How to Housebreak Your New Dog with Crate Training

A common gift for the holidays is a brand new puppy. A cute bundle of fluff in a basket with a brightly colored ribbon its head is something few people can turn down, and generates smiles from anyone who sees it. With this new little member of the family, however, come a few responsibilities. The first thing to do when you have a new puppy, of course, is to potty train it – even the cutest puppy will soon stop being such a pleasure if you’re constantly having to clean up after it. Fortunately, potty training doesn’t have to be difficult, and there is one method that makes it exceedingly simple, called crate training. With crate training, you can cut down greatly on the amount of accidents that you have to clean up, and achieve a house-friendly puppy in no time.

Start off by purchasing a dog crate. The size of the crate is very important – you want the dog to be able to turn around and stand up with ease and have a little bit of moving room, but otherwise the crate should be as small as you can get. The idea here is to create an environment that becomes the puppy’s own little den, an area that he will instinctively not want to use the bathroom in. Since he won’t use the bathroom in here unless he is neglected, you can store him here at night while you sleep, and while you are away during the day. This gets him used to being inside and not using the bathroom.

For step two you need to teach that outside of the house is the place to use the bathroom. To do this, make sure that each time you let him out of his crate you take him straight outside and let him do his business. This establishes a pattern in his mind, and the end result of that pattern is using the bathroom outside, not inside. You also want to watch over him as he uses the bathroom, and give him plenty of praise and attention when does it. Here you’re establishing that you want him to go outside to potty, and reinforcing the concept. Happy squeals, attention, and his favorite snacks will show him in no time that going outside is a very good thing to do.

Unfortunately, those inside accidents just can’t be avoided completely. While your puppy won’t be using the bathroom inside the house at night or while you’re away, he will sooner or later do so while you are at home and may not be paying attention. It’s now your job to show him that while using the bathroom outside is good, doing so inside is bad. You need to keep an eye on him, and each time you catch him using the bathroom, punish him. Scold him, and immediately take him outside. If, once he gets out of the house, continues to use the bathroom, you want to start praising him to again reinforce the whole concept. Punishing him when you find him using the bathroom indoors will seal the entire idea – that outside is good, inside is bad. Make sure, however, that you only punish him when you actually catch him doing it. Punishing him afterwards may confuse him, and he isn’t likely to understand what exactly it is he’s being punished for.

The process of crate training is very simple, and there really isn’t a lot of effort involved. The key is consistency. If you stay consistent with the crate, praising, and punishing, it won’t take your dog very long to get the idea. The beauty of using a crate is that it’s simple, makes the process go by faster and with less mess to clean up, helps to keep him out of trouble, and gets him used to being inside a crate. If you stick with it, you’ll find that your new addition to the family will be going straight outside to use the bathroom every time, and all you’ll have to worry about is enjoying him.