House Training Your New Puppy

The New Arrival 

As soon as you bring the puppy home, take her outside. She will have to go anyway because of the excitement of the car journey coupled with the unfamiliar faces, sights, and sounds. If you can work it out so that her first toilet break occurs outside instead of inside, then so much the better. And not just from the perspective of short-term hygiene, either - the more your puppy relieves herself inside, the more likely she is to do it again.

The homecoming is a great opportunity for you to set a precedent for toilet behavior!

- Take her to the area you picked as the potty area, and put her down on the grass.

- Wait while she sniffs around. Do not pet her or play with her because you don’t want her to associate this area with playtime and games. You are potty training your puppy and she has to learn that this part of the yard is for potty breaks only.

- When she begins to relieve herself, say the phrase you want her to associate with potty breaks: “Go pee” or “potty time” or whatever works for you. It’s best if that phrase is short and easily recognizable. Use the same voice inflection each time so that your dog can easily learn the meaning of the phrase.

- When she’s done, make a big fuss over her. Shower her with praise and affection, and give her a little treat.

When you take her inside the house, the house training should start immediately.

As far as house training goes, crate training is generally accepted to be the most effective and efficient means of house training a puppy in a short space of time. Crate-training is the use of a small indoor kennel (the crate) to confine your young puppy when you’re not actively supervising her or at home.

Crate training is based on all dogs’ dislike of soiling the area where they sleep. Because you’re restricting your puppy’s movement to her sleeping space, she’ll instinctively “hold it in” until she’s let out of the crate (provided you don’t leave her in there too long, of course!)

This is why it’s important that the crate is sized properly: if it’s too big, she’ll be able to use one end as a bed and one end as a toilet, which defeats the whole purpose!