Fast House Training for Your Dog or Puppy
House training a dog in three days? House training a puppy by 10 weeks of age?? Yes, I have done this many times while fostering dogs and puppies. The longest house training ever took two weeks. This was with a seven year old Coonhound that had never been indoors, and I did everything wrong. I let him off leash as soon as he entered my home and he peed on my couch, the chair, and the stairs within five minutes. Now, after fostering about 150 dogs and pups, I have it down to a science that I will share with you.
The key to house train a dog or puppy in a short time is supervision and crating. A few days or weeks under constant watch or in a crate is a small inconvenience for a house trained dog. Other dogs in the house will help the new dog know where to relieve herself. However, even if you have other dogs, human assistance is essential. Puppies can get the idea of reliving themselves outside as early as six weeks of age, but they cannot hold their bladders for very long. Adult dogs should be able to accomplish housetraining within a few days. I utilize a crate and a schedule to house train dogs. The dog stays in a crate if I am not actively watching it. This way the dog will be less likely to make a mistake of going potty in the house. Most dogs will not potty in their crates, but the crate must be small enough they cannot potty in one corner and lay in the other. (see crate training info)
If your dog has been in a hoarding or puppy mill situation, house training may be more difficult because the dog has become accustomed to being immersed in its own waste.
If your dog is out in the house, keep it on a leash so you can rush it outside at the slightest indication of them having to go potty. Usually the clues of needing to potty are
sniffing
circling around
stopping an activity such as chewing on a bone
anxiousness or restlessness
Whining or barking
Going to the door
If you cannot watch your dog, put the dog in a crate so he will not wander off and eliminate in your house. Oftentimes, a dog will use the furthest room from their main living area because they do not want to potty where they live and eat. If your dog has a favorite spot to potty inside, feed the dog in that area for several days. Again they do not like to potty where they eat.
I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO SUPERVISE YOUR DOG OR PUPPY AT ALL TIMES. DO NOT LET THE PUP WANDER AROUND THE HOUSE. KEEP THE NEW DOG OR PUP CONFINED TO A SMALL SPACE, LIKE THE KITCHEN, BY USING A LEASH OR BABY GATES. THE DOG MAY ACCOMPANY YOU IN THE REST OF THE HOUSE IF IT HAS GONE POTTY OUTSIDE. IF YOU ARE NOT WATCHING YOUR DOG OR PUPPY, PUT IT IN A CRATE.
When taking your dog or pup outside, stay near the dog so you can praise him as soon as he goes potty. A happy "good boy" and some pats after finishing will help the dog know he was a good boy. You must reward the dog immediately, on the spot, not when he runs back across the yard to you or he will be praised for running to you, not going potty. If you tell the dog WHILE it is going potty “go potty” or whatever phrase you wish, it will be trained to go on command within a month or so. Using a leash while taking your dog out in the yard may help guide him where to go, but some dogs do not like to pee or poop on leash. If using a leash, just know it may take longer for your new dog to start going.
An example schedule for your dog on while house training is as follows:
Wake up and potty break.
Back in crate, leashed to you, or in a small area with you while you get dressed/ shower.
Activity such as a walk or game in the yard
Feeding time
Potty break
Crate time for 2-3 hours, up to 7-8 hours for adult dog if necessary
Wake up and potty break
Activity, game, or hang out with owners in a contained area (gated room) on leash
Potty break
Crate time for 2-3 hours
Repeat. This schedule can be altered for your work schedule. The important thing is that the dog has no opportunities to potty in the house. Puppies will need more frequent potty breaks, about every 30-45 minutes while awake. Puppies ideally should be left in a crate a maximum time of 3-4 hours. Puppies eight to ten weeks can sleep through the night for about seven hours. If a dog is whining frantically in the crate at night, I will usually take them out (no talking or affection, just business). There is usually a different urgency to a dog whining that has to potty versus a dog that is protesting the crate.
Keeping the dog on a feeding schedule of twice a day (three times a day for puppies) but no food or water after 8 pm will help the dog eliminate before bedtime and make it through the night. If they are allowed to free feed all day, they do not form a schedule of when they need to eliminate as easily.
Dogs still learning house training should sleep in your bedroom in a crate.
If you find an accident in the house, take a rolled up newspaper and hit yourself on the head for not watching your dog. Never reprimand a dog after the fact. It will not understand why you are angry. It will look guilty because you are angry, but will not know why you are angry. If you catch your dog in the act of messing in the house, say “no” and take him/her outside quickly. Clean up the mess with puppy out of sight. Do not let the dog see you clean up after him. In a strange way, puppy can actually see cleaning up after him as praise, and you don’t want to praise him for using the bathroom in the house (Job Evans)
If you have trouble house training the dog, or they seem to urinate frequently and drink a lot of water, take your pup to the VETget the dog checked for a urinary tract infection or other medical causes. If your dog has diarrhea for more than three days, or seems lethargic with diarrhea, take her to the vet and bring a stool sample. Severe diarrhea can be an emergency in puppies, so better safe than sorry. Have the vet check for worms, giardia, and coccidia. Parvo will cause diarrhea as well, but it is extreme. It isn't fair to expect a sick dog to be house trained without solving the medical issues. If your dog has been reliably house trained, then starts peeing or pooping in the house, take your dog to the vet to check for illness. Some dogs become incontinent as they grow older and may require extra care or a doggie diaper at night time.
It is common for a new dog not to urinate or poop for up to 24 hours when in a new home. The dog may not feel comfortable enough to do so. Be patient and just keep taking your dog or puppy outside to potty. If the dog doesn't potty, he goes back in his crate for 30-60 minutes, then take him out again. Once the dog goes potty outside, he has earned some free time in the house with you (still supervised, but not in the crate). One dog I know of had been peeing in the house and on walks, but would not pee in the yard, which was a great inconvenience. The client followed my instructions and crated or took his dog outside in the yard only with no free time in the house. It took the dog over 24 hours to pee in the yard. After the first pee, the dog freely peed in the yard from then on. Breaking the ice can take a while, but after that things proceed fast. Dogs are creatures of habit. Form a good habit and prevent a bad habit from forming.
If there is no medical cause for the house training problem, up your restrictions of the dog, with strict crating and on leash in the house, and start correcting the dog when it urinates in the house verbally if you catch the dog in the act. If this still does not work, read Job Evan’s book The Evans Guide for Housetraining Your Dog (linked here) (The only reason a dog or puppy cannot be house trained quickly would be a medical issue or "dirty puppy" syndrome.) This is when the puppy or dog has been forced to live in its own excrement or not allowed outside.)