How to House Train Puppy's

What is paper training?

Paper training is a specific form of house training for your dog: you're teaching her where in the house is appropriate for her to pee or poo. When you paper train your dog, you are teaching her to only 'go' on the paper which can be thrown away! I have been buying a large broadsheet newpaper for the job!

The alternative to paper training is crate training. I have been advised by a few people to try this method but due to the size of our puppy (she resembles a camel! Even at 10 weeks) So we decided on the paper training method for our puppy.




So why did I choose paper training instead of crate training?

Crate training and paper training are both effective ways to house train your dog or so I am told. This is a relatively new process for me! In general, it's accepted (by most dog trainers and vets) that crate training is the fastest method of house training your dog; but it requires a considerable investment of time and effort, which wasn't an option for us.

Paper training is the best option for you if:

- You don't have easy access to a garden or back yard
- It's not easy for you to take your dog outside for any other reason
- If you have a full-time job, or other time-consuming commitment which can't be got around (meaning that you're not able to spend the large amounts of time supervising your dog that crate training requires)

So how to paper train your dog?

First, pick a convenient area of the house for your dog to use, we have a kitchen next to the garden and it has a tiled floor so this works well.

We spread newspaper thickly in a corner of this room. At first, you have to put quite a lot of paper down.. to make a larger target area! It was important for the puppy to form a strong association between the feeling of paper under her toes, and peeing and pooing.

After a week or two, we started to reduce the amount of paper and move it closer to the back door. We have had to rethink this technique a few times when she has 'missed' the paper.. but that just means going back to putting more paper down again!

So now she has started to get the idea.. When she does go on the paper we praise her and give her a treat! We read that if she again starts to go off the paper to make a loud noise or slapping sound to interrupt her.. this apparently is a part of 'training development'.. Then when she goes back to the paper to er..finish.. praise her again!

We looked all over the internet to find a training programme or information on how to house train our puppy and found a lot of fluff and not much substance. However, I was advised to try The Ultimate House Training Guide This guide is set out so easily and clearly that we have followed it to the letter! And it works! Thankfully!

Incase anyone wants to know the difference between paper training a puppy and crate training.. here is a potted version -

Crate training is based on a dog's basic dislike of soiling where she sleeps, and involves restricting the dog's movement (by putting her in a crate, or small indoor kennel) whenever she cannot be actively supervised..

The difference between crate training and house training?

Paper training and crate training aren't the same thing. Crate training is where you train your dog to only go outside; paper training is where you train your dog to only go on newspapers.You cannot train your dog to do both at the same time - the two are mutually exclusive. It would apparently be confusing if you tried both.. so choose one and stick with it.

Crate training is the best option for you if:

- You have a medium to big dog (yes as long as you have a crate large enough!)
- You are able to spend a lot of time during your puppy's first weeks of house training in actively supervising her, and are available during the day to let her out of the crate at two- or three-hour intervals
- You want to train your dog to go outside the house right from the start
I have read all the pro's and con's for each method and even though the crate method is recommended for larger breeds we just couldn't fascilitate this.
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