Puppy House-Training
Erin Hicks, DVM

House training can be a confusing and frustrating process both for pet owners and for pups. This is a brief guide to potty train a puppy using a crate. Crates are great if properly used because they help develop retention skills and also keep pups out of trouble when their owners aren't home and can't supervise them. If used properly, a crate can become your pup's special safe haven and one of their favorite places in the home.

If your puppy experiences changes in his eliminations or his elimination habits, please schedule a consultation with one of our doctors and bring a sample of the elimination with you for testing. The most common cause of changes in elimination habits or eliminations is a medical problem.

1. Buy an open air crate that is just large enough for your puppy's bed, food, and water dishes. No larger. Puppies don't want to go to the bathroom where they eat, drink, and sleep. If he doesn't have extra space, he'll learn to hold it in until you can let him out. In the beginning, most puppies cannot hold in their urine or feces for more than a few hours. They will need to be let out frequently until they develop retention skills so that they do not soil themselves.

2. Make the crate your puppy's happy place. Give him all meals in there. Put his toys in there. Give him a treat for going in when you ask him to. Leave the door open when you are home and able to supervise him so that he may enter and exit at will. Do not confine your puppy for long stretches of time. The crate needs to be his safe place where he feels comfortable and mellow. Never use the crate as a punishment tool!

3. Whenever you are not able to directly supervise your puppy (in the room with him), put him in the crate. This encourages development of urine and fecal retention skills as well as keeps him from getting into trouble! Puppies are known for their indiscriminate eating habits.

4. Take your puppy out frequently to go potty. Puppies like to go potty after waking up, eating, and playing, so be sure to get him out then. Put him on a leash and go to a designated spot in the yard, then say "go potty". And then IGNORE HIM and stand completely still. This forces him to concentrate on the task at hand rather than goofing off in the yard. It also teaches him that when you go to the spot and say "go potty", he needs to obey before he is allowed to play in the yard. When he potties, praise him like crazy. If you stand outside for 10 minutes and he won't potty, go back inside and put him in his crate, then try again in 10 minutes. He might just not be ready yet.

5. If he goes potty in the house or in his crate, do not punish him. He's only a puppy and doesn't know any better yet. Just clean it up using an enzymatic cleaner. OxiClean or Nature's Miracle are good at removing stains and odors from urine and feces.