House Train Your Puppy the Easy Way

The whole family loves the excitement of bringing a new puppy home. We all love playing with the new puppy. Of course, there is one aspect of the new puppy no one likes-the puppy thinks the whole world is his toilet. Try using the crate training method for house training your new puppy-it is definitely the easiest and best way. I used to do it the old fashioned newspaper on the floor way (with predictably “crappy” results).The paper on the floor technique was a sloppy way to go about it, but better than nothing. The dark night I stepped on one of these misses, deviously hidden on the way to the bathroom by my sneaky puppy, was the night I decided to give crate training a try.

If you use the crate training method, you won’t have nearly so many opportunities for “accidents” to happen prior to completely house training him.  To properly use the crate training system the puppy must stay inside his crate unless someone is paying attention to him (for example during playtime, or feeding he should always be supervised). Murphy’s Law says the moment you take your eyes off your puppy, he’ll pick that moment to go potty in the house.

• Crate training puppies will work best if you keep the crate and the puppy inside it near you whenever possible. If you work in a home office, for instance, place the kennel in the office with you, so your puppy feels more secure.  You can also keep an eye and ear open for any whining that might indicate it is time for a potty break. Except for potty breaks or when you have a couple hours free for a supervised play time you’ll want to keep him in the crate-don’t let him out just because he is bored and whining .

• You can be sure he will need to have a bathroom break after he wakes up from a nap, so listen for sounds of activity in the crate, and be ready to take him out to his spot.  You will also notice your puppy will relieve himself within about 30 minutes at most after eating and drinking, so don’t put him back in the crate until that has happened.If you always bring him to the same area to relieve himself and reward him for a job well done, you will be positively reinforcing him to go where you want him to learn to go.

• When it is time for the puppy to have a nice break, you can feed him, play with him, and make sure he gets enough exercise and maybe a little early training that he is tired out when he gets back in the crate. If he is tired out, there is a good chance he might sleep the next 2 hours and not have any boredom issues before it is time for the next fun break.

• The key to making the crate training work best for your puppy is to be very consistent with the training. If you aren’t good about keeping him in his crate when unsupervised, accidents are going to happen. You don’t want any accidents at all to happen, because once they do, the puppy will be able to smell that spot even after you have cleaned it up, and may want to revisit it again.  If you find the occasional pile or puddle, do not yell or hit your puppy-he won’t understand why you are doing so. If you happen to see your puppy about to squat, try to stop him with a firm “No” command, and take him outside to the regular spot.  Remember, the potty training should always focus on praise and reward for a good job-using the right spot-but don’t get negative if there is an occasional setback. The better you apply the crate training method the better and quicker results will be and the accidents won’t be a regular feature.

I found the crate training method worked much better than the old newspaper on the floor technique. Maybe my pup was a quick learner, but within a couple weeks or so, he was house training.  I did lose a little sleep at first if he whined at night, but I made sure the puppy didn’t eat late or drink very much before going to bed for the night, so that wasn’t as big a problem as I would have thought. If you always make the crate seem like a den, rather than a place to put your puppy when you are mad at him, he will have a good attitude about going in there, and you shouldn’t have the whining problem some puppies have when in the crate.

If you are about to house train a new puppy, be sure  to use the crate training method. You might want to get a copy of the Ultimate Guide to House Training-that’s the book I used to relearn how to go about house training my puppy. This excellent book gives you a very thorough blueprint on how to overcome the house training hurdles new puppy owners must face(check out my review).The Ultimate House Training Guide Review.

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