Chapter 6: House-Training

House-training is often frustrating for puppy owners. It’s never fun to clean up messes. There may be times when you think that your puppy deliberately pees in the house just to annoy you, but that is never the case. Puppies don’t pee or poop out of spite. Elimination is a natural behavior. Your puppy just doesn’t understand that you don’t want him to eliminate on your carpet. Even if you think you’ve been very clear in indicating to him where you want him to eliminate, this may not be the case.

House-training takes consistency, patience, and clear communication. It also takes keeping an eagle-eye watch on your puppy. The phrase “supervise your puppy” really means that you need to be like an FBI witness protection unit, watching your puppy every minute to prevent accidents. Puppies can pee really quickly! If you turn your back for just a few minutes, you’ll turn around to find a new puddle on the floor.

You puppy only eliminates in inappropriate places because you let him. He either has too much freedom or not enough supervision, or you didn’t take him to his elimination spot often enough. Every time he does eliminate in the inappropriate place, he’s practicing the incorrect behavior. Your goal is to manage your puppy so that he has very little opportunity to eliminate where you don’t want him to and every opportunity to eliminate where you prefer.

Your first decision in house-training will be where you want your puppy to eliminate: indoors or outdoors? Please choose one option. If you want your puppy to eliminate indoors sometimes but outdoors at other times, it will be just too confusing for your puppy. Keep things simple.

Outdoor elimination means that your puppy will not pee or poop inside the house. Indoor elimination means that your puppy will eliminate on pee pads or in a litterbox. So, for example, if you choose to teach your puppy outdoor elimination, you wouldn’t put pee pads inside the house and encourage him to eliminate on them, too.

Once you decide where you want your puppy to eliminate, it’s time to start confinement training. For this, a crate is the best tool.

Did You Know? Very Young Puppies Need Longer Potty Breaks

You take your puppy out, he pees and poops, and you head back inside, only for him to immediately pee and poop again. This is very common. Very young puppies, usually less than twelve weeks old, often have to eliminate twice or more per potty break. Give your young puppy enough time to get everything out during his potty break, and you will have fewer accidents indoors.

Puppies only eliminate in inappropriate places because you let them.

Crate Training

A crate is an enclosure for your puppy that you can use to greatly speed up house-training. Used properly, it will help teach your puppy to hold his bowels and bladder because most puppies do not want to soil their dens. In addition to house-training, there are many benefits to crate training for puppies.

•Crates keep your puppy safe from eating or chewing things that can hurt him, such as electrical cords or small items that he could swallow.

•Crates keep your puppy from destructively chewing on items you would prefer he leave alone, such as your furniture, shoes, your children’s toys, the carpet, and more, which in turn keeps you from getting angry at your puppy for inappropriate chewing!

•Crates help teach your puppy how to be by himself. You can’t be with your puppy all of the time, so it’s healthy for him to learn how to be by himself and be OK with it.

•Crates help keep a puppy still when recovering from illness, injury, or surgery. For example, when your puppy is spayed or neutered, he will need to rest for some time afterward. Once the anesthesia wears off, your puppy will likely be ready to zoom around long before he should! A crate will prevent him from getting too much activity. Also, puppies can sometimes zig when they should zag and end up pulling a muscle or sustaining a soft-tissue injury. Your veterinarian may recommend several days or weeks of crate rest. How do you keep a wiggly puppy still? Use a crate.

•Crates are excellent for travel. If your car is big enough to accommodate your puppy’s crate, he should ride in the crate for safety reasons. Dogs should never be loose in your car while driving. If you were in a car accident, your puppy would become a projectile. (If your car isn’t big enough for the crate, you can get a canine safety belt.) If you take your puppy on your travels, the crate will be a familiar den to provide some comfort for him and keep him from getting into trouble. It’s going to be embarrassing if your puppy pees all over your grandmother’s fancy rug, so bring your puppy’s crate along for the trip.

•Crates are more effective for house-training than simply confining your puppy to a room, such as the kitchen, laundry room, or bathroom. If your puppy has that much room, he can pee or poop in a corner and simply move away to a clean area. He will not learn to hold his bladder and bowels as effectively in a room as he will in a crate of the proper size. Plus, some puppies have been known to chew through wooden doors or jump over baby gates and escape from rooms.

