Hello, today we will be looking into how to potty train a Siberian husky puppy. It’s no secret that one of the biggest gripes of new owners is getting your new husky puppy to go potty on your designated space, so we will be focusing on covering all of the information on toilet training husky pups!
From base guidelines to follow with a new pup to what to do in case that you can’t potty train a husky. By the end I’m sure that you will be equipped to deal with anything that your new Siberian friend challenges you with.
How To Potty Train A Husky
Why won’t my husky go where I want it to go?
Usually this is the questions that most new owners have. There are many reasons why a puppy might not understand where he needs to go, the main reason being that it’s very likely that the pup hasn’t been properly trained and housebroken.
This usually happens to different types of dogs, for example, when you’ve just adopted a pup from someone, it’s very likely that the puppy hasn’t had time to adjust to its surroundings, in turn the puppy will have the urge to go but won’t know where to relieve himself. This can also happen to dogs that are accustomed to go outside, so if the previous owners made them go outside or kept them outside, the puppy won’t know that he isn’t allowed to go inside, since he’s always gone wherever he wants to.
Another important factor is to always keep in mind that in order to get the dogs to go somewhere specific, they need to make the connections between your actions and the fact that they are pooping.
For example: if a puppy is left alone inside all day, where he has free reign on where to go, then the owners come home and see that the puppy has soiled everywhere, they will get angry and yell at the dog, however by that point the dog already went and he can’t make the connection between the yelling and the pooping.
This results in a puppy that doesn’t understand the consequences of his actions. This is a very dangerous thing, as the dog might realize his being corrected for pooping, but he doesn’t know where to go still, so instead of understanding that he can’t go inside, he might start to hide the fact that he’s going, since he thinks that the popping itself is bad, and start leaving little secrets around the house)).
Similarly another thing that happens constantly is that new owners buy puppy pads, but expect the pad to do the work for them, and while huskies are very smart dogs, they don’t understand that they are supposed to go on the pad just because it’s a pad. We will be talking about how to potty train a husky puppy with a puppy pad later on the article, but for now, please remember that they don’t work on their own.
Puppy pads can be a real asset if used properly, but again, dogs need to make the connection between their actions and consequences, so we need to be there for the puppy when it’s going in order to assure that you can move him to the pad while he’s going, that way the dog will understand that he needs to go on the pad. You also need to give a lot of praise to your young husky, whenever he goes in the pad give him a big pat and let him know verbally that he did a good job.
So we already know what not to do and the main causes as to why your pup might not be going where he needs to. Lets now talk about what you need to do in order to get your puppy trained and ready to be inside without ruining your furniture and floors!
How to train your husky
Ok, so here we are at the meat of the article, for all of the people that think that they can’t potty train a husky, you will be proven wrong. Today we will be learning a lot about training puppies, but first let’s take care of a couple of misconceptions that you might have about training your dog.
The first thing that I want to put to rest is the fact that people think that you can’t teach an old dog where to go, sometimes people even seem to think that you can’t teach a puppy that might have lived a while in a different house, but this is not the case.
The fact of the matter is that huskies are very smart dogs and with some patience any dog can be trained, so rest assured that your husky pup most likely won’t be any different.
The second thing that I would like to dispel is the fact that training a puppy can be very time consuming. People always want to know exactly how long does it take to house train a husky puppy, but the real answer is that this can vary depending on a couple of factors, however you can be calm, husky dogs have it in their nature to be obedient and they are very smart dogs, so it’s usually a very painless process. Let’s add to that the fact that you’re reading this article and you will have a perfectly obedient house dog in no time!
Now that we’ve taken care of those misconceptions, let’s go ahead and take a look at the steps that you need to take in order to train your puppy:
1. Get to know your Husky:
It’s a very common occurrence for puppies to want to go either peeing or pooping, just like babies, pups tend to have to go way more often than an adult dog, so it’ very important that you start to take notice of when your puppy goes to the bathroom. Most of the times he will want to go after eating, usually 15 to 30 minutes, or whenever he just had a vigorous exercise, as you know exercising can loosen the intestines, so just observe him and you will start to notice a pattern. After you have this pattern down, you have to be ready at all times.
This is where the puppy pads come in if you’re using them. Whenever you have an inkling that your dog is about to go, pick him up right before the act and either take him outside or move him to the designated area you’ve created inside. That way he will start to recognize where he needs to go.
