House Training

House training is the number one concern for many new puppy owners. There are many different ways to accomplish this task. All of them require persistence on your part. Remember your puppy is like a small child learning to use the toilet and they will sometimes have accidents.
There are 100’s of books, videos and even private trainers to help you have success teaching your puppy. Choose the best method that works for your family and lifestyle.

Modified Crate Training

We find the easiest transition method for you puppy when it first comes home is the modified crate training system. For most people with active lifestyles, traditional crate training is difficult due to needing to be available every couple of hours to let a young puppy out of the crate to potty.
We prefer a modified crate training system using a puppy play pen or another larger crate system such as the Richell Expandable Pet Crate with floor tray and using an absorbent puppy potty pad so that the puppy can have a safe place to sleep and play and also a place to potty unsupervised.
It is important for the pen to be set up in a rectangle so that the puppy can naturally potty away from where it sleeps and eats. Place the bed, food, water and toys at one end and a potty pad at the other end. You can use either disposable puppy potty pads

or washable puppy potty pads.

or a dog litter box

or real grass indoors

This play pen can be the main space your puppy is confined to while you are not immediately available to supervise. We do not advise young puppies being left free to rome the entire home unattended until they are older. This will make potty training much more difficult. Additionally it is very difficult to completely puppy proof an entire home. Having a comfortable contained place for puppy to stay is much safer.
If you don’t want to place your puppy in a play pen you can use a small room such as a bathroom or laundry room. If using a room, place the bed, food and water near the door and the potty pad on the other end of the room. Placing the potty pad away from where the puppy will want to linger makes it more enticing to naturally go away from sleeping and play area to potty.
Using a modified crate training system for your puppy makes it possible for you to leave your puppy while you are at work, tending to family duties or overnight while you sleep. Your puppy can eat, drink, sleep, play and potty comfortably on it’s own.
While living in our home your puppy has learned how to use puppy potty pads so it is already familiar with this system.

Here are a few example options of products to use for the modified crate training system.

Richell Expandable Pet Crate with floor tray

Indoor acrylic playpen

wire folding playpen
(set up in a rectangle shape)

Potty Training Puppy Apartment

Another option is the Potty Training Puppy Apartment from modernpuppies.com Check out their website link to see their informative video on how the potty training system works. Use coupon code IP65705 for a discount on your order.

Crate training

One of the fastest ways to house train your puppy is to use the crate training method. However, it is also the most labor intensive initially. Puppies will need to be let outdoors to the “potty area” every couple of hours around the clock.
The crate can be either plastic or wire. Collapsible wire crates are preferred to allow more air flow. They also can be easily folded flat for travel and storage.

The crate needs to be small, only large enough for your puppy’s bed. If the crate is too large the puppy will sleep on one end and eliminate on the other. Most brands of wire crates now come with adjustable dividers that expand as your puppy grows. So you can get a crate large enough for an adult but adjust it smaller when your puppy is smaller.
Crate training is so efficient because dogs do not like to soil their resting/sleeping quarters if given adequate opportunity to eliminate elsewhere. Temporarily confining your dog to a small area strongly inhibits the tendency to urinate and defecate. If your dog does not eliminate while it is confined, then it will need to eliminate when it is released, i.e., it eliminates in the right place and when you are present to reward and praise your puppy.

Be sure to understand the difference between temporarily confining your dog to a crate and long term confinement when you are not home. The major purpose of confinement when your are not home such as in a bathroom or puppy pen is to restrict mistakes to a small protected area. The purpose of crate training is quite the opposite. Short term confinement to a crate is intended to inhibit your dog from eliminating when confined, so that it will want to eliminate when released from confinement and taken to the appropriate area. Crate training also helps teach your dog to have bladder and bowel control. Instead of going whenever it feels like it, the puppy learns to hold it and go at convenient scheduled times. Eventually your entire house becomes “off limits” and the puppy learns to only relieve itself outside.
Crate training should not be abused, otherwise the problem will get drastically worse. The crate is not intended as a place to lock up the dog and for extended periods of time. If your dog soils in the crate because you left it there too long, the house training process could be set back several weeks.
Your puppy should only be confined to a crate when you are at home and available to take it out to relieve itself every hour or two. Each time your puppy out of the crate immediately take it outside to the “potty spot” you have chosen. Once outside, give your puppy about three to five minutes to produce. If it does not eliminate within the allotted time period, simply return the puppy to the crate. If your puppy does perform, then immediately reward it with praise, food treats, affection, play, an extended walk and permission to run around and play in your house. With constant consistency your puppy will learn quickly where to potty.
Remember with crate training you MUST let a young puppy out every couple of hours around the clock. If you are not available to let your puppy out this frequently use a modified crate training system or place it in a confinement area such as a playpen, laundry room etc with a potty pad until you are back home and can monitor the crate training.