Introduced properly, a crate can be your puppy’s safe harbor. He’ll have a comforting den to take breaks in when he’s stressed or overtired. You may find that he willingly goes into his crate for naps. To achieve this, you need to crate-train your puppy so he learns to love his new den.

Crate Location

Where do you put your puppy’s crate? Preferably, put it in an area where you commonly hang out, such as the family room or living room. It’s perfectly fine if you want to move the crate into your bedroom at night. In fact, it may help your puppy acclimate to your home faster because he may feel more secure being near you.

Try not to put the crate off by itself, such as in a laundry room or another room where you don’t spend much time. Your puppy wants to be part of your family, and if you want him to bond with you, you should keep his crate close by. He won’t be in the crate all the time, but when he’s very young, he will spend a good deal of time in his crate when you can’t supervise him closely—so you want him nearby.

Place the crate in a room where the family spends a lot of time.

Crate Accessories

Puppies should have access to water in their crates. Avoid plastic bowls that your puppy can chew. You can get stainless steel bowls or “coop cups” that affix to the crate’s door. If you find that your puppy frequently splashes his water and makes a mess, then you may not be able to keep water in his crate. In this case, make sure that he has plenty of access to water when he is outside his crate.

You can try to put a crate mat or blanket in the crate, but don’t be surprised if your puppy chews it. Puppies love to chew. If your puppy doesn’t chew the blanket, it’s fine to leave it in the crate. But if you see any sign of chewing, take the blanket out of the crate. If he were to shred up pieces and ingest them, they could get stuck in his intestines, requiring surgical removal. Your puppy will be fine in the crate without a blanket or bed. You can try putting one in there again once he grows up a bit and gets out of his chewing phase.

You can also find an attractive crate cover made of fabric to drape over your puppy’s crate for some privacy and a more den-like environment. Crate covers work for some puppies, but others will find a way to pull the fabric into the crate and chew on it. If your puppy is a chewer, then leave the crate uncovered.

Do not put pee pads in your puppy’s crate. You may think that it’s a good idea to put them down to absorb urine in case he pees, but this is not a good idea. Some pee pads are treated with a scent to encourage puppies to eliminate, which could teach your puppy to eliminate in his crate. Even if the pads are not scented, if your puppy pees on them and the urine is absorbed, it will teach him that it’s OK to eliminate in the crate. Crate training is supposed to help teach your puppy to hold his bladder, not eliminate in his den. If you want to use pee pads to teach your puppy to eliminate indoors, that’s fine—just don’t put them in your puppy’s crate.

Toys

Safe, durable chew toys are good to put in your puppy’s crate. A food-stuffed rubber toy is a great reward for going into the crate for an extended period of time.

Introducing the Crate

The crate should always be a positive experience for your puppy. Never use the crate for punishment. Following are the steps to introduce your puppy to the crate. Keep in mind that all of these steps may not happen in one session. Keep your sessions very short—just a few minutes at a time—with breaks in between.

Goal: Your puppy will learn to go into his crate on cue and remain there.

What You’ll Need: Clicker, treats, crate.

1.Take your puppy to where you’ve set up the crate. Click and treat for any interest in the crate, even if he just looks at it. Don’t lure him into the crate with the treats. It will be better if he explores it on his own and then gets a treat for a reward. Some puppies are so focused on treats that they could go right into the crate for the treat but then become distressed to find out where they are because they really weren’t paying attention. So use the treats as rewards, not bribes.

2.Your puppy should start moving toward the crate or even sniffing it. Click and treat for any interaction.

3.Gradually work to where your puppy puts one paw inside the crate. Click and treat.

4.Once your puppy will put one paw in the crate reliably, wait to click. He should try something new, such as putting two paws inside the crate, to get a reward. Click and treat!

5.Work to where your puppy will go all the way into the crate. Click and treat all correct responses.

Now that your puppy is happily going into his crate, it’s time to add the cue.

1.Just before your puppy goes into the crate, give the cue “Kennel up!” or “Go to kennel!” or “Crate up!” in a friendly voice. When he goes in, click and treat.

2.Now it’s time to shut the door. Cue “Kennel up,” let your puppy walk into the crate, shut the crate door, and click and feed him a treat through the door. Immediately open the door and let him come out if he chooses. If he chooses to stay in the crate, give him another couple of treats.

