The number one question from a new puppy owner is always, always how do I housetrain my new dog. It is also probably the number one cause of stress to bringing your new puppy home; right next to will it sleep through the night.
In fact, house training your puppy doesn’t need to be stressful or disconcerting. There are two huge “cheats” when it comes to house training. Utilizing those cheats in a positive manner will save you hours of cleaning up and stress filled nights.
The first cheat is one that mom starts building in from Day 1 … cleanliness where you sleep and eat! This is an idea you want to enhance and build upon when you bring your new pup home.
The second cheat is your pups digestive tract. Thankfully, they don’t really have bladder control and food travels through their system pretty darn fast. So, if your pup has eaten or drank in the last 30 minutes he or she probably needs to go out to potty as soon as possible.
When helping my client’s house train we use the above two “cheats” to set a schedule and plan for housetraining their new pup. Part of the plan is always keeping your pups space restricted except for the first 5-10 minutes after they have both peed and pooped outside. This keeps that cleanly factor in play.
Also, always take your pup out at after he eats or drinks and keep taking them out every 5 minutes until they relieve themselves. This makes sure you catch their digestive tract in action; you can fine-tune the timing as you learn your puppy’s ways.
Another big schedule must have is taking your new pup out immediately after you wake up … and hitting the snooze button doesn’t count. The minute you start waking up, so does your pup. Take your new pup out, then go crawl back into bed and snooze away.
The last is having a nighttime routine. You need to make sure you stop all water and food at least 1 hour (maybe more) before bedtime and have at least two decent potty breaks, the last right before bed. If your pup drinks all the way up to bed time, well you won’t be sleeping through the night and neither will your new pup!
Following a set schedule and applying a little bit of discipline to you and your pups lives will ensure housebreaking becomes just a matter of time instead of a tumultuous process.
