Home Puppy Training – Toilet Manners
Housetrain Your Puppy
Toilet training, teaching your puppy to toilet where you want her to go, is one of the most important skills for a dog to learn. The process is simple, but not always easy. Successful housetraining requires constant management. Yes, I used a word constant! You should never give your puppy an opportunity to go to the bathroom anywhere other than the desired place, whether it’s outside or inside on a doggy toilet.
Leashes, tethers, crates, gates, exercise pens, and eagle-eye supervision are all important ways to manage your puppy.
The key element of toilet training a puppy is to take your pup to her potty spot more often than she actually has to go. This will reinforce her when she “does her business.” At first take her out at least every second hour, then gradually increase the length of time between bathroom trips when you can see that your puppy is learning.
After she goes, stay and play with her for a bit. You don’t want your puppy to learn that elimination makes the outdoor fun stop. If she does, she may learn to “hold it” as long as possible to prolong her outside time or interaction with you.
When you are sure she is done, you can bring her back inside and give her some house freedom, supervised of course.
Then put her back in her puppy pen or area until the next scheduled potty trip. As she learns the concept of pottying outside, you can increase the length of ‘house freedom’ time.
In addition to her regular bathroom breaks, take your pup out every time after eating, playing or waking up.
If you do catch her making a mistake, take her out to finish there. Avoid reacting to the incident. If you react strongly with an angry “No, bad dog!!” you may teach her that it’s not safe to go where you can see her. She’ll learn to go to the back bedroom or behind the couch to poop and pee. Punishing accidents may also result in a dog who won’t eliminate when you are near, for fear that you will punish her. This would make your walks quite difficult, so just don’t!
If you struggle with your puppy’s training, contact me today.
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