House Training

For thousands of years puppies have been born in a den. A mother dog getting ready to whelp will dig her den under a rock ledge or inside a tree stump. For the first few weeks of life the mother dog will take care of her puppies’ droppings and urine but as they mature, they know to leave the den to eliminate and not draw attention to their hiding place. We are going to take advantage of this natural den instinct to house train our puppy by using a kennel to play the part of the den.

1st Step

Place your puppy in the kennel for the night. First thing in the morning remove the puppy from the doggie den, attach the lead to the collar, slip a treat into your pocket and carry the puppy to the ‘potty’ area in the yard. Hold on to the leash, say the pets name and give the potty command, i.e. “Rosie, go potty.” Give her one to two minutes. If she eliminates, you then praise her, walk her forward out of the potty area, give her a treat and let her run in the yard for a minute. If however, you have given her a few minutes in the potty area and she doesn’t eliminate, you then pick her up and return her to the kennel and close the door. Fill her food dish and let her eat breakfast in the kennel. Let her eat for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove the food dish but leave the water dish in the kennel all the time. Ten minutes later her bowels will start to move. Reach into the kennel, attach the leash and carry her back out to the potty area. Repeat the command, give her 1-2 minutes, reward and play if she eliminates and then return her to her kennel. If she doesn’t eliminate just carry her back to the kennel and close the door. Repeat this process 5 times daily: first thing in the morning, after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner and just before you retire. Do not take her out to the potty area more often than this or she will never learn what it’s like to have a full bladder and to hold it until she can go out again. This first part may take a few days but once she has mastered this you are ready for the next step.

2nd Step

Once she has been successful with the previous step the next time you take her out set her down on the porch, drop her leash and give the potty command. If she runs to her area and eliminates call her back to you. Praise her, give her a treat and let her play in the yard for a minute. If instead she runs the wrong way or doesn’t know where to go, pick up her leash and help her over to her potty area. If she still will not eliminate, carry her back to the kennel. Once she can go from the porch to her potty area and back to you a few times, she is now ready for the next step. You are still giving her a chance to eliminate 5 times a day but now we are doing it from the porch. By letting her do a little more on her own she is learning where it is acceptable to urinate and defecate.

3rd Step

Now that she is successful from the porch we are ready for the next step. This time when you take her out of her den, set her down in front of the back door and drop her leash. As you open the door say, “Rosie, go outside.” Once she has stepped outside onto the porch you give her the potty command. It is important that you not use a potty command in the house as it may confuse her. Again, you’re still giving her a chance to eliminate 5 times a day but we are now doing it from just inside the house at the back door. With each step she is learning to do a little more on her own and you are doing a little less. Once she is going from the back door to the porch, out to her potty area and back to you just inside the door she is ready for the last step.

4th Step

For the last step you’ll need to block off the room that has the back door in it. Use a children’s gate, couches or chairs with blankets over them to temporarily make this room escape-free. Set your puppy down in this room with the leash attached at a regular time for a potty break. She may run up to the back door immediately and you can let her outside repeating the commands from the previous steps. If she doesn’t stand in front of the door, sit down and wait for her to find it. If you see her starting to sniff, circle or give any other indicator she needs to eliminate, ask her if she needs to go “outside.” It is important that you focus only on your pet while in this room. If she has accidents do not punish her or speak harshly. It is probably your fault for not watching closely enough. With house training we only use positive reinforcement. After she has been successful in going to the door, step back and call her to you. Say, “Come tell me ‘outside’.” The next time even go around a corner and call her to you. Eventually, she’ll find you anywhere in the house and let you know that she needs to be let out.
You can actually have house training done in 7-10 days but you must be firm, be consistent and use the doggie den. May the force be with you!