3.When your puppy will go into his crate and you can shut the door for a second, start gradually increasing the amount of time that you keep the door closed. Cue “Kennel up,” let your puppy go into the crate, shut the door, wait a few seconds, and then click and pass a treat through the crate door. If he remains quiet, wait another couple of seconds and then give him another treat through the crate door. Open the door and let him out if he chooses. Repeat several times.

4.Gradually increase the amount of time that you leave your puppy in the crate with the door closed. Let him out only if he is quiet. If he starts pawing at the crate door or whining or barking, do not let him out. Keep waiting for him to settle down and be quiet before you let him out. In the next repetition, decrease the amount of time so that your puppy can be successful.

Keep your crate-training sessions short, with breaks in between.

Up until now, you’ve stayed with your puppy near his crate. Now it’s time to teach him to enjoy his crate without you nearby.

1.Cue “Kennel up,” let your puppy into the crate, shut the door, click and treat. Walk across the room and then immediately walk right back. Feed another treat through the crate door and then open the door and let your puppy out if he chooses (as long as he is quiet). Repeat several times.

2.Gradually work to where you can leave the room for longer periods of time. Return several times and feed your puppy a treat through the crate door, as long as your puppy remains quiet.

3.When you reach five minutes, start leaving your puppy a food-stuffed rubber toy or a chew bone for him to enjoy while you are gone. This will make his time in the crate more rewarding.

Tips: Do not let your puppy out of his crate if he cries, whines, or barks. You will just be teaching him that crying, whining, or barking means that you will let him out. Just wait him out. If you don’t, you will regret it later because it will be harder to teach him to stay in his crate. Your puppy will need confinement for some time, so be consistent with your training now. Keep making the crate rewarding, working in short steps, and he will soon learn to love his crate.

This training may take several sessions over several days, but you will need to crate your puppy overnight on the first night you have him home. So what do you do if you haven’t finished your crate training yet? It’s OK. Just put your puppy in his crate, give him several treats and a toy, and leave him there overnight. For the first few nights that you crate your puppy, if you haven’t finished your training and if his previous home never crate-trained him, he may protest. Check on him. Is he caught on anything? Is he hurt? If not, then do not let him out of the crate. Sometimes it helps, if the crate is in your bedroom, to put your fingers in the crate door so he can sniff them and feel comforted that you are near. But don’t let him out if he’s making a ruckus. Be strong! When you complete your crate–training, he’ll love his crate, and you’ll be able to get peaceful nights of sleep.

Remember, if you have a very young (around eight weeks old) puppy, he may not be able to go the entire night without a potty break. In this case, just take him out for his potty break and return him to his crate immediately with a treat. During the early days of crate-training, you should always give him a treat when he goes into his crate to help build a positive association with it.

When you are home with your puppy, you should have him out of the crate as much as possible, as long as you can supervise him appropriately. Make sure that you crate him on occasion while you are at home, however, so he doesn’t always associate your leaving with crate time. For example, you could crate him with a food-stuffed rubber toy while you are fixing and eating dinner.

When you are home with your puppy, you should have him out of the crate, under your supervision, as much as possible.

Getting Attached with Tethering

When you are home and slightly busy, but you don’t want to crate your puppy, you still need to supervise him closely, or he may have potty accidents in your home. These are the times when tethering can be a good solution. Simply put your puppy on leash and attach the leash to your belt or tie it around your waist. This will keep your puppy close to you and give you the opportunity to watch him to prevent accidents.

Setting Schedules

Determine your puppy’s feeding schedule and potty schedule. In general, free feeding puppy is not recommended. If he is eating all day, he’ll have to eliminate all day, which makes it harder to house-train him.

Puppies of less than six months of age should get three meals a day. Simply put the food down for about fifteen minutes. Take the food bowl away after fifteen minutes, even if there is food left. If you feed your puppy on schedule regularly, he will soon learn when it’s time to eat. He may end up reminding you!

Try to space out his feedings evenly. You don’t want to make the last feeding too late in the evening because then your puppy will have to eliminate in the middle of the night. It is also OK to take away your puppy’s water about an hour before bedtime to help reduce his need to pee during the night. Just be sure that he has had plenty of opportunity to have water during the day.

If your schedule is different on the weekends, your puppy’s schedule should not be. Puppies do best and learn faster with consistency, so keep to his feeding and potty schedule as closely as possible every day of the week.

