How to housebreak your young puppy, the best method that works with ANY dog!

New puppy?  Adopted dog?  You will need this dog trainer's housebreaking secrets!

PART ONE:
Dogs make great domestic pets because they can be reliably housebroken.  Other animals, like chickens, monkeys, and cows cannot be.  The first thing you are going to do is use the dogs natural instinct to keep its sleeping quarters, or "den" clean. This "den" is your dog's cage. Once he can keep his cage clean, you are going to expand his freedom, until his new "den" is the whole house.

It is important that your puppy always remain clean in the crate. If he gets comfortable sitting in his own pee or poop, you have made it very difficult to housebreak him.  This may be a problem in puppies who are purchased from pet shops, puppy mills, or who are living in cages when they are very young.  Puppies should not be separated from the litter until 8 weeks.  Puppies learn cleanliness from a very young age, when they are still with their mother.  Dogs who potty in their crate and are comfortable lying in it is a problem in itself, and another reason not to buy from a pet store.  Once again, it's important to keep your puppy separate from his waste.

An 8-week old puppy cannot hold it for long, maybe two hours at the most, not including overnight when they may hold it longer.  Puppies will also have to go right after they eat or drink.  If you have a young puppy and you have to leave for a few hours and you think he will not hold it, you need to set up a larger cage with half puppy pad and half folded blanket. Or you can use an exercise pen or small gated area.  This way he will relieve himself in a separate area, then lie on his clean bed. You have preserved his instincts and encouraged a good start to housebreaking. This is realistic, because people cannot always be home to take the pup out every 2 hours.

Other than that, do not use puppy pads if you want your dog to go outside, it is a waste of time, makes more garbage, and he learns to go on the floor! Dogs do not automatically understand why you put a puppy pad on the floor or a litter box in the corner, they are not cats. The reason they pee on these pads is because they are absorbent and have a urine scent. They can also start to generalize the puppy pad, and will also pee on your door mats and rugs, or any absorbent surface like clothes on the floor. If you do want to litter box train (such as living in a high rise), it can be done, but it is more difficult than training your dog to go outside and requires certain methods.  You do not need to paper-train your puppy if you take them out often enough.  It is best to housebreak a dog only outdoors, and skip the pads or papers. Also, do not throw your dog in the backyard and assume he peed/pooped, you need to be out there watching, you need to know if he went.

Do not expect too much too soon, it takes time for bladder muscles to develop as they get older. It is your job to supervise the puppy inside and follow the schedule (linked at bottom).  Accidents do happen, but try to prevent them.  Do not scare your puppy by overly scolding him for having an accident, a simple "no!" will do, and he will know it displeases you. Never hit your puppy with a hand or object, he will only distrust you. Punishment is only effective when given immediately and fairly, do not punish him for something he did an hour ago, or even 3 minutes ago, he already forgot!  Dragging them to it and showing it to them is a method that does not work.  Always praise him when he goes outside, offer a treat, or reward of play and a walk.

Remember, just like you needed to keep the cage clean, you need to keep your HOUSE CLEAN. Accidents happen on the floor with puppies, BUT if your dog walks around and smells feces or urine, he will think it's ok to potty there.  He will potty near there again.  Dogs sense of smell is very, very, very good. So keep the house clean, and use an enzymatic cleaner for accidents. Nature's Miracle Advanced works well, do not use hot water with it. Of course hard floors are going to be easier than carpet. Carpet not only holds dust, it holds urine soaked into the carpet pad.  Where you see the pee on the carpet, it has soaked much more into the pad than what you see on the surface. Carpet is a nightmare for a new puppy owner. 

CLEANING:  I am adding this because I have seen people clean up urine incorrectly.  They spray it first, then clean it up- that makes no sense.  You have to blot up the urine first, removing as much liquid as you can.  Then you use your cleaning products; saturate the area with the Nature's Miracle, then blot again until its dry.

I find the best set up is to buy a wire crate and put it right in your living room, where you can keep an eye on the dog. They make cages with dividers for growing puppies. If you kennel your dog off in another part of the house while the family hangs out in the living room, there is a good chance he will feel like a scorned outcast from the pack. This leads to anxiety and boredom behaviors. At night the puppy can stay in the crate in your bedroom.  So once you have the cage set up in your living room, you need to set up a feeding and potty schedule.  The Schedule is the key!  CONTINUE with HOUSEBREAKING SCHEDULE, Pt. 2

Also see Crate Training: a useful housebreaking tool, or is it cruel?

For more info on dog training, or the housebreaking method explained by Jennifer Hack of Dynamic Dogs Training & Behavior Chicago, visit www.DynamicDogsChicago.com