Confinement Works
Young puppies or even adult dogs that are not housebroken should not have free access to the house. If you allow too much freedom too soon, you will create housebreaking problems. Dogs often consider where they eat and sleep their home. The rest of the house is the outside.
That is why a puppy kept in the kitchen will often run to the dining room to piddle or poop if he gets loose. Using a crate to keep your puppy confined when you cannot watch him is an excellent housebreaking tool.
Try not to put any cozy blankets, newspaper, or bedding inside the crate until the dog has proven himself by staying dry in the crate for two weeks straight. For dogs that cannot be crate trained for some reason, confinement by means of baby gates is key. If the dog is walked on a regular basis, he will do his best to keep his gated area clean.
The confinement area should be relatively small to keep the puppy from designating one end for sleeping and the other for the bathroom. This is why a crate works perfectly. It should be large enough for your puppy to stand up in without his shoulders touching the ceiling.
Control the Food and Water
A puppy is like a sieve: What goes in will come out. Pay attention to how much and how often he eats and drinks and regulate what goes in so you can regulate what comes out. Your unhousebroken dog should not have free access to food and water, because he will eat and drink whenever he wants, and you will be less able to predict when he'll need to go out.
To housebreak a dog, you need to stick to a strict food and water schedule and be sure that he is walked at regular intervals. Puppies that have a regular feeding routine are easy to predict; if you feed and water them on a schedule, they will go out on schedule.
Providing a consequence for unproductive trips to the potty spot is a good idea. The most logical consequence is a lack of freedom. A dog that normally goes at a certain hour, like first thing in the morning or last thing at night, should not be allowed to play freely in the house or yard until he has had a productive trip outside.
The best way to help a puppy develop a reliable housebreaking schedule is to feed roughly at the same time each day and not leave water out all day and night. Put the food down for ten minutes; if he doesn't finish, pick it up and put it away until the next meal. Feed a young pup seven to 12 weeks old three times a day, and feed an older puppy or adult dog twice a day. Put the water down at regular intervals and pay attention to how much he drinks. Remember: What goes in comes out.
Don't Punish Your Puppy for Mistakes
If you are not sure you know about all the spots where your dog has gone, consider purchasing a black light (available in some dog supply catalogs) to detect the urine stains on the carpet.
An important aspect of housebreaking a dog successfully is to reward success rather than punish mistakes. Mistakes are really your fault for not walking your puppy at the right time. If you'd like to hit yourself over the head with a rolled-up newspaper, feel free! Your puppy will not learn not to go in the house by being scolded or punished.
What he will learn is to avoid going in front of you and instead go under the dining room table when no one is looking. The end result is that it will be nearly impossible to get him to go on a leash, because he will come to believe that going in front of some-one is wrong.
Deal with mistakes by ignoring the pup for a while. Put him in a crate or gated room, clean up the mess, and make a note of the time of the accident. Keep track of your dog's mistakes to see if there is any pattern to them and if you should add in extra walks.
