Short answer: you housebreak a puppy by taking them outside on a fixed schedule — every one to two hours, plus right after every meal, nap, and play session — rewarding them within a few seconds of finishing outside, and using a crate or close supervision so they never get an unsupervised chance to go indoors. Do that consistently and most puppies are reliably housebroken between four and six months old.
I'm Preston Smith, co-founder of Bully Sticks Central. We've been shipping single-ingredient chews to puppy owners for years, and housebreaking is far and away the thing new owners ask us about most. Here's what actually works, without the fluff.
Why does the schedule matter so much?
A puppy's bladder is small and their control is still developing. A common rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold it roughly one hour per month of age — a two-month-old puppy about two hours, a four-month-old about four. That's a ceiling, not a target. If your puppy has an accident after five hours in a crate at three months old, that isn't a training failure on their part. It's a scheduling failure on yours.
So build the day around it. Outside first thing in the morning. Outside after every meal. Outside after every nap. Outside after play. Outside right before bed. Overnight, a young puppy will likely need one trip out; set an alarm rather than waiting for the whining.
How do you reward it correctly?
Timing is the whole game. Go outside with your puppy — don't just open the door and watch from the window, because then you don't know whether anything happened, and you can't reward it. The moment they finish, praise and treat immediately. The American Kennel Club makes the same point: a reward that comes even a minute later, once you're back inside, teaches your puppy that coming indoors is what earned the treat.
Keep the reward small and fast. A pea-sized piece of something they actually want, delivered on the spot, beats a big production at the back door. For training treats, we're partial to single-ingredient options for the simple reason that you're handing them out dozens of times a day during housebreaking, and that adds up — 100% real meat with nothing else in it is a lot easier on a developing stomach than a filler-heavy biscuit. Our guide to single-ingredient chews covers the reasoning in more depth.
Is crate training necessary?
It isn't strictly required, but it makes everything faster. Puppies naturally avoid soiling where they sleep, so a properly sized crate — big enough to stand, turn around, and lie down, and no bigger — encourages them to hold it until you take them out. Too much space and they'll simply use one end as a bathroom.
The crate has to read as a good place, not a punishment. Feed meals in there. Give a chew in there. This is where a long-lasting chew earns its keep: it gives the puppy a job to do in the crate and builds a positive association instead of a fearful one. If you're wondering whether puppies can have bully sticks and at what age, we wrote that up separately in can puppies have bully sticks. The short version: supervise, size appropriately, and stick to chews that are fully digestible and contain no rawhide.
Never crate as a consequence for an accident. A puppy who's afraid of the crate will hold it out of stress and then go the moment they're released — the exact opposite of what you want.
What do you do about accidents?
Expect them. They're not a setback, they're data.
If you catch your puppy mid-accident, interrupt gently — a clap or a cheerful "let's go!" — and carry or walk them straight outside. If they finish out there, reward it. If you find an accident after the fact, say nothing. Your puppy cannot connect a scolding to something they did ten minutes ago; all you teach is that going near you while going to the bathroom is dangerous, which produces a dog who hides to do it. Rubbing a puppy's nose in it does nothing but damage the relationship.
Clean with an enzymatic cleaner, not an ammonia-based one. Ammonia smells like urine to a dog and marks the spot as a bathroom. VCA Animal Hospitals recommends enzymatic products specifically because they break down the odor compounds rather than masking them.
One caveat: if a previously reliable puppy suddenly starts having frequent accidents, or is straining, or going in tiny amounts constantly, that's a vet call, not a training problem. Urinary tract infections are common in puppies and no amount of consistency will train through one.
How do you read the warning signs?
Puppies telegraph it. Sniffing the floor in a focused way, circling, sudden restlessness, abruptly leaving a play session, whining, or heading for a door or a spot where they've gone before. Learn your puppy's specific tell — they all have one — and move before it's a decision they've already made.
Until you know their signals, keep them where you can see them. A puppy loose in a house they aren't housebroken in is a puppy who will find a quiet corner. Baby gates, a leash clipped to your belt, or the crate all work.
How long does housebreaking take?
Most puppies are largely reliable by four to six months with consistent work. Some smaller breeds take longer — smaller bladders, and they're often expected to hold it as long as a bigger dog. A puppy from a hoarding or pet-store situation, who learned early on to go where they sleep, can take considerably longer to unlearn that.
The variable that matters most isn't the breed. It's whether the humans are consistent. A puppy taken out on schedule every day for three weeks will beat a puppy taken out perfectly on weekends and haphazardly on weekdays, every time.
The short version
- Out every 1–2 hours, and after every meal, nap, and play session.
- Go outside with them. Reward the second they finish, not once you're back inside.
- Crate or supervise in between — no unsupervised roaming.
- Never punish an accident. Clean with an enzymatic cleaner.
- Sudden regression in a trained puppy means see a vet.
It's repetitive, and for two or three weeks it's genuinely tedious. Then one morning your puppy walks to the back door and looks at you, and it's done.
— Preston Smith, co-founder, Bully Sticks Central. Our chews are 100% natural, single-ingredient, 100% real meat, fully digestible, no rawhide, ethically sourced from grass-fed American and Argentinean farms, and 100% high-quality guaranteed.
This post was last updated at July 17, 2026 20:28
