Housebreaking

This article is about animal training. For comparable training of small children, see toilet training. For the crime of housebreaking, see burglary.

"House training" redirects here. For the episode of TV series House, see House Training.

Housebreaking (US English) or House-training (British English) is the process of training a domesticated animal that lives with its human owners in a house or other residence to excrete (urinate and defecate) outdoors, or in a designated indoor area, rather than inside the house. The pet owner's desire is to break the habit of eliminating in the house, hence the term. House-training (a term more commonly used in British English) or sometimes even potty training are common synonyms for housebreaking.

A dog trained to urinate outdoors rather than in its human owners' house

Housebreaking also refers to taking wild animals (e.g. Dingo) and domesticating them. In this case it is advisable to start at an early age.

See also

• Litter box
• Crate training