Welcoming a dog into your family and home is an exciting time. However, not all dogs make ideal house pets. In fact, some are notoriously hard to housebreak even with persistence. In some cases, certain dogs might never become completely dependable and will still have occasional accidents in the house.
If you are seeking a canine companion to share your life with then you should pick one of the easiest breeds to housebreak so you don’t have to worry about ongoing accidents.
Easiest Small Dogs to Housebreak
Small dogs are often difficult to housebreak. However, the following pint-sized pooches are easier than others to potty train.
Havanese
The Havanese is not a common breed, but they are ideal as a house companion because they are easy to potty break. In addition, the small pooches love learning tricks because they genuinely want to please.
Bichon Frise
The Bichon Frise is a white marshmallow charmer. The breed is highly intelligent and learns rapidly. They are easy to potty break using a crate because they refuse to urinate where they sleep. Bichons are also easier to please so will take care of their business outdoors for a few words of praise or a treat.
Shih Tzu
Shih Tzus are highly independent but intelligent. They usually housebreak quickly, especially if you use food for motivation with ample praise. Usually, the Shih Tzu will do their best to make their family happy.
Boston Terrier
A Boston Terrier has a lot of energy but with consistent training they thrive at obedience and also housebreaking. With patience, positive reinforcement and consistency, the cheerful little dogs thrive.
Best Large Dogs to Potty Train
Large and mid-sized dogs are usually far easier to potty train than smaller breeds.
Border Collie
Most consider the Border Collie one of the smartest dog breeds which makes them remarkably easy to potty train. With ample praise, the dog will perform just about any function you require. They greatly enjoy learning tricks and playing games throughout the day. The fast-witted dogs need something to do, or they can become destructive.
Doberman
The Doberman might look intimidating, but they are actually very eager to please. They are remarkably easy to housebreak and exceptionally clean dogs.
Poodles
Highly intelligent, Poodles might be known for their good looks, but they should be appreciated for their brains too. Poodles respond well to new commands.
Like all dogs, they need patience and consistency, but it won’t take them long to learn where the bathroom is. Poodles are a little more stubborn than Labs, but they can be very obedient with the right trainer. They are easy to housebreak and will usually pick up the process within just a few days.
German Shepherd
The German Shepherd is typically associated with being a strong police dog, but they also make impressive family pets and are wonderfully easy to potty break. Highly intelligent and hardworking, the breed wants to make their human proud. It does not take very long at all to housebreak a German Shepherd pup.
With persistence and patience, any dog can be housebroken but the above breeds are known for being the easiest.
6 comments
We have a Golden Retriever we adopted through Golden Rescue. He was a street dog in Istanbul Turkey for some time before he came to Canada. He did have one accident in the house on the night we picked him up at Pearson Airport in Toronto and arrived home. After the accident we walked him around the yard for a while and gave him a treat when he did his business again, this time outside. From that point on he never had any further accidents. I thought that was pretty amazing given where he came from.
Can it really be determined by breed, or does the owner have significant responsibility in the training & ease of Housebreaking. I have two (2) Boxers and it was extremely easy…
I have been rescuing Rottweilers since 1990 and have never had any trouble potty training them they seem to train each other as I get them.
i have a female siberian husky who has never pottied in the house.she will hold it until someone takes her out.once she held it for several hours because it was raining and she doesnt like to be in the rain.best house-trained pet i’ve ever had.
GOLDEN RETREIVER…by far the easiest dog I have ever had to train. Raised and bred every model of Terrier, Kuvasz, Dachsund and Labs .
In our 80’s now we decided we were better off with smaller dogs. We now have 2 labradoodles…basically a Golden in a smaller package…perfect! They are 40 lbs. so easier to handle, loving and will do anything you ask for your praise…and a treat!