House-training a puppy

House-training teaches a puppy to toilet outdoors. It depends on taking the puppy out often enough that it has little chance to go indoors, and rewarding it every time it goes in the right place. Most puppies are reliable by about six months, with accidents becoming rare well before that.

When to take the puppy out

• As soon as it wakes, in the morning and after every nap.
• After every meal and drink.
• After play or excitement.
• Before bed and before being left.
• At least every hour at first, and every two hours as it grows.

A young puppy can hold its bladder for roughly an hour for each month of its age, and less when it is active. Puppies under about twelve weeks usually need one trip outside during the night.

What to do outside

The puppy is taken on a lead to the same spot each time and given a few minutes, without play or fuss. The moment it finishes, it is praised and given a treat on the spot; a reward given back in the house comes too late to be understood. A word said as it goes can later be used as a cue. If nothing happens, it is brought in, watched closely and taken out again ten minutes later.

Indoors

Between trips the puppy is supervised, or confined to a small, easily cleaned area or a crate, since dogs avoid soiling where they sleep. Signs that it needs to go include sniffing the floor, circling, whining, heading for the door or suddenly leaving a game. It is then taken out calmly and quickly.

A crate must be large enough for the puppy to stand, turn and stretch out, is introduced gradually with food and bedding, and is never used for punishment or for hours at a stretch.

Accidents

Accidents are part of the process. The puppy is not scolded, and its nose is never rubbed in the mess; punishment teaches it only to hide when it needs to go, which makes training harder. If caught in the act, it is interrupted quietly and carried outside.

The area is cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner or a solution of biological washing powder, then rinsed. Ordinary disinfectants and anything containing ammonia leave a smell that draws the puppy back.

Puppy pads and flats

Paper or absorbent pads teach a puppy that toileting indoors is acceptable, which then has to be untaught. They are best avoided where there is easy access outside. In a flat without a garden, a tray of turf on a balcony or frequent trips downstairs work better in the long run.

Problems

• A puppy that toilets as soon as it comes back in has been distracted outside; it needs longer, on a lead, in a quiet spot.
• Urinating when greeted or scolded is a sign of excitement or appeasement, not a training failure, and is outgrown if greetings are kept low-key.
• A trained dog that starts soiling again is examined by a vet, since urinary infections, digestive upsets and, in older dogs, age-related conditions are common causes.
• Adult rescue dogs are trained in the same way as puppies and usually learn quickly.

General preparation for a new puppy is covered under preparing a home for a puppy.