The initial period of three to four months when a puppy does not yet have proper control over its urination and defecation can be a trying time for the owner.
The owner has to patiently clean up after the puppy has peed on the floor or done potty in a corner of the house.
This period is also crucial from the point that the owner has to set up rules for the puppy and train it to follow those rules.
Housebreaking the puppy normally involves teaching it to hold its pee (and potty) and to wait until it is taken outside for a walk.
Here are some things that you can do to ease your troubles through this period of housebreaking.
- Set up a routine of fixed mealtimes for the puppy and fixed timings for walks.
This will ensure that your puppy's body falls into a rhythm and it knows when it has to do potty and pee.
- Make sure that you take your puppy out for a walk first thing in the morning, once late at night just before going to sleep, and after every meal.
- Remove all carpeting from the house as these things can absorb the pee and stink later.
Also, keep the puppy confined to a room with bare floors.
- You can also choose to keep your puppy in a crate when you are away from the house.
The puppy will instinctively try to refrain from soiling his own abode, and this will initiate the habit of controlling excretions.
However, do not keep the puppy in the crate for more than five hours.
- Be alert for signs of excitement from the puppy - such as wagging of the tail, pacing about the room, etc.
- this typically means that the puppy wants to pee or do potty.
Take the puppy outside for a walk immediately.
Apart from these pointers, it is a good idea to follow a particular obedience training regime for the puppy so that you inculcate proper habits in it while growing up.
These regimens for housebreaking the puppy generally follow a 'reward when good' and 'penalize when bad' philosophy that never advices the use of physical violence - and are very effective.
However, one thing you must keep in mind while scolding/penalizing the puppy for doing something undesirable is that you should not scold it for something that it has done around five minutes ago (lets say).
This is because the puppy does not realize that it is being scolded for doing potty on the floor five minutes ago, and feels that your displeasure has something to do with the potty lying on the floor.
Thus, you should scold the puppy only when you actually catch it in the act of doing potty on the floor.
Only then will the puppy be able to make the connection of its doing potty inside the house and your displeasure.
Therefore, some basic guidelines that you should always keep in mind irrespective of the specific regimes of housebreaking the puppy that you are following are that - never hurt it physically, stick to a routine religiously, and don't scold it unless you catch it in the act.