Dog door

Installing a dog door in your home is a great option for an adult dog so it can come and go outdoors to potty as needed.

Take caution that an unattended dog can be an easy target for theft. It is not advised to leave a young puppy outdoor unattended. Very young puppies are safer in a modified crate system in a playpen indoors. Once your puppy is getting older you can set up a sturdy playpen outside just around you dog door to limit your puppy to a smaller area of the yard. The tighter fence spacing of the playpen can help prevent escapes.

Before you ever leave home with a dog door installed make especially sure your dog has used it when you are there and can monitor for any escape issues. Pomeranians are tiny and can fit through very small spaces under gates and near end lines.

Leash method

When you are available at home you can place a leash on your puppy and keep it right with you wherever you go. Paying special attention to their “potty signals” you can quickly take your puppy to the designated potty spot. Each dog has it’s own signals such as circling, sniffing, whining, hiding behind an object, starting to squat etc. With the puppy on a leash within arms reach you can monitor and quickly respond. This works best when you can focus on your puppy. If you are distracted with something else like watching TV you may miss the potty signals and your puppy will have an accident.

Dog doorbells

Dog door bells are a strap with jingle bells attached. They are used to help your dog communicate with you to ask to be let outdoors. You hang the bells on the door leading to the potty yard and each time you take your puppy out the door you stop, lifts the puppy’s paw to tap the bells and make them ring, give praise, then take the puppy outside. Your puppy will learn to go to that door and ring the bells on it’s own when it wants out. Best to use in combination of other potty training methods.

Accidents

If you ever find an accident in the house, just clean it up. Do not punish your dog. All this means is that you have given unsupervised access to your house too soon. Until your puppy is more consistent and can be trusted, don’t give unsupervised free run of your house. If mistakes and accidents occur, it is best to go back to the modified or traditional crate training. You need to more accurately predict when your dog needs to eliminate and puppy needs more time to develop bladder and bowel control.

When cleaning, there are many pet specific products can eliminate pet smells with enzymes or other ingredients. It is important to eliminate the smell which could attract your puppy to potty in the same spot again. Don’t use ammonia based cleaners as they will actually attract your puppy to potty in the same spot again as the ammonia mimics urine.
For carpets or rugs we like Resolve Urine Destroyer.

There are so many other great pet safe cleaners available we couldn’t possibly list them all. Find the scent and reliability that works best for you.

Conclusion

With all methods remember that young puppies cannot hold their bladder for more than a couple of hours at a time so if you are regularly required to be away for any length of time choose a more flexible method such as litter box, puppy pads or use a doggie door so your puppy can relieve itself without your supervision. Until your puppy is older and completely housetrained, it should not be allowed free run of your house. Otherwise, your puppy will develop a habit of leaving piles and puddles anywhere and everywhere, especially on the absorbent carpet. Your potty training success will be much easier to confine your puppy to a small area until they are trained.

Always praise your puppy for potty in the correct place. With your consistency and abundance of rewards and praise for eliminating outside, your puppy will become more reliable about holding it until you take it out. Never punish for having an accident. Puppies are just doing what come naturally and they don’t understand why they are being punished. They cannot connect the act of potty to your anger even though it happened only seconds ago. Punishment can cause fear, anxiety and confusion. It is much better to praise for good behavior and ignore unwanted behavior.
The more consistent you are the better your puppy will learn.

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