Housetraining Your New Puppy

Housetraining can be a difficult process, but it is ultimately extremely rewarding. When beginning to housetrain your pet, its important to remember that it won't happen overnight. It takes time and patience but you will be left with a well-trained pet and you'll be a much happier owner. Below are some helpful hints and things to remember that will make your housetraining experience much nicer.

Night Confinement

One of the most important aspects of housetraining is night confinement. By confining your pet at certain times, you are relying on a nesting instinct that has been ingrained in dogs for thousands of years. Dogs will generally keep a very clean nest—in short, they don't like to sleep near their excrement.

A crate or cage usually works best for night confinement. Many people think it cruel to place their pet in a crate, but keep in mind that this is only temporary and will eventually lead your dog to more freedom. Confining a puppy teaches him to control his bladder and bowel. Once the puppy has totally controlled throughout the night for a month or two, it won't matter where he sleeps.

The size of the crate you choose for your puppy is very important. If the crate is too large, it will become a condominium with a bedroom on one side and a bathroom on the other. A good rule of thumb is to get a crate about two times the length of the puppy, wide enough to turn around in and tall enough to stand in. Each time you place your puppy in the crate, you should (in a gentle tone) say "Kennel." After a while the word "kennel" will become a passive command and your dog will eventually enter the crate on command.

A regular feeding schedule is also an important part of housetraining. You should always be sure to feed your pup his last meal about two hours prior to crating so that he has a chance to digest his food and empty his bowel and bladder before bedding for the night. You should also take your pet outside just before you crate him.

Most pets, especially young ones, don't necessarily enjoy being left alone. Some puppies will cry or bark if left alone in their crate. It is very important that you not go to your pup when he cries or barks. Even though you may really want to console him, you are also teaching your pet that if he cries you will come. The more you reward this behavior the more frequently the behavior will occur. For this reason, many people opt to place the crate in another room, like a bathroom or laundry room. Many say that if you can get through the first three nights, you're home free. If for some reason you can't help it and you go to your puppy when he whines, you will have to start the three nights all over again.

It is also just as important that you not react to your puppy when he whines in the crate. Remember that negative attention is still attention. If your pup has been whining for 20 minutes and you've just about had it, do not yell down the hallway "Be Quiet!" To the puppy this is positive reinforcement. He wanted your attention, and he got it. Next time he wants your attention—he'll whine again.

When you arise in the morning, prior to playing with your pup, feeding him or cuddling with him—get him outside. When he eliminates outside, praise him for his good work. This is a perfect opportunity to work on the positive reinforcement, so let him know how pleased you are.

The last thing to remember about crating your pet is that the crate should not be used for punishment. The goal is to let him see the crate as a home within his home, and not as a jail. So, even though it is easy to "Send him to his crate" it is usually not a good idea. While it may fix the current situation, it will make housetraining that much more difficult to complete.

Scheduling

Dogs are instinctively creatures of habit. Establishing precise schedules for feeding and elimination are essential to effectively housebreaking your new puppy.

An important aspect of housetraining a puppy is to get him outside at the appropriate time. Puppies are conditioned by their mothers to eliminate immediately following nursing. This is called the Gastro-Colic Reflex. We can utilize this gastro-colic reflex by feeding the puppy on a precise schedule, then taking him outside to eliminate immediately afterward.

Puppies should be fed three times a day to avoid hypoglycemic episodes. If no one is available to feed a mid-day meal, it may be necessary to leave some food out for your puppy and allow him to eliminate on newspaper until he is older and hypoglycemia is no longer a threat.

It is best to schedule your pup's feeding times and stick to it. You should set the food down for your pup and allow him 10 minutes to eat. After the 10 minutes are up, you should remove the pan of food (even if he hasn't finished), and take the puppy immediately outside to eliminate. This gets him outside at a time when we can most expect a bowel movement. If we allow the puppy to eat free choice, we constantly stimulate the gastro-colic reflex, which tells him its time to eliminate. Therefore, we should avoid free-choice feeding and stick to a schedule that works for you and your pet.

If you find that your puppy gets too excited when he's outside in the big yard, it may be necessary to temporarily make a small pen in which to keep him. This decreases his distractions and allows you to watch him through the window, so you'll know when he's finished. An exercise pen works very well for this purpose. Discourage the act of urinating/defecating, but not the urine and stool

If you return home to find stool or urine in an inappropriate place and your puppy cowering in the corner, it sure seems like he understands what's going on, but he really doesn't. He knows you don't like urine or stool, but he doesn't know where it comes from, so scolding him will not make much difference.

Your puppy's sense of smell is far better than ours, so he knows you won't be happy if the smell of urine or stool is present when you enter the house. He does not understand, however, that when he does a hard abdominal press, the end result is stool. So don't discourage the urine or stool after the fact, but discourage the act of defecating and urinating in inappropriate places. For this you will need to catch him in the act and holler, clang a pot, shake a can full of pennies or some other type of negative reinforcement. Then wait a couple of minutes and take him out.

It is best not to leave your puppy alone in a room for the first month or so that he lives with you. If someone is always present, they can teach him the house rules. While at work use an exercise pen or a closed off kitchen and if necessary resort to newspaper.

If newspaper is necessary, use it only as long as you have to. Stack the paper and don't paper the entire area. When the puppy urinates on the paper, pick up most of it, but leave a little soaked through so that the next time he has to urinate, he'll be attracted to the paper. If he urinates off the paper, clean it with an odor eliminator. These are usually available through your veterinarian or local pet store.

Conditioning your dog to go on command

Dogs can be conditioned to go on command. When your puppy goes out and first start to circle and posture to do his business, repeat slowly and calmly a short phrase. It doesn't matter what you use, "Let's Make" or "Hurry Puppy" or anything. If you catch him early in the act and attach the phrase to the act itself, it will eventually become a trigger. It simplifies your life if you can get your pet to go on command after some initial training.

Negative reinforcement should either take the form of a firm verbal "No," or a distracting sound. Do not use physical punishment, as it is almost always counter-productive. In general, you will get a lot more response with positive reinforcement than negative and both you and your puppy will be a lot happier.

As was mentioned earlier, housetraining is not an easy process—it takes much effort and patience. However, if you follow the helpful hints above and stay focused on your goal, you will succeed in properly training your puppy. If you ever have any questions about housetraining, feel free to discuss your concerns with one of our veterinarians.