Frequently Asked Questions:
Housetraining your new puppy
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| Honor Golden, Kolton |
We get FAQ everyday and we wanted to put these questions and answers into a form where they can be utilized before and after you get you puppy. This post can pass along to anyone you know that may be getting a new puppy or even adult dog. These ideas are timeless and will work for anyone.
1. Never let your puppy out of your sight for the first couple of weeks. Have a space that the puppy can be when you can't watch him every minute. We recommend a small bathroom, a laundry room or an x-pen set up that is big enough to have a blanket/bed and an area that can have a large pee pee pad or some newspapers as well as a small bowl of water. The pup needs a place he can have a quiet place and sleep if needed but also the pee pee pads or newspapers offer a place he can "go" if you are not available to run him outside. So if you get on a phone call or just busy doing something else where you can't watch him for every second, put him in his own area that is safe if he does have an accident. If he has an accident in the house, it may start a habit of thinking that he can go there again and you want to avoid that.
2. Always take him out at just one door at first so there is no confusion of which door to go to, to tell you he's got to go outside. Take him out of this door often, sometimes even several times an hour. A baby puppy's bladder is small and can't hold much. They also will usually need to go after he eats a meal and ALWAYS as soon as he wakes up from sleep. (When he wakes up from sleep, ALWAYS carry him out, he will not be able to hold it to follow you all the way out when he wakes up). In a couple of weeks he should be able to hold it longer periods and possibly all night. Take him outside the last thing before you go to bed at night and the first thing when you wake up in the morning.
If there are multiple doors that he will be able to go out of eventually, just make sure he is really steady on telling you he has to go out (which is usually by going to the door) before introducing other doors to the outside.
3. Do not let the puppy have access to the entire house, until you feel he is completely house trained and can hold it for long periods of time. This is kind of a no-brainer. He will be out of sight more easily if he has access to many rooms and harder to catch him if he looks like he has to "go". You definitely don't want him to have accidents, not only for the clean up but also so he doesn't think that it's OK to do his business in the house. You can close doors, use baby gates or x-pens to keep him contained to a certain area of the house at first. The puppy can have more space and more access to the house as he grows and is consistently going to the door to do his business outside.
4. Where should the puppy sleep at night? This one is really up to you. If you value your sleep at night and don't want to get up to take him out, put him in the space or room that you have prepared for him (see #1) with a blanket/bed, newspapers or pee pee pads and a small bowl of water available. If the puppy has to go at night, and they pretty much always do when they first come home because their bladders are small, then he has a place to go that will be OK. Newspapers and pee pee pads are good because they are not the normal household surface like wood floors, tile, carpet, etc. and it won't set up a bad habit of thinking it's OK to go on those surfaces.
Some people opt to put the puppy in a crate next to the bed and then get up with the pup to take him out when he starts to cry in the night. He should only cry if he has to go out. You definitely don't want to let him have an accident in the crate, as that should be considered a bed for him and definitely not some place it's OK to "go". As stated previously, make sure you take him out last thing before going to bed and first thing as soon as you get up, and don't forget to carry him out as he won't be able to hold it all the way to the outside.
5. What if he has an accident? You never want to punish a puppy after the fact, if you find they have had an accident. They won't remember what they did and it's too late to punish them. Just clean up the area well and try not to let him out of your sight again. (see #1) IF you do catch him in the act, or if he's just starting to "go" say very loud and in an angry voice "no!no!no!" as you are picking him up and running him out the door. As soon as you put him down outside, praise him with a very up, happy, voice and excitedly tell him what a good boy he is. Puppies are very intuitive to the fluctuation in your voice and the angry "no, no no" will convey to him that going in the house is inappropriate behavior and the excited, happy voice praising him will convey that going out side is the right, proper behavior.
One final tip:
Many people find it effective to either hang a bell from the door knob of the door that they are taking the puppy out of and encourage the puppy to tap it on the way out as a way of telling you he has to "go". This is a great tool for when the dog is older and can just ring the bell to tell you he has to go out. It is a tool and will take a while to train this behavior. The other bell that some people use is like this one here. Just put it on the floor next to the door and tap the puppy's foot on it as he goes outside. They will eventually learn that this means they need to go out and will be able to tell you by ringing the bell
2. Always take him out at just one door at first so there is no confusion of which door to go to, to tell you he's got to go outside. Take him out of this door often, sometimes even several times an hour. A baby puppy's bladder is small and can't hold much. They also will usually need to go after he eats a meal and ALWAYS as soon as he wakes up from sleep. (When he wakes up from sleep, ALWAYS carry him out, he will not be able to hold it to follow you all the way out when he wakes up). In a couple of weeks he should be able to hold it longer periods and possibly all night. Take him outside the last thing before you go to bed at night and the first thing when you wake up in the morning.
If there are multiple doors that he will be able to go out of eventually, just make sure he is really steady on telling you he has to go out (which is usually by going to the door) before introducing other doors to the outside.
3. Do not let the puppy have access to the entire house, until you feel he is completely house trained and can hold it for long periods of time. This is kind of a no-brainer. He will be out of sight more easily if he has access to many rooms and harder to catch him if he looks like he has to "go". You definitely don't want him to have accidents, not only for the clean up but also so he doesn't think that it's OK to do his business in the house. You can close doors, use baby gates or x-pens to keep him contained to a certain area of the house at first. The puppy can have more space and more access to the house as he grows and is consistently going to the door to do his business outside.
4. Where should the puppy sleep at night? This one is really up to you. If you value your sleep at night and don't want to get up to take him out, put him in the space or room that you have prepared for him (see #1) with a blanket/bed, newspapers or pee pee pads and a small bowl of water available. If the puppy has to go at night, and they pretty much always do when they first come home because their bladders are small, then he has a place to go that will be OK. Newspapers and pee pee pads are good because they are not the normal household surface like wood floors, tile, carpet, etc. and it won't set up a bad habit of thinking it's OK to go on those surfaces.
Some people opt to put the puppy in a crate next to the bed and then get up with the pup to take him out when he starts to cry in the night. He should only cry if he has to go out. You definitely don't want to let him have an accident in the crate, as that should be considered a bed for him and definitely not some place it's OK to "go". As stated previously, make sure you take him out last thing before going to bed and first thing as soon as you get up, and don't forget to carry him out as he won't be able to hold it all the way to the outside.
5. What if he has an accident? You never want to punish a puppy after the fact, if you find they have had an accident. They won't remember what they did and it's too late to punish them. Just clean up the area well and try not to let him out of your sight again. (see #1) IF you do catch him in the act, or if he's just starting to "go" say very loud and in an angry voice "no!no!no!" as you are picking him up and running him out the door. As soon as you put him down outside, praise him with a very up, happy, voice and excitedly tell him what a good boy he is. Puppies are very intuitive to the fluctuation in your voice and the angry "no, no no" will convey to him that going in the house is inappropriate behavior and the excited, happy voice praising him will convey that going out side is the right, proper behavior.
One final tip:
Many people find it effective to either hang a bell from the door knob of the door that they are taking the puppy out of and encourage the puppy to tap it on the way out as a way of telling you he has to "go". This is a great tool for when the dog is older and can just ring the bell to tell you he has to go out. It is a tool and will take a while to train this behavior. The other bell that some people use is like this one here. Just put it on the floor next to the door and tap the puppy's foot on it as he goes outside. They will eventually learn that this means they need to go out and will be able to tell you by ringing the bell