Tips for housebreaking your puppies

Sometimes you hear stories about puppies who are potty-trained in a matter of days. It's fantastic, but it happens very rarely. Don't expect it to happen to you.

It's true that you can have a major influence on how long it takes to get a clean puppy.

For the first few days, put newspapers in different places.
Observe your puppy. His behavior will tell you when he needs to relieve himself.
He'll make circles or sniff the same spot, especially after his meal or nap. If you have a garden, try to put him outside at this time, always in the same place you've chosen, and give him a command (e.g. “Go pee”).
After that, don't forget a reward each time.

The aim of this action is to teach him to do his business outside, not to play.
Sometimes puppies have so much fun that all they do is play and forget to relieve themselves, because they don't want to miss out on this new world.
So when he comes home, he does his business indoors because he didn't have time to do it outside.

Ideally, once the puppy has done his business, you should bring him inside immediately.
If you're too late and he does his business indoors, there's no point in correcting him or pushing his muzzle into his faeces. The only result will be that your puppy will be afraid of you.

When your puppy has soiled his kennel or basket, it makes no sense to leave him in there for a few days to punish him.
The puppy learns that it's perfectly normal to sleep in a kennel or basket he's dirtied himself, and this will be harder to correct.
Similarly, when he doesn't seem to be doing anything, put him in the designated place to get him used to it.
If, after a few moments, the puppy has done something, reward him. This will help to get him clean faster.

Make sure that the place is not too far away or too crowded. Teach him that there are different places to relieve himself, otherwise when you're at someone else's house, you'll have a problem as he won't find his usual place.
If you don't want your puppy to continue doing his business in your garden, don't use it as a potty training area.

If you live in an apartment, you may not always be on the spot quickly enough. Put newspapers in different places.
Place the puppy on the newspapers every time he has eaten, played or napped.
After a few days, most puppies are “newspaper clean”.

Slowly reduce the number of newspapers, eventually leaving only one in front of the front door.
Once you've got rid of them, the puppy will go to the door and you'll know when he wants to relieve himself.