Help! How do I housebreak my Husky Puppies?

Question

I have two 10 wk old Siberian Huskies who are pooping and peeing all over my house. They know that they get yelled at when they go in the house and we let them out for hours... they come inside go over by the coffee table, squat down and crap all over my house!! HELP... I do not hit or spank my dogs so how do I get them to GO OUTSIDE...?

I have two 10 wk old Siberian Huskies who are pooping and peeing all over my house. They know that they get yelled at when they go in the house and we let them out for hours... they come inside go over by the coffee table, squat down and crap all over my house!! HELP... I do not hit or spank my dogs so how do I get them to GO OUTSIDE...?

Let me add that I've had dogs ALL MY LIFE!! Just been awhile... just needed some suggestions. Don't need to be rude!

Answer 1

You need to get in a schedule where they end up having to do the right thing and be told how great they are for it, that is what will teach them. Confining them a couple hrs in a cozy bed/crate- where they won't want to make a mess--THEN taking them out to the place and telling them to go.--will start to give them chances to do the right thing and get praised for it. Here are some links on crate training which is I think part of your answer.

You will likely need to take them separately out to the outside "potty place" and wait for them to go and praise profusely when they do. If they're distracted by playing with each other they won't go...you have to remind them to go potty in the right place. Take them on a leash and don't let them go off and play or not focus on their "business".

It sounds like your Husky babies are confused about where they are supposed to go. Their noses are telling them that the place to go is by the coffee table. They have a lot better sense of smell than you do and they can smell it even after you cleaned. You need to do some serious cleaning, and use cleaners like Nature's Miracle. Then keep them out of that room for quite a while. You can start letting them go in there later, but only immediately after you have just SEEN them go potty outside. and then don't leave them in there unsupervised.

It can be very frustrating having them crap all over your house, and I'm really glad you don't hit dogs! !But basically it does no good to yell either unless you catch them right in the act. Even if you find the poop just 5-10 minutes later and point at it and yell, a puppy may have no idea what behavior of HIS you are yelling about .

I would suggest asking your breeder for advice. But if they came from a pet shop or a breeder that keeps them in a kennel and lets them soil it, they have not had a good head start at learning this stuff and it may take them longer.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Take the puppy out every half an hour to every hour.. depending on how long your pup is able to hold it. She should also go out right after eating, sleeping and playing.

Use a command.. whatever you feel comfortable with "Hurry up" "go potty" "wee-wee".. just use the same phrase each time! While outside, have her on a leash and use the command. When she seems distracted, and doesnt seem to be searching for a place to potty, tug on the leash and remind her again, "go potty". Give her about 10 mins or so. If she doesnt go, take her inside and crate her for 10-15 mins then try again. If she potties, praise like crazy.

Watch for signs that she may need to go.. circling, sniffing, whining, etc. If you catch her pottying in the house, firmly tell her NO, then take her outside. Praise once outside.. even if she just piddled thru the house on the way to the door.

If you find a mess and did not catch her doing it, take a rolled up newspaper, and smack yourself for not paying closer attention!

Clean up all messes with a good enzymatic cleaner that is made for pet messes. You can use a blacklight to see if you've cleaned it all up or not.

As she gets older, the trips outside will be farther and farther apart.. you need to use some judgement on how often she needs to go.

Crate her when you cannot supervise. The crate should only be big enough for her to turn around and lay down comfortably. If the crate is too big, she will potty in the crate.. that throws out the whole crate training concept!

Also never leave her in the crate for more than a few hours at a time.. a puppy's lil bladder can only hold it so long.

I also reccommend scheduled feedings rather than free-feeding her.. it makes it easier to time out when she will have to poop!

Even when you can supervise, baby gates are an excellent tool to help contain her to part of the house.


Each puppy is different. It can take several weeks to housetrain a puppy.

Answer 3

You have a tough breed of dog (very stubborn). Even the dog training book I have says that Huskies have to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and swatted with a newspaper to produce results when training. I know this is true and I had a Huskie that I really loved. If I didn't lay down the law about once a week he would have wrecked everything I owned and driven me insane.

edit: You're right folks, puppies should not be swatted for not being house-broken. They should only be allowed to run loose indoors when you can watch them carefully. But when Huskies grow up they will follow the Alpha Dog and pee on everyone else. I hope you are prepared to set limits firmly or YOU will have everything you own ruined and you will go insane.

