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Bringing home a new puppy can be an exciting and life-changing event for a dog owner. One of the first questions a new dog owner has is how to house train their puppy. While many pet owners turn to professional animal training organizations, it can be just as effective and more cost-efficient to train your animal yourself. Although it may take time and patience, it is important to instill good behavior in puppies from an early age.

The amount of time it takes to train a puppy may depend on several factors. First, the size and type of your dog will go into play, as this affects the size of the dog’s bladder. You will also want to take into account the age of your dog and if it has developed any bad habits, which is common when attempting to train dogs older than twelve weeks. The older the dog, the more time you will have to spend backtracking to break old habits such as using the bathroom in its cage or other inappropriate places.  For most dogs, it will take around 4-6 weeks to house train, but for others it may take longer. 

Steps To Training A Puppy

The most important thing to remember when training a puppy is that it takes patience, time, consistency and positive reinforcement. The best time to begin house training is around twelve weeks. The most common methods for house training are crate training and paper training. 

Crate training involves teaching your puppy to use a crate as a safe and comfortable place to stay during the night or while you’re away. If trained properly, the puppy will not use the bathroom during the day or night while it’s in the crate, and will wait for appropriate times to be let out of the crate. A key to crate training is that the owner must be available to let the dog out of the crate to relieve itself multiple times a day, as a puppy should never be left in a crate all day long. 

Paper training is a method of house training in which the puppy learns to use a puppy pad during the day or overnight to go to the bathroom. The dog would first learn to use the bathroom only on the paper pad, and eventually would learn to use the bathroom at a certain spot outside. Paper training may be a better option if you are working all day and unable to come home to let your dog out. In this case, your puppy may need an emergency place to relieve itself during the day. 

1. Do some research and decide on your preferred method for house training your dog. Consider yours and your pet’s needs and what will work best for your situation. 
2. Think about your dog’s diet. If your puppy has food and water at all times throughout the day and night, this will affect when it uses the bathroom. Keep your puppy on a strict diet schedule, taking its food and water away between meals. 
3. Keep your dog on a consistent schedule for potty breaks. It’s important to give a dog many opportunities to use the bathroom during the day, especially while they are young. Six month olds should generally be able to hold it for about six hours. Dogs may gradually begin to hold it for longer, but never for more than nine hours. Dogs should be taken outside to use the bathroom first thing each morning, after each meal or drink, after playing, napping, chewing a toy or spending time in its crate, and before it goes to bed. For paper training, you will begin allowing the dog to use the puppy pad during these times, and gradually increase outside bathroom trips. Observe your dog for other behaviors or situations that may call for a potty break (for example, if your dog typically becomes excited around people and has an accident).  
4. Supervise your dog during each potty break, especially during the beginning, to make sure it eliminates successfully. 
5. Reward your dog each time it uses the bathroom outside. Remember to never use negative reinforcement such as hitting a dog with a newspaper or rubbing its nose where it used the bathroom in an inappropriate place.  It’s important to remain patient, as your puppy is young and still learning what behavior is expected. Some positive ways to reinforce good behavior include cheers and claps, petting, treats, or going for a walk.

Mostly importantly, enjoy spending time with your new dog, as you now have a loyal companion. Remember that house training takes time, and will be worth it once your dog is able to consistently show good habits and behavior. More information on house training a puppy can be found on the American Kennel Club website.