How to toilet train a puppy

Toilet training puppy – how long does it take?

How exciting! You’re bringing your new bundle of joy home for the first time and you can’t wait to show him his cosy bed, his toys and everything else you’ve purchased from the pet store! J But then it happens, you see a little squat and before you know it, your puppy has had his first accident and now reality is starting to set in on what you’re first training exercise is going to be. Here, it’s known as ‘Wee Wees!’ and our Axel just loves hearing that command!

The next question? Do we get puppy training pads or do we go outside? Or both?!

Honestly, it really depends on where you want the dog to be going when he’s an adult, if we want our dogs going outside, then we need to encourage outdoor wee wees straight from the get go rather than confusing them with puppy pads which can send the message ‘It’s ok to go inside sometimes’. I’ve also known dogs that have thought the texture of a puppy pad feels very much like some carpets… you guessed it! Little accidents can then happen on carpets.

Ok, that’s all very interesting, but how do we start?! What do we do?!: 

• When you bring puppy home, allow puppy to go outside if this is your toilet area choice and let him go ‘wee wees’ – praise with a food treat in the area and verbal praise “good puppy”

• Dogs love routines! Get a regular routine set up from the start and keep a diary to jot down when puppy is going to the toilet.

• Take puppy outside after sleeping, resting and playtime, do the same for eating and drinking but allow a small amount of time to pass before taking outside to allow the food and drink to process.

• Create a regular feeding schedule

• A crate or playpen can be an amazing tool to help support you during this training time. The crate should be big enough for puppy to stand up and lie down in, but with no extra room to allow for accidents to take place on the other side whilst we’re all cosy in our bed the other end.       

• When you can’t supervise puppy, the crate/playpen can be used to help support puppy’s understanding of where he’s allowed to go toilet by managing the risk of mishaps in other areas of your house

• Never! Tell puppy off for going where they shouldn’t, think your puppy knows they’ve done wrong? Think again, and watch out for my other blog on this topic!

• Remember… Reward! When puppy has gone toilet, praise and give a tasty food treat, the more you do this the more likely the behaviour is going to continue this way. You will eventually ween yourselves off the treats and they will no longer need them for this behaviour but for now, have those treats at the ready!

Here’s some tell-tale signs to watch out for when puppy is roaming about your home:

• Sniffing the floor (also circling and sniffing)
• Wandering away from an area in which they just played
• Looking a bit distracted
• Wandering off to an area where they may have accidentally gone before

REMEMBER!

Accidents WILL happen, if you see your puppy beginning to squat, lightly distract, then immediately rush them outside (in a cheerful manner) and give lots of praise and treats when puppy finishes eliminating outside. Come back in and put puppy in crate/designated puppy area briefly while you clean up the accident (with product specifically designed for this purpose).  

Be patient! Some puppies pick it up really quickly like my Laika did within a matter of days, however Axel took a couple of months!

Be consistent and stay positive J

If you’d like more information on how to set puppy up for success with puppy training and other important training essentials such as recall and lead walking then just click the “fetch” button to send your enquiry over.