House Training Your Puppy

Puppies, like children, benefit from naps after play. Put Puppy in his crate with a drink and a few safe toys and let him "go sleepies" for an hour or so.

• 4:30 p.m. - take Puppy potty
• 5:00 p.m. - feed Puppy supper in crate
• 5:30 p.m. - take Puppy potty

Evenings, especially in the summer when it is cooler, are a great time to take Puppy for walks and socialize him. Plus, this will help tire him out for the evening.

• 8:00 p.m. - pick up water for evening
• 9:00 p.m. - take Puppy potty
• 9:30 p.m. - put Puppy in crate for bed

Note: young puppies cannot be expected to hold all night. It can be months until they have enough bladder control so be patient.

Look for signals between scheduled potty times that Puppy needs to go out: sniffing around the ground, circling, etc. When you see him start this, say a sharp "AAAAH! NO" to stop the action and then say in a happy tone some thing like "Want to go out?" Take Puppy outside immediately to his potty area and encourage him to go. I use "Go Kennel!".

You can use "Get Busy", "Go Potty" or whatever you like - just use the same command each time and praise as soon as the action happens. My dogs will stand by the door to signal they have to go out. I know people who have taught dogs to rings bells hanging from the doorknob.