House Training your ISD CISC Fall Issue 2006

TRAIN YOUR DOG: House Training your ISD
By Valerie Sharp

House training your Dog or Puppy is one of the most important things you do. It is vital that your dog or puppy learns to relieve itself outside. It is a good idea to train your puppy to be able to go on all types of footing, grass, pavement, gravel etc.

It will require patience and lots of repetition but soon enough, you will find your dog going outside. Teaching a cue for the puppy to go, gives you a great tool. The first step in a successful housebreaking training program is to have a plan. Hopefully before a dog or puppy is brought home it has been discussed who will take the pup outside and what method will be used. So in regards to planning your housebreaking, it would be a good idea to talk about: A) Who will get up during the night to take the dog out? If this is to be a family puppy, it’s not really reasonable to ask your children to do this, but if there are two adults in the house, it might be a good idea to consider alternate nights.

B) Will a crate be used? I would recommend a crate for housebreaking and other reasons. If used properly a crate can provide the dog with a comfort area to feel safe and a good way to make sure your puppy does not eat or get into any valuables, plus he will naturally fuss, when he needs to go out, which is a great first step to being able to cue you in that he or she needs to be able to ask you to go outside.C) Will the pup be on a leash, if so who will take it out and wait for it to go to the bathroom? This is a good idea in the beginning as it mean that you can control puppies wandering and help teach a "Go pee" " Good pee" on command, nothing is quite as frustrating as standing waiting for puppy at 3:30 am, only to have puppy having a free romp outside, coming inside and squat. This is not a bad puppy, this is an owner mistake, and puppy needs to learn that it’s outside to do its business, and does not get to play until he has done so. Once your puppy or dog understands that it must go bathroom first and foremost, and then it can play, both of you will be much happier in the long run.


Using scent marking to help you train your puppy or dog:

One of the best methods for getting your pup to go outside is consistency. Each time the dog is taken outside to use the bathroom, go to the same area. This will help the puppy learn that this is where it should go to the bathroom and when you go to that area it is time to go to the bathroom.


If you are clicker training, you can click and treat as the puppy is going to the bathroom. If you don’t clicker train, you can still reward with a "Good Pee" and treat the puppy, but in all honesty, I think they do respond just as well to happy praise, and play as reward, so you don’t always need to look to the cookies, consider a good pat, or a play bow and romp with you as a reward as well.


Dogs are creatures of habit, and we can use this to our advantage, by taking your pup out at the same time each day, it will quickly learn and know when it is time to go to the bathroom. The best times are when the pup first wakes up, after eating, after a play romp, when you come home and before bedtime. A new pup will need to go about every 2 hours at first. As the pup gets older its bladder will also grow and the frequency it needs to relieve itself will decrease.

One note of caution is that if you miss a time the dog will let you know!