This step is extremely important, if you don’t pay attention to your puppy and he goes inside the house, you will have a very hard time getting him to stop doing it, again, it’s not impossible to stop him, but you will have a harder time.
2. Create a regular routine:
Most dogs have a routine, whether you imposed it or not, it’s very likely that you dog instinctively follows a pattern. This is somethings that almost all dogs do on their own, so it’s a very good idea to use this in our favor. As you know, it can be difficult to spend all day with a puppy, and they require a lot of attention. So if you create a schedule that follows yours, it will be way easier to get a dog to go where he needs.
Let’s say that you usually get up at 7am, go for a run, have a shower and then breakfast, after that you go to work and get back by 5pm, you can use that same time blocks for your puppy's needs. You can get up and take your pup outside, it’s not recommended for puppies to go for runs when they are younger than 8 months, but after that you can even take them with you, it’s very likely that he will need to go then.
When you get back you can then have breakfast with your pup and keep an eye out for him to go to the bathroom. You can repeat this at night when you have dinner and before you know it your pup will be following your routine and your dog will be successfully house trained!
3. Give him his own space:
Ok, so here’s where a lot of people have issues when it comes to potty training a Siberian husky. You need to be consistent with the place where you are taking them to go. Whether it is inside with a puppy pad or your front yard, you need to keep coming back to that same place every time if you can, sometimes when you’re out for a walk this might not be possible but try and be as consistent as possible with this one.
This is because dogs need to associate things, if they literally only go one place then they will understand that that one place is where they are supposed to do their business and in turn they will want to go there. This one is especially important if you’re training your dog with puppy pads.
I will take this opportunity to address the puppy pads you need to first of all pick the spot in your house where the dog is supposed to use as a bathroom, you need to chose wisely since you will be pretty much taking the dog there constantly, don’t choose a place where the dog can’t get on its own, because he won’t be able to go without your help later.
After you have your place, put the puppy pad down and you can pretty much do everything that this guide says, but instead of taking him outside you will be taking the pup to the puppy pad.
All in all the most important thing is that you need to positively reinforce the dog, so every time that you take him to his spot and the puppy manages to do his business, give him a big pat and maybe even a belly rub. The puppy will start to then understand that he did something correctly and will want to continue doing it every time, since he wants to get a belly rub. Treats or any other form of reward will work as well.
4. Know your puppy:
All dogs are different, each and every single one of them will have different preferences, so get to know your dog and get really acquainted with his mannerisms and telltales, this will first create a great understanding and will deepen the bond between you and your puppy, but it will also help you when you are determining whether your puppy needs to go or not!
Some dogs will get up first thing in the morning and want to go, others will wait for a while and some might not even show any signs that they want to go but with a little patience you will start to recognize the patterns and behaviors of your dog. This will allow you to take him out at the right time so that you can get him trained quicker.
5. Limit the space:
Huskies love to explore, if you give them free reign to go and explore they will run all over the place and while this might be good and fun for him, you won’t be having so much fun picking up after him all over the house. So whether it’s inside or outside, be sure to delimit his space, that way the dog will get familiar with the surroundings and he will learn quicker where he can and cannot go.
It’s also important to point out that, for the most part, dogs won’t go where they sleep, so if you give your dog a space where he lives and he gets familiar with it, it will be harder for him to go all over the place and will naturally adapt to the spot that you’ve designed as the go spot.
It’s also very important to keep the space clean, if your dog goes inside in a place where he’s not supposed to go, you need to go ahead and clean and scrub the place clean as soon as possible, since dogs are more likely to do it again if they smell their scent. So give them a space, show them the limits of said space and keep it clean!
6. What to do when sleeping:
Now this next part is where a lot of people struggle, If you’re asleep and the dog is not, he basically can do whatever he wants, right? Well, that might be true, but if you’ve been following this guide you’ve already given your puppy both a limited space to live, a schedule and a designated space where he can go potty. You can do the same thing that you’ve done so far, but you will need to stay awake a little longer for this step, remember that your schedule is the dog’s schedule, so if you’ve done everything correctly so far, your puppy should be ready for bed at around this time.
