Crate Training

Author - John Turgai, D.V.M.

Probably the most important point in housebreaking a new puppy is in the prevention of bad behaviors in the first place. Frequent trips outside (at least hourly) are the first tier of prevention of indoor accidents. Of course there are certain times of the day when he is more likely to have to go. After eating, sleeping, and playtime would be good times to get him outside too. Keeping with a routine with feedings and naps will help with predictability. When he does his duty outdoors, lavish praise and a small, special treat will reinforce the good behavior. In between trips outside, careful vigilance is necessary to spot signs of the need for a trip outside.  Watch for precursor signs like floor sniffing as an indication that he needs to go. However, I have found that some pups don't always give a lot of warning. Sometimes they just stop running around and suddenly they're peeing ! Keeping the puppy close by with a leash will prevent him from slipping off  to behind the sofa to potty in an out of the way place.

Besides frequent trips outside and careful monitoring, the third means of prevention is crate training. Crates should be large enough for a puppy to be very comfortable, but not so large that the puppy can call one end of the crate the “bed” and the other end the “potty spot”. If you have a large crate and a small puppy, you can fashion a partition temporarily until he grows into the crate.  It’s OK and even a good idea to feed meals in the crate, although the bowl should be removed between meals in most cases. A water bowl will probably just get dumped over and should not be left in the crate.  Coax him in rather than pushing.  Reward him when he goes in his crate with either praise or a small treat. It is important for the puppy to think of the crate as a good place. It should not be used for punishment, and this concept needs to be kept in mind especially during the initial introduction to the crate before he has come to accept it as “home”.

During housebreaking, whenever the puppy is inside the home but cannot be watched, he is placed in the crate. The last thing you do before you put the puppy in the crate is take him outside to his favorite spot, and of course the first thing you do when you take him out of the crate is another trip outside. Sometimes put him in his crate when you're NOT going to be 'missing' (asleep or gone) for a long time, so he doesn’t come to associate the crate with being alone. Give him something really yummy (and long lasting) that he only gets in his crate, not anywhere else. Some examples would be Kong toys or bleached hollow bones filled with dog food, squeeze cheese, etc and then frozen.

Prevention is best, but what if there are accidents ? If you catch him in the act, then it's ok to stop him, 'no-no puppy' or whatever correction word/sound you use, and then whisk him outside. If this were a perfect world, he would stop instantly and finish outside, resulting in both a correction AND a positive reward. Sometimes you will catch him in time but he's so startled that when he's outside he won't void. If that's the case (ie you KNOW he still needs to go), take him back inside and put him in his crate for 5 minutes to 'defuse' the situation, then take him directly back outside. It is not helpful to use more forceful methods of punishment for puppies that are caught in the act. Punishment of any kind for un-witnessed accidents is usually worthless or counterproductive.

Remember that any time he has an un-witnessed accident in the house it's the human's fault for not observing him closely enough or for giving him too much freedom so he could get out of sight. What he learns is actually that it's ok to go in the house, just not in your presence. (Yikes!)
Every time he has an 'accident' in the house, he is getting a physical reward (bladder or bowel relief). Once an animal (or a person) gets a reward for something wrong, it takes a LOT of repetition of doing it right to overcome that one wrong time. So the BIGGEST key for successful housebreaking is prevention of accidents in the first place by constant diligence and frequent, scheduled outings to make sure he's staying 'empty'.