You may need to consider “crate training” where you use the pup’s den (a portable kennel works well) to confine the puppy when not supervised to assure it learns to hold it’s urine and stool until taken to eliminate outside. Do not expect an unreasonable lengthy crate time without opportunity to go out (no more than 2-3 hours for a puppy under 3 months) or you may teach your puppy to eliminate in the crate- that would be unfortunate at best and could teach your puppy to go where it sleeps, making it nearly impossible to housebreak.

3. Anytime puppy gets scared or excited bring him/her out to toilet area immediately afterwards (sets off desire to eliminate as described above).

4. Avoid leaving puppy isolated outside or in room, garage, etc. Dogs are social creatures and need to be with their pack (you). Ignoring this need can lead to behavioral problems. Keep puppy in bedroom with you at night; you can use an exercise pen, dog travel container, tie to foot of bed, etc. if needed. Doing this can give many hours of social contact at minimum time cost to you.

5. NEVER punish dog by rubbing nose in own excrement, or other physical abuse; it is almost always ineffective and you are asking for aggressive dog problems. NEVER punish dog after the fact-remember they only understand immediate rewards and punishments! You will only destroy the close bond you are trying to develop during this critical period.

6. When mistakes are found after the fact, act indifferent (hold your temper), put your puppy away (do not let puppy see you cleaning up), clean up the mess and use an odor neutralizer (such as Anti-Icky-Poo [1-800-971-6123] or another product available through your vet) to prevent puppy thinking the spot smells like a toilet area!