Every puppy and every owner is different. There is no accurate amount of time for housetraining. But if the training is done consistently, housetraining can be completed in 10-12 weeks.
Housetraining is not easy. It is one of the most difficult stuff to deal with when you have a new puppy. But it is the first important thing you have to deal with. No one can get away from this.
Remember that accidents to happen. It is a normal part of life. When your pup pees in places not designated for pee and poo, do not punish him. One important thing though – dogs show submission and fear by peeing involuntarily. So the more you reprimand him, instead of giving rewards, the more you’ll encounter toilet accidents along the way.
If accidents do happen, eliminate the scent right away by disinfecting the area as dogs like to eliminate at places with the slightest scent of previous pee puddles.
After letting him pee outside, immediately go back in so that he will know that peeing or pooping is only for outside the house.
Before you take your new puppy home, start researching house training. Ask the breeder or the shelter where you will collect your puppy from if your puppy has started his housetraining and to what extent is his training stage at the time you’ll take him home. Besides asking the “whens”, ask also the “hows” of house training that the puppy has started with so you can continue with their method if you prefer or slowly shift from their method towards the housetraining method of your choice.
As soon as your puppy arrives home, introduce him to his toilet. The first place he eliminates on will retain in his memory for a long time. So wait until he pees or poops before taking her inside the house.
Take a leave from work on the first week of your puppy’s homecoming. At least 5 days will be enough for you to get to know each other and sufficient to start a good house training process. If in case you can’t be with him, consider hiring a handler to do the job for you or try looking for puppy daycare establishments where you can leave him during the day while you are at work.
If you will be out for not long or over a few hours only, consider confining your puppy in a small area with small gates to divide the place into the sleeping area, playing, eating area and the potty pen with pee pads that you can use to entice him to pee at that place only. It can be contained with a system like a litter and a turf around it.
In the evenings, set an alarm four hours after your pup has settled to take him out for a pee. Make it strictly toilet time then get him back to sleep immediately. Adjust the alarm time to five hours and longer as he grows older until he sleeps straight through the night.
