Secrets of Successful Housetraining

Secrets of Successful Housetraining

I once heard from a family who was having a problem housetraining their 10-week-old Bichon Frise. The puppy was “using” the living room rug instead of the layer of newspaper provided on the bathroom floor. Seems puppy thought the newspaper was only for shredding into tiny bits, not for...well, serious business.

The hapless owners tried—unsuccessfully—to follow advice they’d read to “show him what he did, say ‘no’, and bring him to the area where he’s supposed to go.” A fine-sounding theory, but in practice, pup would flee the scene. When brought back, he wouldn’t look at the “lesson,” and, worst of all, he’d bite—not playfully, either.

Outdoors or Not?

The owners of the Bichon puppy were afraid to take him outdoors for “potty walks”, because they had also read that they should keep him indoors until he had all his shots. This precaution was unnecessary, though. Nursing provides puppies with a few months of natural immunities. In addition, the typical 8-week-old puppy has already had two of its four puppy boosters.

Till it’s had all its shots, it’s prudent to keep a puppy away from environments densely populated with dogs, like a boarding kennel, a dog show, or a dog exercise park. But strolls around the block are harmless—and indeed, essential for a puppy’s social development.

Refusing to let this poor puppy outdoors in his own yard or neighborhood would make him severely under-socialized—and potentially fear-aggressive towards people. Also, it would be just about impossible to ever housebreak him.

In my experience--including raising puppies in a 5th-floor walk-up apartment--there is NO justifiable reason to teach puppies to potty indoors.  Start immediately with outdoor potty training.

Most vets agree that it’s better to take the teensy risk of exposure than to set him up for a lifetime of house-soiling and fear biting! The decision is even easier now that cures exists for virtually all communicable puppy diseases.

Only Three Places for Puppy

The most important thing about housebreaking is this:  PREVENTION of accidents indoors is how puppies learn to go outdoors.  Supervision is critical.  A puppy who is being housebroken should always be in one of three places:

1. Confined area small enough that the puppy will not want to soil the area.

2. Directly supervised by a watchful owner, or even tied to the owner so as to not have the chance to wander off and make a mistake, or...

3. Outdoors being walked by the owner, who is armed with treats to reward pottying outside. 

The Basic Method

For example, the little Bichon Frise puppy was 10 weeks old, or 2½ months. By this handy formula, therefore, he should be able to “hold it” for 3½ hours max. So his family can take him out every couple of hours or so. But if they let several hours go by, they’ll be undermining their training efforts!      

Walk with the puppy, and be prepared with praise and/or treats to dole out within seconds of the potty action. (For safe night-time walks, you may  wish to use our our Gentle Leader® no-pull halter with reflective leash or our reflective Easy-Walk® no-pull harness/leash combo). 

A little bit of outside play is in order now, to complete the perfectly harmonious potty trip.  Afterwards, the pup can come inside and play with supervision for a half hour or so. Then, he should have another potty walk before returning to the crate for a rest.

Many owners just shove the pup out the door, then give him a treat for coming back in the house—effectively training their puppies to skip the potty part and just rush back in for the treat!

The situation was similar with the little Bichon pup. He just wanted to get out of that boring bathroom, because all the play was happening in the rest of the house. But, once out of the bathroom, he still had to go. So he just used the nice, absorbent, grass-like carpeting.

The Bichon’s biting was caused by fear of the owner’s anger—which the puppy didn’t understand. The puppy became afraid for his life, when all he wanted was bladder relief and a little play time!

In Case of an Accident...

Regarding accidents in the house, the only rule is: never punish mistakes. Puppies don’t know why the heck you’re mad, even if you take them to the scene of the crime.

The only thing they’ll learn is that it’s dangerous to be near the owner if there are “waste products” around. Therefore, they’ll become afraid to potty near the owner—including on walks! They learn to “hold it” until they return home and the owner leaves the room.

Taking puppies outdoors after accidents is also useless. Many an owner will just march the pup around yelling at him. The inevitable result? Puppy becomes even more afraid to go on walks outside. 

Similarly, allowing mistakes to occur “once in a while,” whether punished or not, confuses pups about the rules, and makes them afraid of their owners. Even as adults, dogs reared under these circumstances often fail to discriminate between indoors and outdoors.

If you should catch your puppy in the act of creating an “accident,” shout or clap to try to get him to stop. Confine him for a few minutes out of sight while you clean up the accident, then take him out when both of you have calmed down.

When Does a Puppy Need to Go Out?

Young puppies less than 3 months usually need to “go” within 1-2 minutes of waking up or playing, and 10-15 minutes of eating or drinking.  Restricting food and water to prescribed times will help a lot. Except in extreme heat, indoor puppies do not need constant access to water.

Preventing all accidents for just two weeks can teach your puppy to use the outdoors quite reliably. Of course, all puppies need a combination of confinement, supervision and frequent walks until adolescence. So practice the method described above, and you’ll be well on your way towards raising a happy, well-adjusted pooch! 

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