Well, I'd certainly say rule number one is never, ever, ever punish a dog during this process! Punishment isn;t understood as 'don't do that inside' but 'don;t do that in front of me or you get punished' so you typically end up with a dog that sneaks and does its business behind a curtain or sofa etc... :shock:
The best method is to use a crate and ideally someone needs to be home with a puppy all day to enable this to happen. If the pup is left alone for stretches, housetraining takes much much longer. Consistent oversight speeds the process. The general rule is 100% supervision 100% of the time when the puppy is awake. The puppy should never be further than arm's reach away, and remember that good management is as important as the training process. Think toddlers. If you don't want pee or poop on a rug, then don't let the puppy in that area til well trained (at age 1+). If you don;t want something chewed and damaged, ditto. People get so angry at helpless puppies when they'd never leave things about for toddlers to interact with and damage! The process is really very similar and expectations should be the same (eg a toddler isn;t potty trained in a few weeks and neither will a puppy be
).
The best possible approach is o use a setup at home as recommended by respected trainer Dr Ian Dunbar, on his website
www.dogstardaily.com. If you go there you will see the section on puppy training on the top menu bar but you can also register and then download for free his entire 2 books on Before.. and After... You Get Your Puppy. It is worth downloading and using both! The Before book is handy for people even after they get their puppy.
There are images for housetraining set up etc (with a cavalier...
).
The biggest mistake everyone -- and I do mean everyone! -- makes is thinking housetraining is done and dusted too early, with the result that people give the puppy too much freedom, stop watching, and soon the puppy regresses and then needs weeks of remedial training. Most puppies will not be MOSTLY reliable til at least 6 months old. Most won't be generally housetrained til a year old or so and even then expect accidents. A lot of folks think once the puppy has been pretty consistent for a week or two, they can relax and let the puppy roam the house. Don;t do it!!
Also: I'd advise not allowing puppies on sofas or human beds unless you want pee in the cushions/mattress. Very much worth investing in a waterproof mattress cover (the kind used for excluding dustmites, from medical supply stores, is best -- more expensive but a mattress costs hundreds and is a 10 year investment. You cannot get pee out of the mattress once it is in there! And it rots the internal fibres as well as smelling). Again -- prevention is so often the best and easiest way to keep everyone happy...
There are some great articles on good management and training pinned at the top of the training section on the forum (the post about 'if you just read one thing, read this').
