House Training Your Puppy: Crate Training

You can house break a dog using a crate.  This method is very effective and will quickly teach your dog the proper place to use the bathroom.  Dogs will not use the bathroom in a place where they sleep or lay down unless it is a serious emergency.  As long as you get a crate that is not too big and do not leave your dog locked up for a prolonged period of time, they will not use the bathroom in their crate.  A young puppy will need to go out often.  It is said that a dog can hold their bladder for as many hours as they are months old.  Therefore a 1 month puppy can hold it for 1 hour (2 months, 2 hours, and so on).  A puppy should still be able to move and turn around freely in their crate, but there should not be a lot of available floor space once they lay down.  You don’t want your puppy to be able to walk to one side of the crate and go to the bathroom and be able to lie down on the other side of the crate without lying in their waste.  Keep your puppy in its crate.  Let them out once an hour.  Immediately put them on a leash and take them out to use the bathroom.  You want to take the dog out of the same door each time you take them out to use the bathroom.  This will establish one exit of the house they associate with going to the bathroom.  Once you take your dog out walk them repeating the phrase “go pee,” or any phrase of your choosing.  If your puppy uses the bathroom reward them with a treat and give them love and attention.  It is important that you reward them immediately after they use the bathroom.  You should have treats in your pocket when you take your puppy outside.  This will allow them to realize that their use of the bathroom is the desired behavior you wish them to achieve.  If your puppy uses the bathroom you can bring them back inside and give them some play time.  Let them run around for a bit and play with them before putting them back in their crate (10-15 minutes).  If your puppy does not use the bathroom simply bring them back inside with no treat, reward, attention or playtime.  Simply walk them directly back to their crate and put them back in.  The effectiveness of crate training may vary, but it can take as little as 1-2 weeks with no accidents in the house.