Housebreaking means teaching your puppy to go to the bathroom outside. Paper training means; teaching him to use papers in the house. You can also teach your puppy to use a litter pan.

Housetraining can only take a few weeks if you follow these simply steps, but remember don’t expect perfection for several months. Here are some tips to help with the training.

a.) The puppy will need to urinate and defecate first thing in the morning and last thing at night. So choose a site outdoors that you have easy access too. If this is not possible select an elimination site for paper or litter training if the puppy is going to be alone longer than he/she can hold it.

b.) The puppy will need to go outside or be taken to his papers or litter pan, after he/she wakes up, eats, plays hard or chews. When the puppy does his job immediately reward him enthusiastically with praise, do not wait until you go inside. He will learn to go there as he associates this with rewards, and praise. Remember to watch your puppy, this way you know he has eliminated.

c.) Remember if you can’t see your puppy, it usually means he’s up to no good! If your puppy always wants to run out of sight you may want to consider putting a lead on him in the house. Close supervision is the key. You need to watch your puppy to learn how he behaves when he needs to eliminate. If you notice him sneaking off, heading to the door, doing circles or squatting, take him to the elimination stop and reward after he has done the job. Your puppy will usually learn to show you these cues when he needs to go outside.

d.) Cleaning with an odor neutralizer is a must! Never use a product with ammonia in it. Ammonia is in urine and that familiar smell will be an invitation to the pup.

e.) If you catch your puppy making a mistake in the house, make a startling noise, example slapping hands, saying No in firm voice. This will usually stop the puppy in the middle, then pick him/her up and take them outside to finish, once they finish, praise them.

f.) Do not rub his nose in it, yell, spank, or swat. He is a baby. This is a mistake, not a felony. If you make a big deal over the mistake, you create more problems. If your puppy starts to eliminate indoors in an unacceptable area when you aren’t watching, he is more likely to return to this spot because there was no consequences when he eliminated there. Do not punish if you didn’t catch them in the act!! Just clean it up with a odour neutralizing cleanser and supervise better next time.

g.) Put your pup (4 months) and yourself on a walking schedule. The following is a guideline; you will have to adjust the house training to your schedule.

h.) 7:00 a.m. take your puppy outside or to his papers. If puppy goes to bathroom, enjoy supervised free time while you get have breakfast etc. If pup doesn’t go to the bathroom then put him back in the crate.

i.) 7:30 a.m. supervise him while he has breakfast, watch for him looking distracted, doing circles, sniffing the ground or floor or squatting. It is time!! Take him outside or to his papers or pan. Once again praising the puppy for going to the bathroom in the correct spot.

j.) 8:00 a.m. go for a walk or let puppy play in the yard depending on puppies age.

k.) 12:30 walk puppy or take him to papers, or pan. If puppy goes to the bathroom, praise him and let him play. If not, return puppy to crate. And retry in half-hour.

l.) 1:00 p.m. Offer food and water.

m.) 1:45 p.m. take puppy out or to papers or pan. If puppy goes to the bathroom, praise him and let him play, If not, as above.

n.) 6:00p.m. walk or take him to papers

o.) 7:00p.m. feed and water (No food or water after 7:00pm)

p.) 7:45p.m. Take puppy outside or to papers or pan.

q.) 11:00p.m. take him out or to papers or pan. Puppy must urinate and defecate. Crate overnight.

r.) This schedule needs to be kept the same even on day’s off, there will be plenty of time for sleeping in when the puppy is house broken. Routine, rountine, rountine, you are teaching the puppy when he can “expect” to go out!

s.) Take the pup to the same area all the time. This will stimulate him to do the job faster. Pick a spot that works for both of you and he will soon learn exactly why he’s there.

t.) Don’t waste time; if he’s gone, praise him well and then go back inside, unless this is one of his exercise walks. In this is the case, take him to his spot, wait until he goes, then exercise him. This is another way to reward him for going outside.

u.) Teach then pup to go on command, by saying “Hurry up” as he squats. Praise him calmly until he’s done, then make a big deal over him and give him a treat. In a couple of weeks he will understand “Hurry up” and go on command. This works well when you are running late or the weather is not cooperating.

v.) Once you have had one clean week, try adding half-hour to every free period. Pups on this schedule need plenty of exercise----15 minutes three times a day chasing a ball, playing with another dog or walking fast. If you want to spend some extra time with your pup inside, then out a leash on him and keep him near you after the free period. Make sure he has toys, pre-cooked rawhides to entertain himself with. This will keep him near you and out of mischief.

w.) Once the pup has made three weeks clean, eliminate the after-meal walks. As the dog matures, slowly shift mid-day walks to later in the day until you are just walking the dog in the morning, when you get home from work and before bed. Usually by eight months, puppies are ready for three walks a day but, as always, let your puppy be the guide.

x.) Puppies that suddenly leave the room , begin to sniff the floor in circles or pant when they have not been exercising most likely need to go. It is better safe then sorry. Prevention, not correction, speeds up housebreaking.

City Housebreaking:

City Housebreaking is sometimes more difficult than in the suburbs. Because of disease, pups are usually quarantined indoors until they have received there 2nd vaccination. They should remain quarantined until 14 days after there second vaccination; this gives the vaccination time to take effect. Some people may wait until the puppy has had there 3rd vaccination before taking them to parks etc. This would make the puppy approx 16weeks of age. If you have access to a garden, fenced yard, safe rooftop, this will speed up your housebreaking, if not, the only thing to do is, paper train or train your puppy to a litter box. Sometimes, this double step: paper training then housebreaking can be confusing to your puppy. It may slow down the training process, because it takes longer for the puppy to get the idea. Example: you catch your puppy in the act, swoop him up, grab your keys, unlock the door, get into the hall, re-lock the door, run to the elevator, ring, wait for it’s arrival, hop on, ring the ground floor, wait for it to get there, run across the lobby and to the sidewalk. By now even I have forgotten what I went out there for! There are even distractions that side tract your puppy from doing him job or may frighten him, like loud noises from cars, trains going by etc.

