Puppy house-training accidents are always the fault of the owner and not the fault of the puppy. Although it may seem like puppies are being stubborn, they are actually just not figuring out where they are supposed to eliminate. Puppies do not gain control of their bladder and bowel muscles until they are at least six months old. Some breeds, like the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, can take up to two years.
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Cleaning Accidents
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Properly cleaning up after a puppy's accident will help with housebreaking. Puppies sniff before they eliminate. They are sniffing for the faint odors of urine and feces. These scents let the puppy know to go there. In a puppy's mind, if the area has been used once as a toilet, it must still be a toilet. Do not clean up accidents with ammonia or vinegar based cleaners, because they will leave an odor behind that is similar to urine. Use only enzyme-based cleaning solutions. Never rub a puppy's nose in their body wastes. This will only teach the puppy to be afraid of you. There are products that are urine-scented that can be placed in a yard to help a puppy know where to go.
Submissive Urination
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When human babies are very excited, they may urinate. Something similar happens to puppies. They might leak a few drops of urine when either very excited or very scared. This is called submissive urination. By leaking a few drops of urine, the puppy is saying, "I'm only a weak puppy. Don't hurt me." According to Race Foster, DVM (doctor of veterinary medicine), puppies outgrow submissive urination by the time they are a year old. If you know that some activities cause submissive urination in your puppy -- such as meeting another dog -- then do the activity outside. Yelling at the puppy for submissive urination will only make the puppy more frightened, which will lead to more urination.
Schedule
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There are predictable times when a puppy needs to eliminate. These are after the puppy wakes up, after he eats, after exercise and about every two hours. According to "The KISS Guide to Raising a Puppy" (Liz Palika, 2002), by taking the puppy outside or to the designated toilet area when he needs to go sets the puppy up for going in the right place. Praise lavishly with soothing words and petting when the puppy squats. By closely observing your puppy's behavior, you will soon notice the times when the puppy needs to go or notice behaviors the puppy does when needing to go. Some puppies walk around in circles, sniffing, while others scratch the floor.
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