Usually the recommended steps in this case is to stay awake until midnight, or as close to as possible, and take him out to his potty spot, after he goes and you give him his positive reinforcement, you can go to bed. At this time it’s recommended that you sleep with the dog relatively close or in the same room as you, this is so that you can hear if he wants to go to the bathroom, most huskies will alert you, if not that’s ok, just keep an eye out and take him to his spot if he wakes you up. If the dog already has a feeding and bowel movement schedule, plus a designated spot, it’s very likely that you will have a pretty uneventful night.
7. Crate Training Your Husky
Ok, so another great alternative when it comes to potty training your husky is crates. A lot of people prefer this method, because of its convenience and I recommend it for people that are going to keep their dog inside.
What you need to do in this case is simply get your crate where your dog will stay and have your pup get familiar with the crate. Throw some treats inside, give him a lot of positive reinforcement when he goes in and never ever yell or correct him when he’s inside the crate, that way he will create a positive image of going in, and you won’t have to force him in or make him suffer for it.
Alternatively you can feed him inside as well, as another form of reinforcement. This will all work towards creating a good environment for your puppy. Now that you’ve done all of this, you’ve basically created a room for your puppy and as we’ve mentioned before, dogs usually don’t go potty where they sleep. You will have to make it their crate and have them sleep there, and they will ask to go outside for potty!
8. When accidents occur:
Ok, so we’ve prepared for everything up to this point, you already have your spot, your schedule, you’ve been reinforcing positively and that’s good. Still, it’s very possible for an accident to occur.
Puppies can have a hard time with bladder control, so it’s possible that your dogs starts to go without showing any signs, especially if it’s number one.
Worry not, the first thing that you need to do if this happens is to try and move the dog to it’s spot as quickly as possible. This is so that he can understand that the action that he is doing at that moment is not ok to do inside
There is no need to yell or hit the dog, puppies can become scared of you pretty easily and at that point they won’t be able to follow any routines or hold their bladder for that matter, so just calmly move him while saying “No” or a similar command. When the dog is done, you need to go inside and clean up right away, this is so that the smell doesn’t set in, that way your puppy is way less likely to repeat what he’s done inside. Avoid using any strong chemicals like bleach or ammonia since it can hurt the dog, however there are special odor and scent remover for dogs that you can use safely and will take care of the smell for you.
Bell Training
Another very useful tip that we have for you today is to use bells, in order to get your puppies to tell you when they need to go outside. All you need to do for this is hang a bell on your door and every time you are taking him outside ring the bell, and if possible play with the bell so that your pup will ring it as well, after that let him outside, this will create a reinforcement that will make him associate the bell with going outside, and with this you’ve basically created a doorbell for your husky pup!
If you do this 7 things, you can rest assured that your puppy will be going where you want him to go in no time, the hardest part about potty training your dog is honestly being consistent, you might start to get discouraged if it’s taking a little more time than usual, but rest assured that if you do everything that’s been stated in this guide, sooner or later you will have a trained puppy.
Husky Potty Training Video
Older dogs
It’s worth noting that everything that has been written for puppies is applicable to older dogs. Usually older dogs have a bad reputation of being untrainable, thanks to the whole “Old dog can’t learn new tricks” phrase, however this is not true, it will take longer, as habits are hard to break, but if you stick to this guide you can be sure that your older dog can be potty trained as well. It’s very important to remember to delimit the space of an older dog, you can’t give free rein of the house to an older dog that is not potty trained since you pretty much are giving him a big toilet for him to explore.
Remember to always clean up any places that he’s been to where he’s not supposed to, as older dogs might have a harder time understanding that they can’t go somewhere just because it smells like them.
Finally, use a lot of positive reinforcement as well with tasty treats and rubs, old dogs can sometimes be less receptive to orders but if you know how to get their attention you will pretty much be able to train them to do anything at any point in their life. Adopting an older dog is a very worthwhile thing to do and while it can be more difficult it can also be ten times more rewarding, just remember to be patient!
Conclusion
So there you have it folks, a comprehensive guide on how to potty train a husky puppy. It might take awhile, but huskies are very intelligent animals, so in the end all that you need is patience and persistence, and of course a lot of love and positive reinforcement. At the end of the day this is just a period in your dog’s life and while it might seem like a chore at the time, it’s a very good bonding experience for you and your dog alike!
