Leerburg / Dog Training Articles / Puppy Training / Troubleshooting Housetraining Problems with Your Dog

Troubleshooting Housetraining Problems with Your Dog

By Ed Frawley

URL Copied!

One of the most common themes in the many emails I get everyday concern problems people have with housetraining their dogs. I wrote a 165-page e-book titled Common Sense Solutions to Housetraining Problems. This is a thorough housetraining guide that complements my How to Housebreak a Puppy or Older Dog article.

When housetraining goes well, new pet owners assume that this is a cakewalk and it should be like this all the time. These people are wrong. More often than not, problems come up and when that happens, people get frustrated.

The fact is there are many reasons that puppies and older dogs develop housetraining problems. There is no silver bullet that is going to fix each and every dog's problem. With this said, the solution to all housetraining problems lies in owner education.

Before owners can solve their dog's problem, they must first have a clear picture of the correct way to housetrain a dog. I have written an article, How to Housebreak a Puppy or Older Dog.

The purpose of this article is to help pull a lot of information from my website together so dog owners can develop a game plan for solving their own housetraining problems.

When problems arise, pet owners almost always often fall into a common trap. They start to ask family and friends what they can do to fix these housetraining problems. Unfortunately, most people are unqualified and lack the experience to offer accurate advice. This results in a lot of bad information being passed out which only makes the problems worse.

Here are some of the most common housetraining problems areas:

Puppies usually can't hold it for 8 hours until they are 16 weeks old. With this said, some have problems until they are 6 to 7 months old, some are good at 8 weeks. Usually, dogs on an all-natural diet do better because they poop about 5 times less than commercial kibble eaters.
You have to use a dog crate. If you're not prepared to do this, quit reading and move on because you are wasting your time. You are not going to reinvent the wheel by doing this without a crate.
In the beginning, take your dog out often. The concept is to teach the dog that "if it holds it just a little longer, you are going to take it outside".
The way we housetrain a dog in our home (both puppies and adults) is explained in detail in the article I wrote titled The Groundwork to Becoming a Pack Leader.
It takes a dog about 5 seconds to pee. This translates into a simple rule which is "NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF YOUR DOG - not even for 5 seconds".
Those "pee pads" that pet stores sell are the dumbest idea I have ever heard. They teach dogs to pee and poop in the house.
We don't let our dogs have free time in the house until they are 2 to 3 years old. If a dog has an accident in the house, they go right back to square one and start again. Some dogs cannot be housetrained to the extent that they can be left alone inside the house (out of the crate) when you are gone.

If you have a dog that's between 8 weeks and 16 weeks of age, I strongly recommend that you get my DVD titled Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months.

If your dog is 4 to 5 months old, I recommend my DVD titled Basic Dog Obedience. Obedience training is one of the steps in teaching our dogs what are the "RIGHT" and "WRONG" things to do in life. The fact is if you as a pet owner find yourself with a housetraining problem, you have more to learn than your dog. My articles, Q&A's, and webboard can help you through this process.

Here are some additional articles that I recommend to all pet owners:

Please don't email me with specific problems. I assure you that if you read what I have written and study my work, you will not only find your answer, but you will also become a better dog trainer along the way. You can search our Q&A's for housebreaking problems that Cindy and I have addressed. (Make sure to select Q&A's in the sidebar to filter results.)

I hope this information helps provide some direction for you and your dog.

Shop Training Supplies

Enroll in Training Courses

About Author

Ed Frawley

Ed Frawley is the founder of Leerburg. He has been training dogs since the 1950s. For 30 years, Ed bred working bloodline German Shepherds and has produced over 350 litters. During this time, Ed began recording dog training videos and soon grew an interest in police service dogs. His narcotic dogs have been involved in over 1,000 narcotics searches resulting in hundreds of arrests in the state of Wisconsin. Ed now solely focuses on producing dog training courses with renowned dog trainers nationwide. If you want to learn more about Ed, read about his history here.