Answer 4

Although crate training can be a very valuable tool in training if you get lazy and leave them in too long they will go. You need to work with puppy's take them out every hour for the first few weeks and then start cutting back on hours. Give them treats when the go outside, don't scold them after they have gone to the potty, but while so they know what they are getting yelled at about.
Husky's are pretty wild dogs, they are one of the closest breeds to wolves, which can make them a little harder to train! Remember, they are puppy's! They don't know any better yet.

Answer 5

Crate training does work wonders, being as at this point they are still young and they can't hold it as long yet as an older puppy would,if the crate is the proper size and not too big, they won't want to toilet where they're sleeping and will hold it. It is really difficult if almost impossible to remove all odors from where they have gone before, so they assume that's the right spot. We have pugs and they are horribly hard to housebreak, but being as they're very food motivated, we would take them out, on a leash, (a longer leash) to the same spot every time, and wait. Wait wait until they go, Then immediately praise them and reward them with a little treat. Then take them inside right away, so they know they were out to go potty, not play, and they went, so now it's time to go inside. You HAVE to be consistent though, that is the key! I would really suggest getting a crate for each of them, and keep them in it while they're young, and when you take them out, go immediately outside to relieve them. I know I couldn't imagine trying to housebreak two puppies at once! One is hard enough! My pug is 11mo, and he still pees inside. He wears a male diaper inside and sometimes I will keep him on a leash tied to my belt loop because he wont go in front of me or near me. Anways.... good luck to you!!!

Answer 6

Press their nose against the pee or poop and say in a firm commanding voice "NO!". Although you don't hit or spank them [I don't either] you can still use a rolled up newspaper to give them a light smack when you say no. They won't even feel it and its the sound it makes rather than any pain or spanking etc. When done with this, put them outside immediately and leave them out for an hour or two.
This is how I house-trained all my dogs, including one husky, and they never pee or poop in the house. Hope it helps!

Answer 7

the crate.
rotating their eating/crating/out door schedule helps them get the idea of whats supposed to happen where and when.

ex:
feed them and put them in the crate.
after an hour and half, take them out of the crate and CARRY them outside. i say carry becuase they will have to pee, and they will pee on the way to the door if they can manage.
reward them for potty outside, and let them play for a bit. bring them in and play inside under close supervision.
then back in the crate with water for an hour and half.
repeat.

its alot of work. but its effective, and if followed carefully will train them with ALOT less messes in the house. its alot of crate time at first, but dont worry, they are puppies and sleep ALOT anyway. just dont leave them in the crate too long especially when they are little, they can't hold it as long as bigger/older dogs.

Answer 8

Positive reinforcement.

When they do their business outside, give them lots of praise and a treat. Teach them to associate the action with the word for it, so you can tell them "go poop" and they'll know that's what they're supposed to be doing. If they're too distracted outside by wanting to play with each other, let them out at different times. Don't free-feed. When you only feed twice a day, a certain amount of food, you can easily predict when they'll need to go.

Answer 9

Positive reinforcement for positive behaviour ie: treat, praise, act like its the best thing they've ever done when they go outside.

Ignore negative behaviour ie: messes inside (unless u can catch them in the act then carry them outside but be warned, this can be very messy!) and clean up the area with an ammonia free cleaning agent (dogs will often choose to go in the same place especially if it smells like urine/faeces)

DO NOT smack with rolled up newspaper (smack yerself for not training well would be more effective) or yell or push their noses into the mess - this either serves to make your dog scared of you or to react to your "aggressiveness", it can even make them hide their mess (behind a chair, in a pile of magazines) inside to try to avoid your irrational (to them) behaviour.

Pups can be expected to hold on for their age (in months) minus one ie: a four month old pup can be expected to hold on for 3 hours, no longer! keeping your pups in a confined area to avoid messes when you can't be there to closely supervise is a good idea... a crate is ok for short periods or a bathroom/laundry, just make sure anything dangerous to pup is out of reach and that water/toys are always available... taking them outside at least every couple of hours to go to the toilet especially after eating and sleeping is a must.
good luck, keep on with it and be patient, patient, patient!

Answer 10

You crate train them. You take them outside, you tell them they are good when they go. 2 puppies at the same time is a big mistake especially when you have no experience at all with owning a dog.