House training a puppy should be the first and foremost duty of every Pet owner while bringing home a new puppy. House Training a puppy wouldn’t take much effort and time if carried out correctly with patience, persistence, and Positive Reinforcement.
On average, It can take up to 2 to 4 months to house train a puppy. Puppies should be put into house training at an early age, as close to 8 or 9 weeks old as possible because this is when the puppy starts to learn new things in their life.
At this age of 8 to 9 weeks, their minds are open to getting trained up, and they learn very quickly. If you decided to house train a puppy, you must be willing to sacrifice some quality time to the task.
What is the Best time to House Train a puppy?
Housebreaking Schedule:
Puppies usually have four predictable elimination times :
- After walking
- After eating
- After exercising
- Just Before Night sleep
At the above mentioned periods, Take your puppy outside for a good chance of elimination, Additionally, take your pup outside every 3 to 4 hours in between those periods, and whenever you suspect that it has to urinate or poop.
If elimination takes place. Praise your puppy, and then take it immediately back inside the house, By doing so, you will help it relate the act with the location.
If a minute passes and your puppy hasn’t gone, take it back inside. Don’t leave it outside to play or roam. Puppies trained in this manner soon realize that being outside is to eliminate, not to play.
In case If you happen to notice your puppy in mid-act, rush him outside, and then bring him immediately back inside.
If you happen to miss an accident altogether, don’t fret. If you saw it happen, scold him gently. On the other hand, if you didn’t see it happen, do nothing. simply try to more attentive next time.
Important housebreaking tips to remember
1. Ensure Intestinal health
Be sure your puppy is free of intestinal parasites because the presence of worms in the intestinal tract will cause unnecessary urges to eliminate.
2. Positive Reinforcement
Always use lots of praise. Never physically punish your puppy. Because puppies crave praise, if they don’t get it, they feel punished. Give Plenty of Praise when they deserve it, hold it back when they don’t.
3. Teach Gently
When you decided to orally scold your puppy, for an accident, avoid associating your puppy’s name. For instance, simply say bad instead of bad dog brownie or whatever his name. When not using the names while scolding, the puppy won’t associate its name with bad behavior.
4. Follow the Schedule
Follow a regular feeding schedule for your puppy. Feed no more than thrice daily, and take your puppy outside after it finishes each meal. It is better to feed the evening meal before 6:00 Pm in order to avoid the number of overnight accidents that can occur.
5. Prevention at home
To help prevent accidents at home, keep your puppy in a separate area at night. It should be puppy-proofed and have a floor that won’t be damaged if a slip up occurs.
If accidents happen to occur during the night or while you are away, don’t get upset. As your training sessions progress, you’ll find that this will become less and less of a problem. A natural instinct of any dog is to keep its living area clean. These inherent instincts, combined with correct house training effects on your part, will help fuel the success of your training efforts.
6. Tips for Cleaning
While cleaning up an accident, always use an odor neutralizer rather than a deodorizer on the spot. These are available at most pet stores, and will usually eliminate any lingering scents that can lure your pet back to the same spot. Avoid cleaners that have ammonia as an ingredient since ammonia is a normal component of canine urine. Such cleaners might spoil the purpose of house training.