How to Housebreak a Puppy – Part 1

When you get a new puppy, it's important to start housetraining them the day they come home. People commonly wait because they're so excited for those first few days, but this is starting off right away with bad habits that can be difficult to fix later.

Several potty training techniques are available to you, but they're not all effective. For example, one method that is taught is paper training. With paper training, your dog learns to go potty on newspapers or puppy papers you keep inside your home. Once they've learned to use the papers, you then teach them to go potty outside. It works better to skip right to having them do their business outside from the very beginning.

Crate training is another popular technique. With crate training, you leave your puppy in a crate whenever you're not able to supervise them. To crate train your dog, you'll need to get a crate that's about the same size as your dog's bed. This prevents them from peeing or pooping in it when you leave in there, because if they do, they'll be forced to be in close proximity to it for the remainder of the time they're in there.

Anytime you can't supervise your pup, for instance when you leave the house to go shopping, or when you are at home cooking, cleaning, painting, etc., you put your puppy in its crate. This teaches them they're able to hold it if they have to go to the bathroom while in there. They learn their body can hold it and they don't have to go the second they get the urge.

It's very important you get the right size crate. A crate that's too large may cause them to go potty in one corner and sleep in the other. If the crate is too little, they won't be able to lay down comfortably. They should have enough space in the crate to move around a little bit, and lay down.

Here's an excellent tip that you'll really like. You can teach your puppy a 'potty word'. No, I'm not talking about profanity! A 'potty word' is a word/phrase you tell them when you want them to do their business quickly, instead of just goofing off in the yard. It doesn't matter what your phrase is, it can be anything. I'd suggest using a word that's exclusive to that though, not something you may say on a regular basis. Make sure you use this phrase consistently every single time.

For your dog to learn this potty word, you'll wait until they're going to the bathroom, and just as they are finishing, you'll say the potty word. Then you'll immediately follow that up with lots of enthusiastic praise and a really yummy treat. The yummier the treat, the more effective this will be.

Don't ever use the potty phrase when you take them outside to play fetch or just go for a fun stroll around the block. It needs to be used exclusively when they're doing their business. It won't take long until you can tell them the potty phrase when you're outside, and they'll immediately do their business and run back to you for their treat.