How to Potty Train a Five-Month Old Puppy

When you get a new puppy, one of the first things you should do is housebreak it. Potty training your pet is important if you want the pup to learn quickly that your soft carpet is not its own personal bathroom. At five-months, your puppy is ready to be potty trained. Do not prolong this process, as it can become more difficult to housebreak a dog as it gets older.

Things You'll Need

  • Treats
  • Crate
  • Baby gate
  • Puppy training pads
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Instructions

    • 1

      Select a spot in your yard for the puppy to relieve itself. This will be the area that you take the puppy to whenever it has to go to the bathroom. You want to keep the spot consistent so that the puppy learns the routine and doesn't eliminate anywhere else in the yard.

    • 2

      Pick a potty training command. This will be the word that you repeat to your puppy whenever it goes to the bathroom, so that it learns to associate the word with the act of relieving itself. Make sure everyone in your household is in agreement with the command and uses the same word. Interchanging different words can confuse your puppy.

    • 3

      Pay attention to your puppy while you are playing with it. Watch for indications that it needs to go to the bathroom. When a dog is getting ready to eliminate, it will usually circle around one spot. Interrupt the puppy and lead it to the designated spot in your yard when you notice that it might need to relieve itself.

    • 4

      Reward your puppy with a treat whenever it goes to the bathroom in the right area. The puppy will learn to continue going in one spot through positive reinforcement.

    • 5

      Set a feeding schedule. Give your puppy breakfast and dinner at the same time each day. Take the puppy outside shortly after feeding, and encourage it to go to the bathroom. Stay outside with the puppy until it goes, and give the reward.

    • 6

      Pick up the water bowl around the puppy's bedtime. Puppies will drink up a lot of water, which means they will have to go to the bathroom throughout the night. Take yours outside one last time for the evening.

    • 7

      Put your puppy into its crate at night. Make sure the crate does not give your puppy too much room for moving around. The crate should allow enough room for the puppy to make a full circle inside of it. Otherwise, the puppy might relieve itself inside the crate. Take the puppy outside to the bathroom if it wakes up in the middle of the night whining.

    • 8

      Keep the puppy in the crate during the day if you cannot supervise it. Or, if you are concerned about confining your dog for long periods, set up a play area for the puppy inside the house and block the area off with a baby gate. This area confines the puppy but still let it move around and play. Put puppy training pads down so that the puppy eliminates on the scented pad instead of your floor, if it cannot hold its bladder.

    • 9

      Let the puppy out of the crate or the gated area to go to the bathroom every couple of hours. Even though the rule of thumb in puppy potty training is that a puppy can hold its bladder for one hour per how many months old it is, the puppy can have accidents during the training process. Making a five-month-old puppy hold its bladder for five hours may not be a successful way to begin potty training.