If you are going to be bringing a puppy home that hasn’t been house trained, you can use this step-by-step guide. There are nine steps in the process of house training outlined here. You are going to need to be very consistent and persistent in order to be successful.
1.It’s crucial for the process to have the correct size of dog crate. Make sure you obtain one before the puppy arrives. This means it should be large enough so your puppy can turn around in it and lay down in it but not much bigger than that. This will become your puppy’s nest and his natural instinct is to never soil it. If the crate is too large, he may soil it away from his usual sleeping position. You have been warned!
2. Make sure you are available for at least two days, so that you can be with your puppy. He’s going to require taking outside a lot to begin with – from every thirty to sixty minutes.
3. You may want to limit the puppy’s access to particular areas of the house until he is housebroken.
4. There are known times when he is very likely to need to go outside, so take him out at these times: when he gets up in morning, when he wakes up from a nap, after he’s been exerting himself (for example, playing hard), after eating or drinking and before he retiring to sleep at night.
5. When he arrives he is going to require you to take him outside every thirty to sixty minutes, until you begin to recognise the signs that he needs to relieve himself. The signal may be sniffing, circling or backing up.
6. Once you see the signs that he wants to relieve himself, you should take him outside as fast as you can and wait until he does his business.
7. When he does his business, immediately give him lots of praise and attention.
8. If you can’t keep an eye on him for a while you can leave him in his crate for an hour. But first you need to get him happy to stay in his crate. To do that give him small treats while he is next to the crate and gradually lure him inside with them. Once he’s been in a few times, shut the door very briefly and then open again. The time the door is left closed should be lengthened gradually. You should put a chew toy, a dispensing toy or an interactive toy in the crate with him to keep him amused.
9. If he does have an accident and makes a mess in the house, just ignore him when he does it but be sure to clean it up and clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner or hot biological washing powder solution. If you don’t, your puppy will still smell it and be tempted to do his business there again.
For more information about puppy crate training and house training your puppy, visit my Training Puppy Tips website.
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