Your puppy’s potty schedule will greatly depend upon the age of your puppy and, to an extent, his breed or breed combination. Very young puppies (around eight to sixteen weeks of age) will need more frequent potty breaks than six-month-old puppies. Toy and small breeds also seem to need more frequent potty breaks.

In general, puppies need to eliminate when they wake up (even from naps), after they eat, after playing, and after baths. You will be pretty safe in taking your puppy for a potty break at these times as well as every couple of hours. As your puppy gets older, he will need less frequent potty breaks.

If you consistently take your puppy to his elimination spot and he doesn’t eliminate, then start decreasing the number of potty breaks you give him. With the sample schedule outlined here, there are eight potty breaks per day. The average adult dog needs about four potty breaks a day. So as your puppy ages, you’ll gradually go from about eight potty breaks a day to four. Each dog is an individual, and may need more or fewer potty breaks. As your dog ages into a senior citizen, he will need more frequent potty breaks again.

Schedules help you stay consistent and help you train more efficiently, but puppies don’t always memorize your schedules! So learn the signs that your puppy has to eliminate. Note that very young puppies may not give you much notice at all. They have very little control, and they have not yet learned to recognize the sensation that tells them that they have to eliminate. As your puppy gets older, he’ll offer you more signals. He may whine. He may start sniffing the ground, going in circles. If you see these signs, play it safe and take him to his elimination spot.

Always take your puppy out on a leash when you start house-training.

Training Your Puppy to Potty Outside

If you do not have a yard for your puppy to eliminate in, but you want him to eliminate outside, you’ll need to teach him to eliminate during your walks outside. Or maybe you have a yard, but you want to eventually travel with your dog and thus want to teach him to eliminate on different surfaces (also called “substrates”), such as grass, pine straw, rocky areas, and the like. Some dogs can develop specific preferences if they haven’t been taught to eliminate in different environments. For example, if your puppy eliminates only on grass and you travel to a location with mainly rocky terrain, your dog might “hold it” for hours rather than go on an unfamiliar surface. So save yourself future hours of persuasion under the duress of travel. Teach your puppy that different outside locations are OK for elimination.

Simply putting your puppy outside according to a potty schedule will not teach him to eliminate outside. Puppies are easily distracted. Your puppy has no idea that you want him to eliminate outside. He may think that you took him outside to check out the neighbors or dig up bugs. You need to keep him focused on the task you want. To do this, you should always take your puppy out on leash.

When you are attached to your puppy, you can limit the amount of environmental interference that he will experience. A fenced yard isn’t enough to keep distractions to a minimum for the average puppy. While you hold the leash, you can gently guide him to an elimination spot of your choosing, whether in your yard or on the curbside as you walk, and prevent him from running off to explore. Leashing your puppy will help make potty breaks more efficient because you won’t be chasing your puppy all over the yard while he gets distracted by every scent and sight. He will learn to eliminate quickly, which is extremely convenient if you have a busy schedule, are traveling, or need to monitor his elimination for health reasons.

Leashing your puppy will also help you encourage your puppy to eliminate during bad weather. Yes, it means that you have to go outside, too! To effectively house-train your puppy, you have to go outside with him. You have to be there at the second that he eliminates so that you can reward him. Once your puppy is fully house-trained, you will not have to always go outside with him.

Goal: Your puppy will eliminate outside.

What You’ll Need: Treats, plastic bags for cleanup, leash.

1.Hide the treats from your puppy. Some puppies will be so focused on the treats that they may be too distracted to eliminate.

2.Leash your puppy. Take him outside to his elimination spot. If you want to teach your puppy to eliminate while on a walk, don’t walk too far before choosing an elimination spot. You get to decide where your puppy eliminates. If you consistently choose a spot early in your walk, he’ll develop the habit of eliminating first and then enjoying the rest of the walk. If you choose a spot close to home, you can then also go back and dispose of the poop bag so you won’t have to carry it all along your walk.

3.As soon as he starts to eliminate, say “Go potty” in a friendly voice. If you’re outside for ten minutes and your puppy does not eliminate, bring him back inside and confine him or closely supervise him for about fifteen minutes and then repeat this step.

4.As soon as your puppy finishes eliminating, praise him and give him a treat.

5.Play or walk with your puppy for a few minutes outside. You can unleash him if you prefer (as long as you have a fenced yard). You don’t want to immediately take him inside, or you could be teaching him that elimination means that outside time is over.

