House training – Laura Anna See, DVM
Your goals with house training are twofold: 1) prevent your puppy from going in an inappropriate area and 2) teach her where is appropriate. Do not punish her if you catch her having an accident in the house! This was your mistake for not taking your puppy outside frequently enough or for letting her out of your sight in the house. If you punish her, then she may learn to not go potty in front of you and will hide and do it elsewhere. If your pup makes a mistake, calmly put her up and then clean up the area well with enzymatic cleaners. If you catch her in the middle of elimination, you can clap or say “eh!” to try to interrupt her and then take her outside calmly but quickly, but do not scare her.
Prevent your puppy from going in the house by keeping her confined to a small area or watching her constantly if she is loose. You can attach her to a 6 ft line that clips onto your waist while you are in the house. Keeping your puppy confined to a small area when she is not under constant supervision will help prevent accidents, because dogs are less likely to have an accident in their beds unless they absolutely cannot help it. Puppies need to be taken outside frequently, especially after meals, after napping, after playing, and before being putting up. Young puppies really need to go outside every one to two hours when they are awake. Have a set schedule for meal times and play time with your puppy so that you can try to time her eliminations when you are able to take her outside. The last meal should be finished about 4 hours before bedtime, and water should be available all day and removed just before bedtime. If you have a young puppy (less than 18 weeks), she will probably need to go outside in the middle of the night, because even when puppies are sleeping, they often cannot hold their bladder for more than about 4 hours until they are older.
Teach your puppy where to go potty by leading her to the desired location and then immediately rewarding her after she goes with either a tasty treat or a fun game. Do not reward her after she comes back in the house, or else you will end up with a puppy that wants to go outside only to come immediately back inside to get her treat. You can pair up the urination or defecation with a word or phrase, such as “do your business” or “hurry up” by saying the word right before she begins to urinate or defecate. This way you will have a puppy that can potty on command. The entire house training procedure usually takes between several weeks to several months to complete, depending on your patience and consistency.
See puppy training books, such as “Puppy Primer” by Patricia McConnell for more information on house training.