How to House Train a Puppy in One Week

Taking care of a puppy is a big responsibility. Puppies need to be taught how to live peacefully with their new family members and in their new houses. Adopting the puppy is the easy part--after that it becomes your job to teach the puppy those essential life skills. One of the most important lessons any puppy ever learns is to become house trained. Taking the time to do this means that your puppy stops using your home as its bathroom. With effort, consistency and patience you can even have your puppy house trained in about a week.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog treats
  • Crate
  • Cleaning supplies
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Instructions

    • 1

      Learn the proper ways to praise and reprimand your puppy. Praise your puppy every time it gets something right. Pat the puppy, say,"Good dog," and offer the occasional treat. This teaches the puppy what appropriate behavior is and that good behavior is rewarded. Reprimand your puppy with a sharp, "No!" Never hit or yell at your puppy, that only scares it. Only reprimand your puppy when you catch it doing something wrong, otherwise you only confuse the puppy.

    • 2

      Clear your schedule and stay right with your puppy at home. Monitor your puppy at all times. If you see your puppy sniffing around for a spot to use the bathroom or behaving as if it needs to "potty," take the puppy outside immediately to do so. Once the puppy has finished, praise the puppy and bring it right back inside. Do not allow the puppy to play outside after using the bathroom so that it learns that the trip outside is for bathroom purposes. Take the puppy outside every time, do not allow the puppy to have accidents.

    • 3

      Place your puppy in a dog crate if you must leave the puppy unattended for any reason. Take the puppy outside before placing it in the crate and take it outside as soon as you return home. This practice prevents the puppy from having an accident in your home and also teaches the puppy to "hold it" if the urge to use the bathroom arises.

    • 4

      Place your puppy on a strict schedule. Feed at the same times each day. Have playtime at the same time each day. Sleep and wake up at the same times each day. Schedule routine trips outside for "potty" each day. Do the scheduled trips along with taking the puppy out when it needs to go to teach it when "potty" breaks will be. Keeping a schedule teaches your puppy the routine and as the puppy falls into the routine, it begins to learn to use the bathroom only when you take it outside.

    • 5

      Deal with accidents immediately. Even if you supervise your puppy at all times, there may still be an accident from time to time. If you are present when the accident occurs, reprimand the puppy and thoroughly clean up the mess. Puppies instinctively use the same spot again and again if they smell previous accidents, so clean the mess up quickly and completely. If you are not present for the accident, skip the reprimand and clean up the mess.