6.Repeat Steps 1–5 for each potty break.

Tip: Keep in mind that this is a gradual process. Your puppy won’t be able to anticipate when he has to eliminate until he is at least four months old. If your puppy goes one week without any accidents, don’t be fooled into thinking he’s completely trained. Every accident that he has indoors will set you back a bit. So be vigilant, manage your puppy, and follow the training program. Stick with the program consistently until you have months, not days, of success.

Once your puppy is regularly going outside on leash with you and eliminating on cue, it’s time to start weaning off the leash if you prefer. These steps assume that you have a securely fenced yard where you want your puppy to eliminate. Your puppy should never be allowed off leash in an unfenced yard or when out on a walk. These steps will let you send your puppy out into the yard to eliminate while you remain by the door.

1.Take your puppy outside to eliminate, following the previously outlined house-training program, but this time letting the puppy drag the leash. Follow him closely. Be sure that the leash does not get tangled on anything. When he eliminates, praise and treat. Repeat until he is reliably eliminating with you following him.

2.Take your puppy outside to eliminate, following the house-training program, but this time without a leash. Follow him closely. When he eliminates, praise and treat. If your puppy continues to eliminate quickly without being on leash, move on to Step 3. If he decides to run about and play, then go back to holding the leash for a week and then try Step 1 again.

3.Take your puppy outside to eliminate, following the house-training program, but gradually stay farther away from your puppy. Always praise him when he eliminates and, when he returns to you, give him a treat. If at any time your puppy gets too distracted, decrease the distance between you and then gradually work back up to more distance. (Some puppies will have formed the habit of eliminating quickly by this point, but some will still be easily distracted. Both responses are normal. Just go at your puppy’s pace.) Your goal is to work to the point at which you can stay by the doorway while you send your puppy out into the yard to eliminate.

Tips: Please don’t be discouraged if things go great for a while, and then you experience a setback. The outdoors has many more smells and distractions for your puppy than inside your home does. You may have several weeks of success, and then, one day, your adolescent puppy goes outside and gets obsessed with one corner of the yard, completely ignoring your cue to eliminate. It may be that a rabbit recently paid your yard a visit, or a neighborhood cat used your yard as an elimination spot. Remember, puppies and adolescent dogs have terrible attention spans. So, if you have a frustrating house-training experience, that’s actually typical. Just stick with the program, be consistent, and wait out your puppy’s lack of focus. If necessary, go back several steps to a point in your training where your puppy is successful so that you can stay on track. You don’t want a momentary distraction to become a new habit for your puppy.

If you want to wean your puppy off the leash for house-training, you must have a securely fenced yard where you want your puppy to eliminate.

Expert Tip: Choosing Your Cue

Some people prefer to have one cue for elimination, such as Go Potty or Do Your Business. Others prefer to have separate cues for peeing and pooping, such as Go Pee and Go Poop. It’s up to you. Just be consistent. Make sure your family is also consistent. If you have a neighbor helping you, or if you hire a petsitter to help you offer a mid-day break for your puppy, be sure you give them the proper cues to use.

Training Your Puppy to Eliminate Indoors

Training your puppy to eliminate indoors can be convenient if you live in a high-rise apartment or have a tiny or small dog. Puppies normally have to eliminate as soon as they wake, so rushing a puppy down fifteen flights to get outside is problematic. Some people cannot make it home for a midday break or may live in an area that isn’t conducive to outdoor elimination. This is when litterbox or paper-training can be very convenient.

Indoor elimination can be both convenient and inconvenient for travel. If you are in a hotel room, it can be easy to set up your puppy’s elimination area, and you won’t have to worry about taking him outside. If you are taking him to visit friends or relatives, however, they may not appreciate or allow you to have an indoor elimination station.

First, choose whether you want to train your puppy to eliminate in a litterbox or on paper or pee pads. Litterboxes come in a variety of styles. Some require litter, and others use sod or artificial turf. Note that litter for dogs is different than litter for cats! Do not use kitty litter in your puppy’s litterbox; it may not be healthy for him. Sod or turf is a good choice if you eventually want to teach your puppy to also eliminate outdoors.

Goal: Your puppy will eliminate indoors in a specific location.

What You’ll Need: Elimination station, treats.

1.Hide your treats from your puppy. Some puppies will be so focused on the treats that they may be too distracted to eliminate.

