Housebreaking Your Maltese

Maltese have a reputation for being hard to housebreak. They are not, but they are small, which means a tiny bladder, a short gap between the need and the act, and an owner who often does not notice a five pound dog slipping behind the sofa. The routine below has housebroken every puppy we have kept. It works because it never gives the puppy the chance to be wrong.

First, rule out a reason

A puppy with worms or an upset stomach cannot hold anything, and no training will fix that. Our puppies are wormed and vet checked before they leave; if yours is having loose, urgent or frequent stools, see the vet before you blame the puppy.

The principle

A puppy will not soil the place it sleeps if it can possibly help it. Housebreaking is nothing more than making the sleeping place the only place the puppy has access to when you cannot watch it, and making sure it is somewhere else, the right somewhere else, every time it needs to go. A crate just large enough to stand and turn round in, or a small pen with a bed, is the tool. Freedom of the house is the reward, earned a room at a time.

The schedule

Out first thing in the morning, within a few minutes of every meal, after every nap, after every play session, and last thing at night. For a twelve week old puppy that is roughly every two hours while it is awake. Carry it to the same spot each time, stand with it, say the same two words while it goes, and praise it the moment it finishes. Then let it have some supervised freedom indoors as its reward. Feed at fixed times, pick the bowl up after fifteen minutes, and take the water up an hour before bed, and the puppy's output becomes as predictable as its input.

At night, out, then into the crate beside your bed. A puppy that cries for the first few nights is a puppy that misses its litter; a puppy that gets let out of the crate for crying is a puppy that has learned how the crate opens. A young puppy may genuinely need one trip out in the small hours for the first couple of weeks; take it out quietly, no play, and straight back in.

Stretching the gaps

Every week the puppy stays dry, lengthen the time between trips by a quarter of an hour. Give it a little more of the house as it earns it, but only the rooms where you are. Watch for the signs, circling, sniffing, heading for a corner, and get there first. By six or seven months most Maltese can hold on for a working morning; by a year most are reliable. Expect it to take months rather than weeks and you will not be disappointed.

Accidents

If you catch the puppy in the act, a sharp "no", scoop it up, straight outside to finish, and praise. That is the whole correction. If you find the accident later, it is yours, not the puppy's; clean it up and shorten the gaps. Scolding a puppy for a puddle it made an hour ago teaches it only that you are unpredictable, and rubbing its nose in it teaches it to hide where it goes. Clean accidents with an enzymatic cleaner from the pet shop rather than a household one; anything containing ammonia smells of urine to a dog and marks the spot as a toilet.

If you work

A puppy cannot hold on for a working day, and should not be asked to. Use a pen with the bed at one end and a washable pad or a litter tray at the other, so the puppy keeps the den clean and has a legitimate place to go. Many Maltese owners keep an indoor option for life, which suits a tiny dog in a Louisiana thunderstorm or a northern winter. If you want the dog to go only outdoors in the end, take the pad outside to the chosen spot for a week once the puppy is older, then remove it.

Paper training, honestly

Newspaper on the kitchen floor teaches a puppy that the kitchen floor is the toilet, and small dogs stand with their front feet on the paper and miss with the back. Pads in a pen, used consistently, are a different thing and work well. The difference is whether the puppy has a choice.

The short version

Confine when you cannot watch. Out on a schedule, to one spot, with a word and praise. Catch it in the act or let it go. Clean with the right product. Be consistent for six months. A Maltese that is housebroken this way stays housebroken; one that was shouted at and left to work it out is the one that gives the breed its reputation.