How to housetrain your puppy in 5 steps?
Housetraining your puppy? Check out our 5 tips
Step 1: Be foresighted and consistent
Watch for signs that your puppy needs to go out. Typical signs are:
- Sniffing around
- Walking in circles
- Squatting
When you notice these signs, grab the little rascal and take him outside as quickly as possible. By picking him up, your puppy will stop going. Once outside, put him down and he’ll start peeing again. When your puppy has done his business outside, reward him exuberantly. You can reward your puppy with your voice, but also with training snacks. This way, your puppy will quickly realise that going outside is fun.
Step 2: Walk, walk, walk!
When your four-legged friend is still small he can’t hold his pee for too long, so it’s recommended to take your puppy outside every 2 hours. Especially after eating/drinking or playing. You can also take your puppy for short walks of about 10 minutes five times a day. This is best done with a suitable puppy harness. As your puppy gets older, he’ll be able to hold his pee longer and you can reduce the number of times you take him outside. The table below shows how often you should let your dog out based on his age.
| Age | How long your puppy can last | Minimum number of times you need to go out with your puppy |
| 8 weeks | 2 hours | 12 times |
| 12 weeks | 3-4 hours | 6-8 times |
| 16 weeks | 4-5 hours | 5-6 times |
| 20 weeks | 5-6 hours | 4-5 times |
| 6 months | 6-8 hours | 3-4 times |
| 7 months | 12 hours | 3 times |
Step 3: A fixed place to do his business
Do you want to teach your puppy a fixed place where he can do his business? Then teach him this right from the start. It’s best to take him to the same place each time he has to go. Your puppy will quickly understand that he iss expected to do his business in this place and he’ll stick to this pattern. You can also take your four-legged friend to a specific spot on each walk and give him time to do what he has to do.
When your furry friend does this properly, it’s important to reward him exuberantly. Of course, you should think carefully beforehand about where your dog’s permanent spot will be. After all, it’s very difficult to break the puppy's habit of urinating in a previously selected place he got used to.
Step 4: Don’t immediately go back inside
When you’ve taken your puppy outside and he has done his business, don’t go back inside immediately. If you do this, your puppy will think he has to go inside each time after he has done his business. If you do this, your puppy may get into the habit of delaying its business in order to be able to stay longer in the garden and play there. This can become annoying in the future, when you have to leave urgently for example. So you'd rather not teach him that behaviour.
Step 5: Don’t punish
Accidents can always happen. After all, your pup is still learning! Punishing is not the appropriate solution. When you punish your dog when things go wrong, he’ll become afraid of you and will soon do his business secretly in some corner. When your pup has an accident, it’s important that you clean it up as well as possible, so that there are no smells left behind that could make your puppy think that this is a cosy toilet place.
How long does it take to potty train puppies?
How quickly your puppy becomes house-trained depends on many internal (e.g. your puppy's character) and external factors (e.g. toilet training). The size of the room your puppy's litter was in can also be a determining factor. Dogs are very clean animals by nature and if they have enough space, they will always do their business far away from the litter. If puppies have little space, they’ll get used to doing their business near the litter. In this case it’s more difficult to change this behaviour. The rule of thumb is that many puppies are housetrained between 6 and 10 weeks, but for some dogs it can take up to 12 months.
Puppy training pads
Do you live in a flat or are you unable to take your puppy outside every few hours because you are at work, for example? With Flamingo's training pads, you can easily teach your puppy to go in a fixed place. The pads absorb and dry up within 30 seconds. In our range, we’ve disposable and reusable training pads. These can also be used in a dog crate.
Also check out our puppy checklist to make sure you’ve everything you need for your little woof!
