Housebreaking

How does a puppy learn where to go to the bathroom? He learns through social interaction. From birth, the mother cleans up the den but does not clean up outside of it. The pup naturally learns that the personal living space is to be kept clean. From there, it’s just a matter of extending the pups idea of what the personal living space is.

Unfortunately, puppy’s first lessons can be overcome and that is one of the places housebreaking obstacles can arise. The pup can learn that it is OK not to keep its living space clean simply by not having any choice. If a pup is kept confined longer than it can hold its bladder or bowels, it will have to go wherever it is. The confined area is its living space and he gets used to going there. The pup then has no basis from which to extend that area and housebreaking becomes far more difficult. He can still be taught, but now it’s a learning problem rather than a natural social development… much more difficult. So, if you leave the dog unattended in the house, that’s where she will learn to go. You’ve created a problem for yourself, for the pup, and frequently, for the next person who adopts her. Housebreaking trouble is one of the major reasons dogs are turned over to a pound.

By far the easiest and most reliable method of housebreaking a pup is to simply be vigilant and never, never, never, give her the opportunity to go inside the house. In addition, you must communicate that going outside is socially praiseworthy. How can this be accomplished?

There are a few Prerequisites

First, take the pup into your home when you will have time to pay a lot of attention to him. In the beginning constant vigilance is required. You will need to take him outside every time he needs to go or is about to go.
A regular feeding schedule makes for a more regular bathroom schedule. This makes everything more manageable.
Crate Train the little one.
This will give you a break. A normal pup, one that has not been forced to go in its own den, will not do so. The entire crate should be its personal den. That means the crate has to be small enough that he can’t go at one end off the crate and sleep and eat at the other. You can put the pup in the crate while you cook, sleep, and other things that take your attention away.
Limit the area of the house where your new dog is allowed while outside the crate. Only allow the dog in one or two rooms until she is housebroken. Only allow her outside the crate if she is being closely supervised.
Patience and understanding is required. We often think a pup should just know what the right thing to do is. Dogs do not necessarily understand things the same way a human does. They do not necessarily have the same understanding that we think they have demonstrated either. We need to be able to recognize the difference between our expectations of a dog and the dogs own reality.
Understand that very young puppies often have no idea that they need to go to the bathroom until they actually start to do so. When they have to go, it will just come right out. Make sure they are in the right place when this happens!
Be observant! This takes practice and the following things can make it difficult: Things change, you get distracted or impatient, your dogs signals can be subtle, you wont know what to look for at first, etc.

Method

Take the puppy outside every time she needs to go to the bathroom. This means:
- Every two hours for a two month old, every 3 hours for a 3 month old, every 4 hours for a 4 month old, but no more than every 4 hours until the dog is housebroken.
  This is only a rule of thumb. Every pup is different and you will have to observe your own dog to get to know its schedule.
- Every time he wakes up from a nap
- Shortly after every meal
- Shortly after drinking water
- Immediately upon waking up in the morning.
- Any time off schedule that you even vaguely suspect he is getting ready to go.
The crate allows you to control and manipulate this schedule to a small degree. A properly crate trained puppy will not go to the bathroom in her crate and so will make an effort to hold it for a while. However, do NOT expect too much. If you leave a puppy in the crate longer than she is physically capable of holding it she will have no choice and you will have begun to teach her to go in the house instead of what you are trying to teach her.
Puppies can usually hold their bowels longer when they are sleeping. Let them sleep in their crate so you will know where they are. You may still have to get up a few times during the night to let them out, but most puppies will whine to let you know when it’s time. Some very young puppies can make it through a 7 hour sleep, some can not.
Take the pup out on-leash and to the same spot to go every time.
This accomplishes two important features:
- The dog will learn to go to the bathroom while on-leash. This is of particular importance to city dogs, dogs that travel with you, and any other dogs that will have to be on leash frequently.
- The dog will tend to go in that spot. This makes yard clean-up easier.
Pay little to no attention to the pup when you take him out. Keep everything matter-of-fact until he does his business. When he is just about finished, give effusive praise. This lets her know that she did the right thing. It lets her know that going to the bathroom is generally a good thing and she will not try to hide it from you (perhaps behind the couch).

Praising to early will interrupt her peeing and she will not be finished, making it more likely that will have to go again after you bring her back in the house.. Praising to late makes it harder to associate the praise with what she just did.
Stay outside or do something else that she considers fun for a few minutes after she is done with business. You do not want your dog to think that going to the bathroom means she will be left alone or ignored right afterwards. Cold wet nights of walking your dog while she delays as long as she possibly can so that she can be with you longer will be the result. This will not be fun for you in the years to come.

Difficult Dogs

Dogs that are difficult to housebreak for one reason or another may require somewhat more. Here are some suggestions you may try:

Give treats for going in the right place.
I don't think you need to give most dogs a treat for going to the bathroom correctly - pooping and peeing is its own reward. Just praise is usually enough to let them know what is acceptable. Treats however, are a good idea if she just doesn't respond to praise, doesn't seem to be getting the idea after a week, or has already learned that going in the house is acceptable.
Use the crate more.
Do not let the dog free in the house unsupervised for even one second.
If you take the dog out to pee and he doesn’t, take him back in house and put him right back in the crate. Take him out again every 5 to 15 minutes (for a young puppy) until he does what he needs to do. After he does his business let him in the house outside his crate for a short time. Make sure he is supervised the entire time!

Other Considerations

Take note of your puppies particular habits. Two of my dogs would ALWAYS poop twice. The second time is about 2 or 3 minutes after the first one. I had to make sure that I took them out twice in a row at first.
Every accident that happens in the house is a setback. Try not to let it happen at all if possible.
So don't get upset by the occasional accident even if it happens quite a while after you think they have "got it". Just remain vigilant about her bathroom signals for quite a while and you'll be OK.
Clean up with an enzyme cleaner if a mistake does happen.
Observe your dog’s slightest behavior changes when she is getting ready to go pee or poop. The signals can sometimes be extremely subtle and are usually slightly different for pee than for poop. They will also change as the dog gets older.
Pick her up and take her outside whenever she is getting ready to go. Most dogs will stop upon being picked up. Don’t try to interrupt her by yelling. This usually doesn’t work in the long run.

The Most Misunderstood Consideration

Punishment for going in the house is generally counter-productive. Punishment teaches that going to the bathroom at all is bad, not that going inside is bad. They still have to go so they try to hide from you when they do. If they won’t go in front of you it’s hard to praise them for going in the right place. That said, a sharp "No" can help - IF caught in the act and IF your dog has already learned that going outside is always a good thing. However, you must make certain that you do not over do it. Consider what is reasonable to the dog’s way of thinking and do not scold out of your own frustration. It must always be done with an attitude of teaching, not of punishing. If you are unsure, just don’t do it at all.

My rule of thumb is that punishment is always the wrong thing to do, but corrections are OK after the dog knows what the proper behavior is. The difference between punishment and correction is This: Corrections are always modulated to the proper level. They do not overwhelm the dog. They correct the behavior and guide the dog into another, correct behavior. Corrections are calm and consistent (or calm and consistently progressive.) If any of these things are missing, it's not a correction.

Therefore, if you give a correction for going to the bathroom in the house and the dog becomes afraid of you, even briefly, you have overwhelmed the dog and it's not a correction but a punishment. If you give the correction and do not take the dog outside to finish peeing or pooping, it's not a correction. If you do take the dog outside but he has already finished and does not go outside, it's not a correction.

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