CRATE TRAINING

A crate approximately 18 X 24 inches is about the right size. If you already have one that is larger, try to cut it down in size for the time being until the puppy is reliably housebroken. The trick to housebreaking is to NOT let the puppy go "potty" inside your house! Remember, this puppy went potty in MY house, not yours. At your house it is starting with a clean slate. If you can get through the first week or two without the puppy going potty in your house or in its crate, whatever effort it takes to do this, your puppy will be well on its way to being housebroken to the limits of its muscular control at that time. At 3 months of age, 4 hours is maximum during the day, 6-7 hours for the night (when the puppy is not eating every 4 or 5 hours). I suggest you get a few washable beds for the bottom of the crate, a couple of towels will do the trick. Please leave a clean bed in the crate at all times unless you must be away for an extended period of time. In this case I do suggest lining the crate with newspaper as you cannot expect your puppy to hold it that long. If the puppy manages to stay clean, praise him/her effusively. It is goes on the paper don't mention it. For those of you who work, you will have to do this every time you leave for work and will not be able to expect the puppy to hold it for 8 daytime hours consistently until it is at least 6 months old. But you CAN still housebreak the puppy completely for when you are home.

At first, keep that puppy in its crate at ALL times unless you can give it your COMPLETE attention. Just remember that EVERY time it accidentally goes potty in the house, it is one step backwards. You must watch the puppy very, very carefully. Cavalier puppies make VERY small puddles. If you have carpeting and do not see the puddle within the first 30 seconds it will have soaked deep enough into the carpeting to be missed completely. Puppies are notorious for playing and peeing at almost the same time. A puppy running after a toy may pause the slightest instant before grabbing the toy and running with it, and pee in that instant of time, especially if it has done it before and gotten away with it. Puppies that are not going in the house will almost always go potty immediately upon being taken outside (within 30 seconds). If your puppy seems to play around outside for 5 minutes or longer without going potty, chances are very high that your puppy is peeing in the house quite often. If the puppy then goes potty in your house after you take the puppy back inside, then I can guarantee your puppy has been going potty in your house consistently and has learned that that IS the place to do it--time to start all over if so. This may seem to be a lot of work, but if you watch very carefully and do what I mentioned above, after just 4 weeks you will probably be able to loosen up a tremendous amount. It is a good idea to keep your puppy's crate within sight of the door it is to go in and out of to go outside to potty, although as the article below mentions you may want to bring your puppy and crate into your bedroom or the hall near the bedroom at night. Please see the article on Crate Training below.

Always take your puppy out the same door every time so it learns that this is the door to go to. Another suggestion that seems to work well for 'busy' people is to buy a bell that has a loud ring and tie it to the door knob of the door the puppy goes through to go outside. Tie it low enough so that the puppy 'hits' it when it goes near the door, even accidentally while playing. EVERY time the puppy 'rings the bell' you drop everything, come running instantly and take the puppy outside. It if goes potty, praise the puppy enthusiastically, if it does not within a minute or two, bring the puppy back in and go about your business. If the bell rings again--run. In a very short period of time your puppy will understand the ring of the bell brings it instant attention, and soon will understand how to 'ring' the bell when it wants to go potty outside. If your puppy goes potty in the house, do not punish it unless you catch it totally 'in the act' (NOT when finishing up but right WHILE peeing or pooping). If you do catch it in the act, grab the puppy and RUN--DO NOT WAIT until it is done going potty. Say 'no, no, no, potty OUTSIDE' several times while running the puppy outside. Once outside, put the puppy down and keep saying "Go Potty" (or whatever words you want to us--some like "hurry up"). If you get lucky and there is any potty left and the puppy goes--praise, praise, praise! If you have any problems with housebreaking, please do call me. I have housebroken many puppies, I should be able to help you too.

There are other articles included below that will help you with housebreaking, but the following are the three biggest reasons for failure:

The NUMBER ONE biggest mistake is letting your puppy have too much unsupervised freedom in the house. All canines have a natural desire to avoid soiling their den area. Since you are using a crate for your puppy's initial 'den', your Cavalier will naturally try to avoid soiling it; however, it will take some training before your pup can extend the notion of 'den' to your entire house--a house is a huge area to call a den!

The NUMBER TWO biggest mistake is overuse of punishment. Even if you catch your dog in the act, overly enthusiastic correction tends only to teach the dog not to relieve itself in your presence, EVEN when outside. This is why you should reward with words and possibly a treat as well when the puppy does relieve itself outside. Punishment doesn't make clear what is desired behavior, but reward makes it clear very quickly. Punishing a dog for a mess it made earlier is totally fruitless; it only succeeds in convincing the dog that every once in a while, for no apparent reason, you are apt to go insane and attack it. It is a perfect recipe for ruining a trusting relationship. That 'guilty' look you may think your dog is exhibiting is really fear that you have once again lost your mind.

The NUMBER THREE biggest mistake is pushing the puppy outside by itself and closing the door. After five minutes the puppy is let back in and promptly relieves itself on the rug. Bad dog? No--bad owner. The solution? You must go outside with the puppy every time until it definitely understands what is expected. Don't take it for a walk, don't play with it, simply go with it to the relief area, say "go potty" (or use whatever words you have decided to use) and be ready to praise and perhaps give a treat when the puppy does its deed. Then you can play with the puppy or go back inside.