Definition

Verb: * To teach (a domestic animal, especially a dog or cat) to urinate and defecate only in designated places outdoors or in a litter box, and not inside the home.

Usage

This verb is used specifically for the process of teaching pets, primarily dogs and cats, to be hygienic indoors. It is a transitive verb and is often used in the passive voice. * The owner is the one who house-trains the pet. * The pet is (or gets) house-trained.

Examples

• It took us three months to house-train our new puppy.
• Kittens are usually easier to house-train than puppies.
• Our dog was successfully house-trained by the time he was six months old.
• We're still in the process of house-training the new rescue dog.

Advanced Usage

• The concept is often associated with basic pet obedience and is a fundamental step in pet ownership.
• The term implies training for cleanliness , distinguishing it from general obedience training.

Variants and Related Words

• House-trained (adjective): Describes a pet that has learned this behavior.
  • Make sure the dog is house-trained before you adopt it.
• Housebreaking (noun, primarily US English): The process or result of house-training a dog.
  • The housebreaking process requires consistency.
• Potty-train (verb): Used almost exclusively for human children, not pets. It is a near-synonym in concept but not in application.

Synonyms

• Toilet-train (used more for pets in British English)
• Break in (archaic or regional in this context, as in "housebreak")

Notes on Meaning

This word has a single, specific meaning related to pet care. It does not refer to training for other household behaviors like not chewing furniture. Its focus is exclusively on waste elimination.

Verb

1. train (a pet) to live cleanly in a house