House training a puppy comes down to five things done consistently: a regular potty schedule, controlled food and water intake, supervised outdoor time right after every crate session, skipping puppy pads, and staying calm through inevitable accidents. Most puppies are reliably house trained within a few weeks when these steps are followed.

1. Build a Schedule & Stay Consistent

As a general rule, puppies can “hold it” for an hour for every month of age. Establishing a regular potty schedule for your puppy makes it easy to predict when it has to go to the bathroom.

2. Regulate Food & Water Intake

Instead of giving your puppy unlimited free access to food and water, portion out its food into 2-3 meals and offer water throughout the day.

3. Crate Time & Supervised Outside Time

Get in the habit of taking your puppy to the bathroom first thing every time it comes out of the crate. Think of pottying outside as your puppy's “buy in” for outside play time.

4. Ditch the Puppy Pads

Teaching your puppy to pee on a puppy pad only builds the habit of going to the bathroom in the house. It's better to teach good habits than to settle for convenient ones.

5. Accidents Will Happen

It's almost inevitable that your puppy will have an accident. Don't freak out—it's perfectly normal. Take your puppy out to the bathroom the moment you notice, then clean up and adjust your schedule accordingly.

Potty training is time consuming. Working with a trainer can ease the process. Chomps Dog Training covers all of the early stages of training, including potty training. Contact us today if you have any questions.