Housebreaking a 6 month old puppy is not as hard as you might be thinking.
Maybe you think that because he is a bit older, he should already be housebroken, so maybe there is a problem.
Fear not, he is trainable!
Whatever the reason for his not being housebroken right now, you can turn that around by reading these tips for housebreaking a 6 month old puppy!
Let’s get started!
Related: How to Housebreak Your Puppy Without a Crate
Housebreaking a 6 month old puppy
Just because your pup is not housebroken yet, doesn’t mean he can’t be. He just needs your help. Read on to see how to potty train a 6 month old dog!
The crate
When you are shopping for crates, you want one that is big enough for him to turn around in, but not big enough that he can soil in it and get away from it.
Make sense? You don’t want a crate large enough for a full grown Bullmastiff if what you have a is a 6 month old pup.
Well, you can, you just have to block off the back. Dogs do not eliminate where they sleep (typically).
RELATED ➔ Do’s and don’ts of house training a dog
Where do you place it?
You might think that your bedroom is the best spot to place his crate.
I mean, you want him to sleep there right? So the bedroom seems the natural place.
It is where I put my dog’s crate when I first got her.
Actually the best place for his crate is the place in your home with that sees the most traffic.
Leaving him in a room where no one is with him, is going to make him feel abandoned.
Go slow
Let him get used to his new place.
That is his special place and he needs to know it’s ok for him to be in there.
Do not use it as punishment!
- Let him sniff it, go in, come out.
- Give him a treat and guide him in.
- Leave a treat close to the door, let him get it, toss another a little further inside, and keep going.
He might turn around, it’s okay, just make it a positive experience.
Feed him
To get him accustomed to his new crate, feed him inside, with the door closed.
But do not leave him. Stay right by him. When he is done, open the door.
When you feed him next, leave the door open for about 5 minutes, again staying with him.
The idea is that he is learning this is his safe place, not a punishment.
Schedule
We all work best when we have a schedule to keep right? Dogs are the same way.
Having a potty schedule will benefit both of you.
After eating, in the morning, when you come home from work, before being in for the night, be sure he gets outside.
He will quickly learn that he will have the opportunity to get outside to do his business.
Use the same command word as well. Dogs like commands.
Short and simple like ‘go potty’ when you walk him to the same area you want him to use as his bathroom.
Keeping him on a leash is helpful, even if you have a fenced in yard. Later on you can just open the door and let him go, but for the purposes of housebreaking, keeping him leashed is best.
Give your pup a chance, some take a little longer to housebreak than others.
Puppies are all cute and fun, until the hard work of training comes into play and then a lot of people give up and rehome them. So sometimes he just wasn’t given the proper training.
With some time and love and the proper attention, he will get it.
