Having a puppy in the house can be enjoyable and fun for you and the family, but at the same time, an untrained puppy can be messy. Heres the steps on how to housebreak your puppy.
Housebreaking your puppy is the number one thing you need to teach him. This should be started the moment you bring your puppy home, but remember it takes plenty of patience and a lot of trial and error.
Puppies are not able to hold their bladders or bowels until they are twelve weeks of age. If your puppy is younger than that, extra patience is required.
You and your family will need to set up a schedule and plan to stick with it. You should try and get up at roughly the same time each morning and take your puppy out right away.
You should also feed your puppy at roughly the same time each day and take him outside directly after eating. Your puppy will also need to be taken out after he is woken up from a nap
When training your puppy, you should watch for any sign that you may need to take him out; such as sniffing, circling, and pacing.
These are all universal signs that he needs to go. At the first hint of these signs, you should take him out immediately. If you happen to catch him during an accident, you should say no firmly and take him immediately outside.
When he finishes outside, you should praise him.
You should never punish your puppy by hitting him for pushing his nose in the mess. All this does is teach them to fear you.
If you find a mass in the house, but don't catch them in the act, you should punish him. He does not remember making the mess and won't associate your scolding with his growing to the bathroom inside.
All this will do is confuse him.
When housebreaking, you should put your puppy in a crate or kennel whenever you leave the house for any length of time. This way he won't have any accidents in the house while you are gone.
It is best to purchase a larger crate then your puppy needs so that he can grow into it. They usually come with a divider that you can use so that the area in your puppy is in is only large enough for him to turn around and lie down.
This way he is not tempted to have accidents on one side of the crate and sleep on the other.
Puppies instinctively know not to soil their sleeping area, so you need to use this trait to your advantage.
You should never let your puppy stay in the crate or kennel for longer than 4 to 6 hours.
This is about as long as the puppy can hold their bladder, any longer than this may cause him to relieve himself.
This will only cause your puppy to become upset and cause a mess for you to clean up. If you can, you should come home as often as possible to take your puppy outside.
If your workday does not allow this, you can ask a trusted neighbor or friend to let your puppy out while you are at work.
Housebreaking may take several months to a year to become a permanent routine. You should not give up. All dogs can be house trained.
You should remember that your puppy does want to please you. You should stay stern and stick to your routine and your puppy will eventually learn