Los Angeles Animal Services

House Training

By Brenda Barnette, General Manager

Dogs are instinctively clean animals. They prefer not to soil their living quarters. If the human is consistent about the process, housetraining a dog usually isn't difficult.

Your new family member may find moving to a new house confusing. The layout of your house will be unfamiliar to him. He doesn't know which doors lead to the outside. And he may or may not have been housetrained before. Assume that any new dog, whether adult or puppy, needs housetraining.

Before entering your house, take your dog on a leash to the yard where you want his "bathroom" to be. You may need to walk with him as he explores the area. Once he takes care of business, praise him so he knows he has done the right thing.

When you bring the new dog into the house, have his den (crate) ready for him or a small "safe" space defined for him that can be easily cleaned, such as a bathroom with a gated entrance or a fenced-off part of the kitchen. Put his special bed, toys, and food inside his space. (For a free copy of our article detailing how to crate train a dog, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Pets In Need, 873 5 th Ave., RWC, CA 94063.) Visit and play with him often and begin each visit with a trip out to his "bathroom" and lavish him with praise after he goes to the bathroom.

Take your dog out to her "bathroom" area on a regular schedule. Young puppies should be carried outside for their break every hour, as soon as they wake up from a nap and immediately after a meal. If it is hard to keep track of the time, set an alarm clock or kitchen timer to remind you of when the next potty break should be. Depending on the age and size of your puppy, you may determine that he needs to go out more often at first. That's okay. The time between bathroom breaks will expand as he gets older. Stick to the schedule, even on weekends, and be sure to feed your dog on a regular schedule, too.

Watch for your dog's signal to you. Circling and sniffing are often indications your dog needs to go out. Some people like to teach the dog to ring a bell as a potty break signal. Hang a bell on the door and make a game of ringing it each time you take the dog out until she gets the idea to ring the bell herself. One of my little dogs jumps into my lap and playfully nips my nose. It took her quite a while to teach me that this meant it is time to go outside!

Until you are sure your dog is housetrained, he needs to be supervised 100% of the time when he is indoors and out of his "den." He can be on a leash attached to you or a family member. Wait until you are sure he is reliably housetrained before you let him have the run of the house.

Scolding for mistakes can do more harm than good. If you see a mistake happening, rush the dog outside and then praise him once he finishes his business outside. Be sure to clean accidents thoroughly to keep the area from smelling to your dog like it is the right place to soil.

Dogs, like people, learn at different rates. There are days when your dog seems to understand where to go and other days when he can't remember a thing. This is a normal part of the learning process. Invest the time and patience to properly housetrain your dog and your reward will be a lifetime of unconditional love from your furry family member.

ADDITIONAL HOUSE TRAINING RESOURCES

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House Training Puppies

Housetraining a puppy requires time, vigilance, patience and commitment. By following the procedures outlined below, you can minimize house soiling incidents, but virtually every puppy will have an accident in the house (more likely several). This is part of raising a puppy and should be expected. The more consistent you are in following the basic housetraining procedures, the faster your puppy will learn acceptable behavior. It may take several weeks to housetrain your puppy and with some of the smaller breeds it might take longer. A puppy can usually be considered reliably housetrained when it has not had any accidents for two to three months.

Establish a Routine

Your puppy will do best if he is taken outside on a consistent and frequent schedule. He should have the opportunity to eliminate after waking up from a nap, after playing and after eating.
Choose a location not too far from the door to be the bathroom spot. Always take your puppy, on a leash, directly to the bathroom spot. Taking him for a walk or playing with him directly after he has eliminated will help him to associate good things with elimination. If you clean up an accident in the house, take the soiled rags or paper towels and leave them in the bathroom spot. The smell will help your puppy recognize the area as the place he is supposed to eliminate. While your puppy is eliminating, use a word or phrase, like "go potty," that you can eventually use before he eliminates to remind him of what he's supposed to be doing.
Praise your puppy lavishly every time he eliminates outdoors. You can even give him a treat. You must praise him or treat him immediately after he's finished eliminating, not after he comes back inside the house. This step is vital; because rewarding your dog for eliminating outdoors is the only way he'll know that this is an appropriate behavior.
If possible, put your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. Depending on their age, puppies usually need to be fed three or four times a day. Feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that he'll eliminate at consistent times as well. This makes housetraining easier for both of you.

