House Training

First of all, if you control when they eat, you control when they need to go to the bathroom. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency. Strict Schedule and more consistency. Those are the keys to house training a puppy. And realizing they can, on average, be trusted loose in the house for however many minutes they are weeks old. That’s a solid rule of thumb. That definitely can be affected for the positive or negative depending on what all they get to eat.

Step 1

Let’s say you feed at 8 am. They will likely need to go to the bathroom no later than 8:15.

Step 2

Step 2: Pick a spot in the yard you are comfortable with them using consistently as a toilet. Start out by carrying them to that spot, so they don’t go elsewhere. Keep them there for several minutes. If they go, PRAISE THEM!!!!! Get silly about it, leave ZERO DOUBT in that puppy’s mind you are ecstatic.

Step 3

If they don’t, have a small crate set up with an old towel and a small dog chew. Put them in it for 30 minutes. They likely will bark. Ignore them. Do not react to their barking at all. After 30 minutes repeat step 2. Continue that until they go. Then you have a short time they can run around the house.

Step 4

After that time (previously discussed and it will differ by pup) they need to be contained to crate or small area you don’t mind them making a mess in, although that is to hopefully be avoided. Let’s not start any bad habits. It’s better to take them out too often than not enough. You can also keep them with you on a leash.

Tips

As a young pup, the less ‘extra’ stuff they get, the less likely they are to have an upset stomach or other bathroom issues. Changing their food can and will also give them upset stomachs, and continual changes or non-dog food type treats can create chronic stomach issues.