House Training

Puppy parents know that house training-or what used to be called “house breaking”-can be...in a word...challenging. 

Patience and consistency are the keys. I also find house training through crating (also sometimes called “denning”) to be effective. I know some puppy parents who resist crating their new four-legged kids because they listen to those pitiful barks and yelps and feel just awful. “I’m a horrible person for keeping little Spike in his crate when he obviously hates it there,” they think.

But little Spike isn’t upset about being in the crate. He’s sad that he’s not with you. In fact, puppies feel secure in confined spaces and will crawl into them freely. Trust me-you’re not emotionally scarring ‘ your puppy when you place him or her in the crate. 

For house training purposes, crates work because puppies don’t like to soil their confined space. It’s important puppy doesn’t eliminate in his crate, because once the crate is no longer “sacred” to him, it won’t teach puppy anything. So, for successful crate training, puppies need frequent walks and lots of positive reinforcement every time they successfully do their business-outside.

How often do puppies need to be walked? Take your puppy’s age in months then add two hours. So, a two month-old pup needs to be walked every four hours, a three month old puppy every five hours, a four month-old puppy every six hours, etc. 

If you aren’t convinced crate training is the way to go, or if it doesn’t seem to work with your furry little bundle of joy, you can try the old-fashioned method of paper-training.

For this method to work, keep your puppy in a confined space, such as a gated area in the kitchen. Place puppy’s food, water and toys next to the gate, then paper the rest of the space. Again, lots of walks and lots of praise when he goes outside. But-no praise when he goes in his indoor space.

Puppies are great, no doubt about it. But they do require disciplined pet parenting. But so what? The months of discipline and house training will be so worth it when you can sit back and enjoy the cutest, most adorable little guy in existence!

Article by Dr. Jeff Werber, DVM