Supervise, Supervise, Supervise

Don't give your puppy an opportunity to soil in the house. He should be watched at all times when he is indoors. You can tether him to you with a leash or use baby gates to keep him in your view. Watch for signs that he needs to eliminate, like sniffing around or circling. When you see these signs, immediately take him outside, on a leash, to his bathroom spot. If he eliminates, praise him lavishly and reward him with a treat.

Confinement

When you're unable to watch your puppy closely, he should be confined to an area small enough that he won't want to eliminate there. It should be just big enough for him to comfortably stand, lie down and turn around. This area could be a portion of a bathroom or laundry room, blocked off with boxes or baby gates. Or you may want to crate train your puppy and use the crate to confine him. If your puppy has spent several hours in confinement, make sure to take him directly to his bathroom spot before doing anything else.

Oops!

Expect your puppy to have an accident in the house - it's a normal part of housetraining.

When you catch him in the act of eliminating in the house, do something to interrupt him, like make a startling noise (be careful not to scare him). Immediately take him to his bathroom spot, praise him and give him a treat if he finishes eliminating there.
Don't punish your puppy for eliminating in the house. If you find a soiled area, it's too late to administer a correction. Do nothing but clean it up. Rubbing your puppy's nose in it, taking him to the spot and scolding him (or any other punishment or discipline) will only make him afraid of you or afraid to eliminate in your presence. Animals don't understand punishment after the fact, even if it's only seconds later. Punishment will do more harm than good.

Cleaning the soiled area is very important because puppies are highly motivated to continue soiling in areas that smell like urine or feces. It's extremely important that you use the supervision and confinement procedures outlined above to minimize the number of accidents. If you allow your puppy to eliminate frequently in the house, he'll get confused about where he's supposed to eliminate, which will prolong the housetraining process.

Other Types of House soiling Problems

If you've consistently followed the housetraining procedures and your puppy continues to eliminate in the house, there may be another reason for his behavior.

Medical Problems: House soiling can often be caused by physical problems, such as a urinary tract infection or a parasite infection. Check with your veterinarian to rule out any possibility of disease or illness.
Submissive/Excitement Urination: Some dogs, especially young ones, temporarily lose control of their bladders when they become excited or feel threatened. This usually occurs during greetings, intense play or when they're about to be punished.
Territorial Urine-Marking: Dogs sometimes deposit urine or feces, usually in small amounts, to scent-mark their territory. Both male and female dogs do this, and it most often occurs when they believe their territory has been invaded.
Separation Anxiety: Dogs that become anxious when they're left alone may house soil as a result. Usually, there are other symptoms, such as destructive behavior or vocalization
Fears or Phobias: When animals become frightened, they may lose control of their bladder and/or bowels. If your puppy is afraid of loud noises, such as thunderstorms or fireworks, he may house soil when he's exposed to these sounds

Dogs:

Many adult dogs adopted from animal shelters were housetrained in their previous homes. While at the shelter, however, they may not have gotten enough opportunities to eliminate outside, and consequently, they may have soiled their kennel areas. This tends to weaken their housetraining habits. Additionally, scents and odors from other companion animals in the new home may stimulate some initial urine marking. Remember that you and your new dog need some time to learn each other's signals and routines. Even if he was housetrained in his previous home, if you do not recognize his "bathroom" signal, you might miss his request to go out, causing him to eliminate indoors.

Therefore, for the first few weeks after you bring him home, you should assume your new dog is not housetrained and start from scratch, following the steps given above for housetraining a puppy. If he was housetrained in his previous home, the re-training process should progress quickly. The process will be much smoother if you take steps to prevent accidents and remind him where he is supposed to eliminate.