Here's my story about how to housetrain your puppy: steps to take & mistakes to avoid - I'm sharing this because I wish someone had told me earlier. I learned this the hard way, but at least Rocky is okay now. one of the most daunting tasks for first-time puppy adopters is housetraining. It’s important to stay consistent with training for the first few months of your puppy’s time in their new home. Crate training and using gated off zones, such as a kitchen or laundry room can also make potty training easier.. Housetraining will be quicker and easier if you start as soon as your pup comes home, then stick to it 24 hours a day. That’s one reason experts recommend taking off a week or two from work when you first get your pup. Crate training helps dogs learn bladder and bowel control because they don’t like soiling their sleeping and eating areas. Your dog’s crate should be large enough that they can comfortably lie down, but can’t soil one side and lie on the other. The crate should not be used to keep your pup “out of sight, out of mind.” Give your puppy lots of breaks to stretch their legs and to play and bond with you. One or two hours at a stretch in the crate is all the time they should be spending there during the day. The general rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold their potty for about one hour for every month of age they are. Puppies also need to potty after waking, eating and drinking, and playing. Watching Rocky go through this was heartbreaking. every dog is different, and smaller breeds can’t hold it as long as larger ones. Puppies and dogs learn through habit and will form substrate preferences depending on where you take them out to go. Use the same “elimination station” each time you take your puppy out for potty breaks.. Don’t distract your puppy with games and chit-chat; just stand still and let them circle and sniff. It can take easily distracted puppies a good 10-15 minutes before they realize what they should be doing. Make sure treats and praise come right after your puppy finishes eliminating. Make the praise enthusiastic and the food treat top-notch. Puppies younger than four months will need a midnight potty break, so set your alarm. Keep nighttime bathroom runs calm and matter-of-fact, so your pup doesn’t think it’s playtime. Accidents happen, even if you’re the best dog parent in the world. It’s important that you clean these up quickly and thoroughly so your puppy doesn’t feel drawn back to the same place by the smell of residual poop or urine. Now that you know what steps to take, there are some things you should also know not to do when housetraining your puppy. I wish I had known this sooner. if you come home to find that your puppy had an accident, do not punish them. If you catch your puppy having an accident, startle them midstream with a quick shout or clap, and then hustle them outside to finish the job. Praise them when they’re done so they learn that eliminating outside isn’t just allowed, it’s generously rewarded.. I wish I had known this sooner. stay away from ammonia-based cleaners; they’ll smell like urine to your puppy, and they’ll want to pee again on the same spot. I felt so guilty when I realized what was happening. if your puppy goes through most of the day unsupervised and outside of the crate, then they’re bound to have...
Source: This article is based on information from DogTime