2.Take your puppy to his elimination spot. As soon as he starts to eliminate, give your cue (such as “Go potty”) in a friendly voice. As soon as your puppy finishes, praise him and give him a treat.

3.If you wait ten minutes, and your puppy does not eliminate, confine him or closely supervise him for about fifteen minutes and then try Step 2 again.

4.Repeat Steps 1–3 for each potty break.

Once your puppy is regularly eliminating on cue, it’s time to start teaching him to move toward the elimination spot on his own, without your having to go with him.

1.Take your puppy to his elimination spot, but stop about one step away from the location. Let your puppy continue the rest of the way by himself. Follow the previously outlined house-training program. Don’t forget to praise him and give him a treat when he eliminates. When your puppy regularly continues to the elimination spot by himself, you’re ready for the next step.

2.Gradually move farther away from the elimination spot, one step at a time, each time your puppy eliminates. Follow the house-training program. Your goal is to eventually be able to send your puppy to his elimination spot from a different room.

Tips: If at any time your puppy misses the litterbox or pee pad, go back to the last point at which he was successful. Stay at that point for a week and then try moving farther away again.

With consistency and practice, your puppy should start going on his own to the elimination spot when he has to eliminate. It will take some time before he is consistent, and he first must be old enough to understand the sensation that signals that he has to eliminate. Continue to monitor your puppy. If you find messes outside the elimination spot, first check to make sure that the path to the elimination spot was not blocked. For example, if the spot is in your bathroom, was someone in there with the door shut? Or was something potentially scary, such as a parked vacuum cleaner, in the puppy’s way? If you don’t find anything impeding the path to the elimination spot, back up in your training. Go back to supervising your puppy more closely for a few weeks, and then gradually move farther away again. Don’t be discouraged! It’s very common to have house-training accidents on occasion. Just stick with the program consistently and be patient.

Expert Tip

Pee-Pad Holder

If you prefer to use pee pads, get a pee-pad holder to put the pee pad in. This will help prevent the pad from sliding.

Future Training

Once your puppy understands that you want him to eliminate in a certain area, you can consider some advanced training if you like.

Dog Doors

Some people believe that if they have a dog door, their puppy will automatically learn to eliminate outside the house. It’s true that some puppies are innately wired to go outside to eliminate, but not all puppies are, and you shouldn’t depend on a door to do your work for you in house-training. Plus, if you ever travel with your puppy to a place that doesn’t have a dog door, he could be confused.

Another drawback to using dog doors with puppies without supervision is that your puppy could bring things indoors from outside that you may not appreciate! Dogs have been known to bring items ranging from sticks to live animals indoors. Puppies are naturally curious, so the possibility of your puppy’s carrying something into your home is high. He might also carry your nice things outside and leave them there.

If you bring home a new puppy and you already have another older dog or dogs in your home that regularly use a dog door, don’t completely depend on them to house-train your puppy. For example, puppies sometimes learn to follow other dogs outside to eliminate. Then, when the other dogs pass away and are no longer around to lead them, they start eliminating in the house. Be sure that you are the one teaching your puppy what you want.

Once your puppy has done well in his house-training for several months, it should be OK to introduce him to the dog door.

Goal: Your puppy will go through a dog door.

What You’ll Need: Clicker and treats.

1.Sit near the dog door with your puppy. Click for any interest in the dog door, even if he just looks at it.

2.After a few clicks for showing interest, your puppy should start moving toward the dog door or nosing it. Click and treat. Gradually work to where your puppy will open the door with his nose. Click and treat.

3.If your puppy seems confused or a bit hesitant about the door, open it yourself and hold it open. Don’t let it slam shut, or it could startle him. Click and treat for every exploratory action.

4.Gradually work to where your puppy will go through the dog door. Click and treat for every correct response.

5.Go outside the dog door and repeat the steps. Just because your puppy learns to go through the door one way doesn’t mean that he will understand that he can come back through!

Tip: This may take one session or several, depending on your puppy. Some puppies will boldly charge right through the door right away, while others are more hesitant. Each reaction is normal, so just go as fast as your puppy is comfortable with and can succeed.

Only introduce a dog door if your puppy has done well in his house-training for several months.

