The Most Important Thing to Remember is the Golden Rule

of months old + 1 = # of hours your puppy can hold their bladder.

This means if your puppy is 3 months old, they should be able to hold their bladder for up to 4 hours. After 6 months old, your puppy should have no problem holding their bladder through the night.

When to take your puppy outside- first thing in the morning, after they eat or drink water, after playtime, after naps, after training, if you catch them sniffing around and just before bed.

Always take your puppy outside on leash and proceed directly to their designated potty spot and wait for about 5 minutes. Just as your puppy is about to go to the bathroom give your cue “Go Potty!” Reward your puppy immediately after they finish going so you do not interrupt them. You should give your puppy some free time in the backyard. Before you bring them back inside you should take your puppy back to their potty spot for another 5 minutes in case they have to go again.

You can withhold water two hours before bedtime so your puppy has a better chance of holding their bladder through the night.

Exercise your puppy sufficiently prior to bedtime to increase the likelihood they will go to the bathroom before bed and to help make your puppy tired and ready for bed.

Crate Training is often the most successful way to house train a dog. Get them use to their crate by slowly increasing the amount of time they stay in their crate. Anytime they go in their crate on their own, give them lots of praise and rewards. A dog should be able to stand up, stretch and turn all the way around in their crate, any bigger and then your puppy will have enough room to go to the bathroom on one side and sleep on the other.

If you are unable to supervise your puppies every move they should be placed in an exercise pen on in their crate so they cannot sneak off and have an accident in the house. You can also use puppy gates to limit access throughout the house. Remember, freedom is earned!

If you do catch your puppy going to the bathroom in the house, interrupt them but try not to scare them, then bring them directly outside to their potty spot. Under no circumstance should you yell at them or rub their nose in it. This will only teach your puppy to not go to the bathroom in front of you. Also, do not let your puppy see you clean up their mess. Once your dog is outside, use an odor neutralizer to clean so they cannot smell it again.

Create a schedule and you can even make a log of when your puppy was outside.

Typically after two weeks accident free your puppy is considered housebroken! Remember to give your puppy an on-leash tour whenever you bring them to a new place. Just because our puppy is housetrained in our own home, doesn’t mean they totally understand that rule applies to everyone else’s home.