Housebreaking your puppy is probably one of the most important things that need to be done. One of the major reasons that some people give their puppy away is that they cannot housebreak their puppy. But you should not give your puppy away if he/she cannot housebreak immediately. Don’t stress out, it takes time! Also, if your puppy has an accident the in your house, DO NOT yell at your puppy or hurt your puppy in any way! It is not their fault; they are just beginning to be trained.

It is very important to only have one door where your puppy goes out to relieve himself. This way, later on, he knows that that is the door where he goes to if he wants to go pee or poo. Labradors’ housebreaking schedules differ from each Labrador. Some Labradors need to have a very strict schedule, while other Labradors can hold themselves for longer periods of time. For example, my Labrador R2 doesn’t need to go outside at an exact time. But other Labradors need to go out exactly at a certain time or else they will relieve themselves inside the house.

*Note: Keep your puppy in an area of your house that does not have any carpets. When your puppy feels the soft surface of the carpet, he/she will think it is like grass and relieve him/herself there. 

I recommend training your puppy to relieve him/herself somewhere other than your grass. A puppy/dog’s urine can burn your grass (turn your grass yellow). I have a patio where I allow R2 to relieve himself. Make sure that after your puppy/dog relieves himself where you want him/her to, you give him a treat or tell him “Good boy!” or “Good girl!”. That way, your puppy/dog thinks “Oh yay! Whenever I relieve myself here I’ll get a treat and lots of praise from my owner!”.