Did You Know? Birds of Prey Can Attack Small Dogs

If you have birds of prey in your area, do not use a dog door for your toy breed or small puppy. Birds of prey, such as hawks and owls, have been known to snatch little dogs. If you think about it, a tiny puppy isn’t much bigger than a rabbit. So do not allow your puppy to be outside without you to protect him from birds of prey. If you have a dog door, you won’t know when your puppy goes outside. If your puppy will grow up to be a larger dog, then wait until he is older and larger to introduce him to the dog door. By then, he will be safer from attacks from the sky!

Teaching Your Puppy to Ring a Bell

As your house-training progresses, you can teach your puppy to give you a signal that he needs to eliminate. This behavior is for a puppy who is trained to eliminate outdoors only.

Goal: Your puppy will ring a bell to go outside.

What You’ll Need: Bell attached to a long ribbon tied to the door leading outside, clicker, treats, leash. To determine what length of ribbon to use, position the bell so that it will hang no higher than your puppy’s shoulder. You want your puppy to be able to easily paw the bell. Attach the bell to the door that you use to take your puppy in and out for elimination. For training purposes, you will use only this door.

1.Sit near the bell attached to the door. Click and treat for any interest your puppy shows in the bell, even if he just looks at it. He should then begin to show increased interest and start to nose the bell. Click and treat. Alternately, if you have already taught him his target cue, you can cue him to “Touch” the bell. Click and treat for all correct responses.

2.When your puppy is regularly ringing the bell, it’s time to teach your puppy that ringing the bell means that you will open the door and take him outside. For this phase, you will need to leash him. When it’s time for a potty break, leash your puppy and wait by the door. Just be still and wait for him to ring the bell. When he does, click, treat, and immediately open the door to take him outside. Give him his cue to eliminate and then give him a treat for doing so. Repeat for each potty break.

3.With repetition, your puppy will learn that when he rings the bell, you open the door. One day, you will not be near the door, but you will hear the bell ring. This is your puppy experimenting! Immediately stop what you are doing, go to your puppy, leash him, and open the door. At this point, you no longer need to click because he has learned the behavior of ringing the bell.

4.Give him ten minutes to eliminate. If he does, praise and treat him. If he doesn’t, simply bring him back inside. At this point, your puppy probably hasn’t learned that ringing the bell is only for when he wants to eliminate. He has learned that ringing the bell means he gets to go outside. By leashing your puppy, you will quickly determine if he really needs to eliminate or just wants to play, and you can easily bring him in if he thinks it’s playtime.

5.Repeat Steps 3 and 4 each time you hear your puppy ring the bell. You may find that your puppy rings it a lot at first! This is typical.

Tips: If you suspect that your puppy just wants to go outside and play, and you don’t open the door, you will teach him that ringing the bell doesn’t mean anything. This will set back your training. You may also find that he eliminates indoors because you didn’t let him out. So even if you think that your puppy’s playing, go and open the door. As long as you leash him so he can’t run and play outside, you will soon teach him that ringing the bell is only for when he needs to eliminate.

Attach a bell to the door that you use to take your puppy in and out.

Cleaning Up Messes

Despite your best intentions, there are bound to be times when your puppy eliminates somewhere that you don’t want him to—this is typical. Your goal in house-training will be to minimize the amount of times that this happens, but when it does, don’t overreact.

If you catch your puppy in the act of elimination, use a stern “No!” and immediately take him to his elimination spot (leashing him if you are training him to eliminate outside). If he finishes at his elimination spot, praise him enthusiastically. You need to make it clear that you are not happy when he eliminates in an inappropriate place, but you love it when he eliminates in his specific spot.

You do not have to, and you shouldn’t, use harsh punishment, or you could cause significant problems. Just use a stern voice. Never use your hands for punishment, and never roll up a newspaper to hit your puppy. This will not teach him to stop eliminating in the house at all. Instead, it will just teach him to be afraid of you or to hide from you to eliminate. This is how you create a puppy that hides in closets or under tables to eliminate. Not what you want to teach!

If you do not catch your puppy eliminating, you can’t punish him. He’s long forgotten what you are yelling about. Just be more vigilant in your supervision to prevent it from happening again.

Try This! Cleaning Up

When you clean up urine or feces, use an enzymatic cleaner to be thorough. If you use other types of products, or white vinegar, you may not eliminate all of the particles, which your puppy can still smell. This may encourage him to return to the spot and eliminate again. Enzymatic cleaners are available at pet-supply stores.