Puppy's Life

Training Day

You and your puppy can work together to perfect house-training Dawn McMullan

As much as you love, adore, and cherish your puppy, there's one important thing about puppyhood that doesn't create warm, fuzzy feelings. Yes, you guessed it—accidents in the house. Experts say the house-training onus is on us—not our puppy. So here's a lesson in puppy house-training. Once you've got it, your puppy will no doubt follow suit.

1. Realize your puppy's bladder limitations.

Always assume your puppy needs to go outside more than you think he does. "Don't keep them in a crate so long they can't hold it," says Diane Arrington, owner of the Dallas-based PetPerfect Academy.

"That's probably the number-one goof-up people make," she says. "With smaller breeds, it can take up to 14 to 16 weeks to house-train, while the larger breeds could be done at 12 to 14 weeks. It's not because they're trying to make you mad. They just don't feel the pressure on their bladder until they get to be a certain age."

How long is too long? An 8-week-old puppy can hold it for about five hours. From that point, it builds at about one hour per week.

2. Put your puppy in a confined space.

Arrington prefers a confined space instead of a crate, but either works well as long as the puppy has frequent breaks. If you're gone nine or 10 hours a day, you should hire a reliable walker to let your puppy out, whether he's in a crate or the laundry room.

If you have no choice but to leave your puppy in confinement for longer than he can wait, put newspaper down. Newspaper has ammonia in it, which encourages a puppy to urinate in that spot, and puppy pads are designed to help as well. Never, however, leave your puppy in a kennel so long he must go to the bathroom. Instinctually, dogs will not go to the bathroom where they sleep. If you break this instinct, retraining will be even more difficult.

At night, put your puppy in a crate in your bedroom. This keeps your puppy from being lonely and allows you to hear if he's crying to go out. "This is not cuddle time," says Pat Miller, founder of the Maryland-based Peaceable Paws and author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and Positive Perspectives. "If you cuddle, you'll teach him to wake up and cry for cuddling."

And even though you want nothing more than to cuddle with your puppy, it's best to resist so he can learn healthy independence.

3. Reward good behavior.

When your puppy goes to the bathroom in the right spot, show him you're very excited and give him a kibble of dry puppy food (puppies are generally too young to use only praise as a reinforcement) and pet him. If you find it helpful, you can gently press a clicker to say "good job!" Clickers make subtle noises that help the puppy learn.

"An awful lot of early house-training is getting the owner to the right spot," says Karen Pryor, CEO of the Massachusetts-based Clicker Training and author of Don't Shoot the Dog. "Sometimes puppies don't understand praise. It's a little overwhelming for them. The simple little click and treat is something that they understand better."

Clicker training is a positive-reinforcement-based system that uses a click during the desired behavior, followed by a treat and lots of petting and cuddling. This allows the puppy to know exactly what she is being rewarded for.

Pryor advises to start with the "potty spot," for consistency, which is key. Use the same door to go to the same spot. When your puppy seems ready to go, give him lots of praise with a special word, indicating this is the time and the place. Click while your puppy is still going to the bathroom, and then give him a kibble of dry puppy food and lots of affection.

4. Don't scold.

"Accidents are the human's fault—not the pup's," Miller says. "If you punish for an accident, you're teaching it's not safe to go where you can see him. So he'll learn to go hide in the guest room to poop and pee." If your puppy has an accident, which he will, don't panic.

5. Be proactive.

Always take your puppy outside after he plays, wakes up, drinks water, eats, or spends a significant amount of time chewing or sniffing. Also take him out before bed. Set your alarm clock or a watch during the day and night as a reminder. Clean accidents well, using an enzyme-based cleaner designed for pet soiling to keep your puppy's keen sense of smell from leading him back to the scene of the crime.

Puppy owners often have unreasonable expectations. Keep in mind that many dogs are not completely house-trained until they are more than 1 year old.

"Be patient and error on the side of caution," Miller says. "It will be worth it."