How to house train your puppy? Every one of us with a dog asks this question after getting a new dog. Getting a new puppy is always an exciting and cheerful experience. As you welcome a new family member, you forget about the challenging part. Your dog cuteness may get in your way, but we all know how frustrating it can be when your dog does not listen to you. And poop where he wants. For some reason, you don’t want to leave your dog with some other person or trainer. Well, you can always house-train your puppy.
House-training your dog requires commitment, consistency, and a lot of patience. Be aware, accidents are meant to happen during this process. If you follow these basic house-training guidelines, you can train and put your newest family member on the right track within a few weeks.
When To Begin House Training Your Puppy?
Experts say that you should start house-training your dog when he is old between 12 – 14 weeks. Your dog starts to control his bladder and bowel movements at this age. If your puppy is older than 14 weeks then getting him trained may take longer. You will need to use the reinforced behavior technique at that age.
Guideline To House-Train Your Dog
Establish A Routine
Establishing a routine should be the first step towards training your dog. Like babies, puppies perform better on a regular schedule. A schedule will teach them what time to eat, time to play, and more importantly what time to do their business. Any dog one month old can hold his bladder for one hour. So if you are three months old, he can go for three hours without doing his business. Try to avoid putting bathroom breaks in your schedule longer than three hours, as they are more likely to have an accident leaving your place dirty.
Take your puppy outside frequently, at least for one or two hours. Especially after they wake up, eating, or drinking.
Pick a Bathroom Spot Outside, make sure to take your puppy to that spot always. When a puppy is doing their business, it’s best to use a phrase or voice. This way you can remind them by saying those words or voices whenever you want them to do their business outside.
Also, put your puppy on a feeding schedule. What will go in your puppy on time, will come out of him on time. Depending on their age, most puppies need to eat 3 to 4 times a day. So plan it like that.
Also, don’t forget to pick your puppy water dish. You should dish your puppy two and half an hour before sleeping. A puppy can go for seven hours while doing any business. If your puppy will get you up during the night. Don’t make a big fuss about it. Otherwise, they will think it is time to play.
Supervise Your Puppy
When you train your dog for better and controlled behavior, it is necessary to keep an eye on them whenever they’re indoors. You should not give your dog a chance to poop in the house.
Watch for signs, if your puppy needs to go about his business or if he is hungry. It’s better to tether your puppy, in the beginning, to make them reliable. Some signs are obvious, if they need to go outside for pooping, they usually do barking, scratching at the doors, squatting, or sniffing around in circles. Treat your yard as a household when training a puppy. If they follow your instructions, do things on time then reward them with a treat, or praise them. You can give your dog freedom if you sense his reliability around house items.
It’s no brainer, we cannot watch our puppies all the time. When you can’t watch anymore, you can restrict them in a small area where they would not mind doing their business. Make sure this space is big enough where they can stand, lie down and turn around. You can also train your puppy. Be sure to humanely use the crate as confinement. After you have left your puppy in confinement, when you return, take them directly to their bathroom spot.
Make plans When You’re Away
If you’re planning to go away from residence for at least four or five hours, then you need to have someone responsible to take your dog on bathroom breaks. Or you can also train them to do their potty business in a specific indoor place. It’s better to cover that specific area with material other than your flooring like newspaper or, etc. This will give a signal to your dog that this is the place to go about. You can also use scents to direct them towards that certain area. Try not to leave your dog alone if it’s very young, like younger than six months.
The dog house-training main goal is to encourage and reinforce the desirable habits according to your household.