Potty Training A Puppy"Although house training puppies may sometimes seem difficult....the process doesn't have to send you Potty!" Potty training a puppy is about teaching your puppy to do his 'toilet' outside, in a designated part of the garden, and not inside the home. Puppies instinctively avoid soiling their den and will crawl away from the whelping box to do their toilet. This fact can be used to your advantage when potty training your puppy, especially if you plan to crate train your puppy because when crated, your puppy will hold himself for longer than he would if not crated. However, there are no guarantees, - there will always be the occasional little 'accident'. If your puppy isn't crated, he will do his toilet whenever and wherever he can. At this time, your puppy doesn't know any different, so it's up to you to teach him your house rules. It's important to establish a simple potty training routine and if a consistent approach is taken, it will be much easier for both owner and puppy. The suggested routine that follows will help owners when toilet training puppies. Needs To Do His Toilet? You won't. However, your puppy's toilet needs are fairly predictable, and you can build your routine around those needs as follows:
 When potty training puppies, and in addition to the above, we also recommend you take your puppy into the garden 60 minutes after the last time your puppy did his toilet. Watch For The Tell-Tale Signs! When potty training your puppy, always watch him closely when he's out of his crate, or not confined, otherwise he might get the opportunity to do his toilet in the house, which may set back your puppy's toilet training. Potty training a puppy isn't always easy; however, puppies give off little tell-tale signals when they need to empty their bladder or bowels. Those tell-tale signs to watch out for are:
As soon as you see any of these signs, pick up your puppy and take him outside to his toilet area immediately. As your puppy develops, he will be able to control his bodily functions for longer, and you will be able to increase the time between his routine daily activities and taking him to his toilet area. Don't leave your puppy alone where he can easily make a mistake - you'll be setting him up to fail! When potty training puppy, don't leave him alone for any longer than a few minutes. If you need to leave your puppy for longer than this, put him in the kitchen or hall, or wherever the floor is tiled so that any accidents can be easily cleaned. Establish His Toilet Area When potty training a puppy, the objecitve is to teach him to do his toilet in the same place each time - in your chosen area of the garden - and eventually, for your puppy to do his toilet on command. First, choose a section of your garden that you are happy for your puppy to use as his toilet area. This area should be far enough from the house so that there aren't any smells, but near enough for your puppy to reach it in time. To begin potty training your puppy, put your puppy on a lead and take him into the garden to the area that you have chosen for his toilet. Don't leave your puppy alone outside; stay with him. Don't play with him or make a fuss as your puppy will be more interested in you than in doing his toilet. Choose a word or phrase to encourage your puppy to perform, for example, "do toilet", "get busy" or "do wee wee", but don't forget that whatever words you choose you may have to use in front of others, so choose something you won't be too embarrassed to use. As your puppy begins to pee, say your chosen words and when he's finished, praise him and give him a treat as a reward. The treats may be gradually phased out to avoid overfeeding your puppy. You can then simply reward your puppy with praise. If your puppy doesn't do anything within 10 minutes, take him back inside but keep a watchful eye on him as he may try to urinate indoors - probably on your best rug! Better still, crate him and take him back outside again in 15 minutes. Accidents Will Happen! Despite your best intentions when potty training your puppy, there will be some little 'accidents' indoors - learn how to eliminate pet odours and clean carpet stains with everyday household products !
It's your fault if your puppy soils indoors - you weren't watching him closely enough, or you failed to take your puppy outside to his toilet area at the correct time. If you weren't there to let him out, it's not his fault. Remember when the school of thought was to rub your puppy's nose in his own mess if he soiled indoors? That school of thought never helped with the development of potty training puppies. Thankfully - puppy potty training has moved on since then. It's now widely recognised that for punishment to be effective, you need to catch your puppy in the act, otherwise he won't understand why he's being punished. He will simply associate the punishment with you, and may become afraid of eliminating in front of you! Your puppy may even become secretive about his toilet and sneak off to do it under the kitchen table or behind the sofa. It may also be confusing for your puppy if one minute he's being praised for doing his toilet (outside in the garden) and the next he's being scolded for doing the same thing - albeit inside the house. If you catch your puppy in the act, or your puppy is showing signs that indicate he may be about to do his toilet, shout loudly - your puppy may be shocked into stopping in mid flow. Pick him up (there's no time to put him on his lead) and take him into the garden to his toilet area. When he begins again you can praise him and reward him with a treat. Clearing Away Any 'Accidents' If your puppy has an 'accident' in the house whilst potty training puppy, and you weren't there to catch him in the act, don't make a fuss about it. Clear it away immediately, as the lingering smell of urine will attract your puppy and encourage him to go there again. Even though your floor may smell and look clean to you, your puppy will still be able to smell it. This is why it's important to use a biological odour eliminator spray, or a mixture of biological washing powder and vinegar; both will eliminate the odour. During The Night Potty training your puppy doesn't stop just because it's night-time! Take your puppy outside just before you go to bed. This way you may have a better chance of your puppy staying dry overnight. However, don't expect too much from your puppy at this stage. He's still very young and won't have full control over his bladder. Crating your puppy overnight can help with housetraining puppies, but you'll need to let your puppy out during the night to relieve himself. An alternative to getting up at 3:00am in the morning to take your puppy out, is to section off part of the room which houses your puppy's crate and lay polythene by the door, or in one corner of the room, with newspaper laid on top. Place a tissue, previously soaked with your puppy's urine, in the middle of the newspaper. This may encourage your puppy to do his toilet exactly where you want him to! You could also use puppy training pads - simply place one onto the newspaper in place of the tissue. There are some owners who believe using newspaper or puppy training pads is not the way to train puppies as it teaches them to 'go' inside on the newspaper, as well as in the garden. It's thought that this can confuse puppies and undermines the potty training puppy routine. However, we believe it's personal choice. We found that by establishing the strict routine mentioned earlier, we only needed to use newspaper at night; there were many mornings when we found the newspaper dry. We recommend that when potty training your puppy you get into the habit of taking your puppy to his designated toilet area as soon as you get up - before your puppy has the chance to relieve himself. On A Lead Some puppies won't do their toilet when out on a walk, but will wait until they get back to their own garden, because this is where they have been taught to do it from the very beginning. If this happens to you, set your alarm clock and get up very early one morning, and take your puppy out for a walk when you know he's due to pee. Stay out as long as necessary, your puppy may not be able to hold himself and may have to do his toilet out of desperation. If this happens, praise your puppy and reward him with extra treats - he'll soon get the message! If your puppy fails to do anything during his walk, when you bring him home take him to his toilet area immediately. If you don't, you can almost guarantee that your puppy will relieve himself as soon as you are indoors. Your Puppy Remember, while potty your training puppy it's important to establish a regular routine of garden visits, use your chosen phrase as encouragement, and praise and reward your puppy each time he 'performs' in the right place. Watch for the tell-tale signs, and don't punish your puppy for accidents in the home. Follow this routine when toilet training dogs or puppies and they'll be fully house trained in no time! Potty training a puppy shouldn't take too long. Your puppy should normally be fully house-trained between 4 and 6 month old, but don't worry if it takes longer as all puppies are different.
We hope you've found this article on potty training puppy helpful to you. If you've not yet crate trained your puppy, we would highly recommend it. Learn more about crate training your puppy before you make your decision. Search our site!  Custom Search
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Please don't scold your puppy for any accidents in the house. 
