THE VERY YOUNG PUPPY [5 Weeks to 16 Weeks]
Housetraining cannot be effective until your puppy is at least 16 weeks old (4+ months) because he does not have ANY control over his bowel and bladder muscles until this age. Some toy breed puppies will have to go out as frequently as every 10 minutes when they are young.
With some breeds of dogs [scent hounds, sight hounds, toys, mastiffs and terriers] it may take at least a year to completely housetrain your dog. Dogs that are taken from the litter at a very young age, purchased from inexperienced “hobby” breeders, purchased from farms, purchased from “puppy brokers” or purchased from retail outlets tend to have greater difficulty becoming housetrained and crate trained.
Your duty as the owner of a very young puppy is to prevent accidents, ignore mistakes and reward good behavior. As of today, any potty accident is ALWAYS YOUR FAULT! Never punish a puppy for housetraining accidents.
NOTE: As a rule of thumb a puppy can usually maintain bladder control an hour for each month of age. For example a 4 mo. puppy may, if conditions are perfect, be able to maintain bladder control for a maximum of 4 hours.
