Housetraining is a combination of puppy and people training, and in our household I expect it to take about a week. The secret is to watch the puppy at all times and never allow accidents. Because I know housetraining can be accomplished quickly, I devote myself to the task for the week or so, and then keep on top of things after that.
The puppy is taken to the same spot upon waking, after eating, and about every 20 minutes when she is awake. Since I am always watching the puppy, accidents do not happen. If I see one about to start, I grab the puppy and head out to the designated spot. Watching the puppy does not mean being in the same room -- it literally means watching the puppy because an accident in the house is the start of a habit, and I want the habit to be using the outside potty! When the puppy is outside, I stay with her, say "potty" and reward for success. If the puppy happens to wind up in the general vicinity of the back door, I pretend that she has asked to go out and make a big deal about what a clever puppy she is and take her out. Eventually the puppy learns to head for the back door when she wants to go out. If I cannot watch the puppy, and if nobody else is available, I will crate the puppy. I have not had a puppy that will potty in a crate. My observation with my own litters is that given a choice, the puppy will head off to a potty zone. My current litter (n=10; 5.5 weeks) has an area they all like to sleep, and not one of them has used that area as a potty. I taught puppy kindergarten for a couple of years, and pet store puppies consistently are hard to house train -- they are used to using their sleeping area as a potty (another reason to get a puppy from a reputable and good breeder!). So I really do believe that puppies have a natural tendency to want to keep the sleeping area clean, and when they are having accidents in their crates, it is either a reflection of how they were raised, a reflection that the expectations are too great for the puppy, and/or the puppy is just a slob :) At any rate, I believe the most common reasons that people have trouble with housetraining is that they are not approaching it with complete dedication, diligence and consistency and/or the expectations for the puppy are too great. After the first week, I keep on the schedule we have developed -- I expect the puppy to need to go out at least 1-2 times an hour when awake for a long time. And again, the goal is to establish the habit of an outside -- not inside -- potty area. My last puppy had a total of NO completed accidents in the house, and about three starts of accidents. Housetraining can be frustrating but remember that the puppy is doing exactly what we are teaching -- allowing accidents teach the puppy that it is okay to potty in the house, and make no mistake -- when there are accidents it is always the fault of the humans. Mary-Ann Bowman Utah