Here are some tips for city housebreaking:

a.) Remember it’s a two step process, paper training and then housebreaking. Don’t go wild with praise when your puppy goes on the paper. Tell him moderate “Good Boy”. In the few weeks you will prefer he does his job outside.

b.) Carry the puppy (Remember carry a puppy by supporting both the front and rear end) around with you outside for a reasonable frame of time or sit with the puppy in your arms on a bench and allow him to get use the city noises and sights, this will help him relax faster. Relaxed puppies go to the bathroom. Do not put him down or allow him to visit other dogs until your vet says it’s Ok. Once you have the OK, Your puppy needs to learn how to act in places outside of home. Help the puppy interact with strangers right away, watch your puppy for signs of fear and offer reassurance, over time your puppy will learn to act appropriately towards other people. Take your puppy for short drives in the car. Let him met the local dogs, go to the parks, introduce your puppy to as many sights, environments and situations as you can. These things will help the puppy feel comfortable in social settings and may help prevent the puppy from acting inappropriately because it’s afraid, aggressive or out of control.

c.) Teach your puppy to “hurry up” on the papers so that when you move to the outside, he’ll quickly understand what you mean.

d.) Remember don’t forget to stoop and scoop.

Paper Training Guidelines

• Follow same rules as with housebreaking but simply take pup to papers instead of outside.
• Change papers after each use. Put a slightly soiled paper underneath the fresh ones. The scent will encourage the    puppy.
• Wipe under the papers with an odor neutralizer daily. This keeps the smell off the floor, discouraging the pup from sniffing the edge of the paper but actually going off of it.
• Putting waxed paper or plastic under the papers can save your floor or rug from staining or long term odor.
• As the puppy matures, takes him out of his crate, take him to different areas of the house and tell him “Papers”. Then   walk back to the papers with him. This will teach him to run to his papers when he feels the urge to go.
• Most puppies can control themselves through the night once they are 12weeks old, but need to eliminate three to four   times during the daytime.
• Most puppies will not go to the bathroom where they sleep, so if your puppy learns his crate if for sleeping or playing   in, he is more unlikely to soil his sleeping area when left confined there when you cannot supervise him.
• If your puppy is not crate trained and your going out longer then he can hold it, place him in a large room or large crate   with paper or litter box for elimination.

Setting up a feeding schedule

All puppies need to be on a food and water schedule during the housebreaking period. If you know when everything went in, it’s easier to estimate when it will come out. All puppies are different. Some puppies eat well, some never do and some eat ravenousely every few days, picking at their food between. Unless your puppy is losing weight or your vet is concerned, don’t worry about it. All these patterns are perfectly normal. Where to feed a puppy should be near the family but in a quiet place; not isolated

• Leave food down for 20 minutes. Make sure your puppy has access to fresh water at all times. The pup will soon learn to eat when fed this is with large breeds. The exception to this is puppies in the toy breeds, these puppies need food available to them at all times. Ask your breeder or veterinarian about specifics.

• Do not add yummy treats to the food if the pup doesn’t eat. This will lead to a picky eater and may upset his stomach. It is reccommend that you keep your puppy on the same food that he was eating prior to going to the new home. NEVER drastically change a puppies food, this can lead to diarrhea, and may upset his digestive tract. This includes treats or sample packets. If a change in food needs to be done then mix the food that the puppy was eating 75/25 with the new food and gradually change over. If a change in food is being done, then it is recommended that no treats be given. Remember his system is already getting use to one change.

• If you are keeping the puppy on the same food he was eating, this doesn’t mean you can give him lots of treats or different sample packets. These are foods that he is not use to and can cause diarrhea and upset his system as well, remember little pieces and work your way up.

• You can take some of the food he has been eating and pre-soak it in warm water until it is soft, drain off the water and offer this to him once a day for one of his meals. This will make it more appealing to him to make sure he is getting enough to eat.

• The occasional skipped meal, as long as the puppy is energetic, drinking normally and has normal stools, is usually nothing to worry about.

• Feeding dry food is easier, less expensive and better for the dogs teeth.

• Feed three to four meals a day before 5 months of age, and two meals a day after that, unless your breeder or vet instructs otherwise.

• If your pup is going to the bathroom five or more times a day and has soft stools, take a stool sample to your vet and have him check to see if the puppy has worms. If he doesn’t try cutting back his food by 10%. Some puppies just eat much more then they can digest, leaning to softer poop. Another reason maybe that you need to feed a better quality puppy food.

• Offer water 3 to 5 times a day. Pups need about 1 cup water for every 8 pounds of body weight per day. Offer a 24 pound pup 1 cup of water 3 times a day. If he always finishes it and looks for more, try increasing it to one and a half cups.

• If your puppy drinks a lot, he will have to go pee several times in the next few hours. Usually once a puppy drinks he will have to pee in 20 minutes. A cup to a 10 pound pup is like 15 cups to a 150 pound person. That individual will have too go! So get that puppy outside or to his litter pan or papers.

• If your puppy consistently drinks large amounts or is urinating frequently; 10 times or more in a day, or urinates tiny amounts all over the place, talk to your vet.

• If your puppy is thirsty but it’s not time for water, offer him one or two ice cubes, which will quench his thirst and not over load his system.

• Keep toilet seats down, (this water can contain Gastrointestinal diseases) ; cat food and water bowls up during housebreaking.

• If the weather is hot, offer him free access to water and walk him accordingly.

Next: Puppy Proofing