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Potty Training PuppiesHousebreaking, crate training, potty training…whatever you want to call it, potty training puppies is one of the most misunderstood, yet important, things we can do for them. Becoming potty trained is THE vital lesson of any young dog's life. Potty training puppies, is the ultimate gift, you might say.
If you are already a dog lover, you probably know how to correctly potty train puppies or you wouldn’t love them for long! Every year thousands of dogs are brought to shelters, released into suburbia, and put to sleep because they are not properly potty trained. Potty training dogs can be frustrating, but once accomplished, you and your dog will be much, much happier.
Puppies Need a ScheduleYoung puppies, just like human babies, eat more often and eliminate more often than do adults. When you first get your puppy, you will have to be available to take him outdoors to his elimination area several times a day in order to prevent him from having accidents in the house. This may mean coming home from work during lunch and getting up in the middle of the night to take him outside for him to do his business. The critical element in potty training puppies, is developing a schedule that it works for both you and your dog. A young puppy may not be able to hold his bladder for more than four hours at a time, so keep your expectations reasonable. A good rule of thumb to use when potty training puppies: Your dog can hold his bladder for 1 hour for each month in his age. So if he is 3 months old, he can wait 3 hours between elimination opportunities. When you are potty training puppies, realize that your dog may have to go to the bathroom several times at unscheduled intervals. Instead of having to go strictly based on when and what he eats and drinks, your dog's urge to eliminate also corresponds to his activities. Playing, napping, eating and running can all stimulate his need to "go." Take him outside immediately after he engages in any of these activities so that he has the opportunity to relieve himself properly and recieve praise for his success. Praising successes as well as correcting failures (ONLY when you catch your dog in the act of making a mess indoors!) are key elements in quickly and easily potty training puppies.
Here is a sample schedule to follow during your first few weeks potty training puppies:
7:00 AM: Pup wakes up, take him outside to eliminate
12:00 M: Take puppy outside to elminate
5:00 PM: Take puppy outside to eliminate
8:00 PM: Play with puppy and allow him to eliminate
10:45 PM: Take puppy out to eliminate
2:00 AM: If you hear the pup wake up or start crying in the night, take him out to eliminate
As your puppy gets older, you will quickly be able to remove the midnight run outside from the puppy's schedule. When you do, just be sure you take your puppy out first thing in the morning, because he will be ready to go! I know you won't mind getting up a little earlier when the trade-off is you no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night. The next elminiation appointment you can remove from the "Potty Training Puppies Schedule" is the mid-day pit stop. Work your way up by letting your dog wait six hours during the day, and then eventually he'll be able to wait all 8 hours for you to come home before he'll need to eliminate. Now that my dog Kera is older, she only needs to eliminate three times a day: First thing in the morning, after dinner, and right before bed. If necessary, I could probably get her down to fewer times, but I feed her twice a day and she has unlimited access to water. I believe she is probably more comfortable having the opportunity to go more often. I will note that even though she is a year old, well-behaved and one of the more reliable potty trained puppies I know, she does occassionally have to go at "off" hours if we've been engaging in vigorous physical activity. Reminder! Whenever you travel with your dog be sure to bring clean-up supplies to take care of any unplanned potty emergencies! Dog lovers and those who don't own dogs all say "thank you" for picking up after your dog in public! Dogs are always better recieved in public if they are leashed, under control and good little potty trained puppies who don't go around leaving messes where others will be exposed to their unpleasant droppings and puddles.
Potty Training Puppies: Select an Elimination AreaWhen you are first potty training puppies, it is a good idea to take them to the same spot to eliminate on each outing out of doors. When he returns to the same spot each time, your dog will recognize the odor of his urine and feces which will help clue him in to why he is there. Some people recommend leaving a small bit of fecal material in the area elimination area while you are potty training puppies for the dog to smell when he returns there, but I advocate picking up after your dog right after he eliminates. Although slightly unpleasant, taking care of this chore on the spot will make returning to the area more pleasant for both you and your dog and will help prevent the development of disease or parasites being spread through your dog's fecal matter. On the same note, if your dog has a potty training accident in the house, it is important to clean it up properly right away. You need to eliminate the odors from the urine which you can't smell but which are noticable to your dog because they will encourage him to return to the same area to eliminate in the future.
Knowing how to clean up accidents correctly is a vital part of potty training puppies!To properly clean up after a potty training accident, thoroughly blot the area with towels to absorb as much of the urine as possible. Avoid rubbing as this will spread the urine across the floor. Once you've gotten the area as dry as possible by blotting, wet it thoroughly with clean water to dilute the urine and prevent staining. Blot dry again, and then spray the area with a commercial solution designed to remove pet odors and accidents from carpet and upholstery. Never use a chemical containing amonia, as this is a compound found in urine and its smell will encourage your dog to return there to eliminate.
Potty Training Puppies: Make sure he goes!My experience in potty training puppies extends only to housebreaking my own dog Kera. Since she is a guide-dog-in-training, she is required to learn to eliminate on-leash, on command. Although this might seem overly-structured to some, it has certainly been useful in helping me to potty train her well.
When you are potty training puppies, you might be tempted just to let them out into the backyard unsupervised, to do their business and return. While this is a fine procedure for an older potty trained dog, it is not a great technique to use when potty training puppies because if you're not out with your dog when he is supposed to be doing his business, you can't verify that he eliminated, and if he didn't eliminate when he was supposed to, he's going to have to go... when he's not supposed to. The procedure I recommend when potty training puppies is to take your dog out to his elimination spot and give him a command to eliminate. With Kera, I use "busy busy" but I've heard "do your business" "go piddles" and "hurry up" suggested as alternative commands. My own advice: don't use a word or phrase that is already common in your everyday lingo. You don't want to accidentally tell your dog to go when you're chatting with a friend in the living room! If your dog is excited about getting to go outside, interested in sniffing everything, doesn't seem to have to go, or is otherwise being stubborn when you bring him outdoors to eliminate... just be patient. Remain stationary, so he can't lead you all over the yard trying to find a good spot. The on-leash radius you're giving him is fine. Give the command and then wait. I sometimes tug on the leash if I find my dog has become absorbed in something other than the task at hand, to break her out of her reverie. Once you see the dog start to go, give the command again and praise quietly so as not to distract her while she's in the midst of the process. Once she's done... PRAISE HER! Throw a party! Using effective praise is vital when potty trianing puppies. She's not getting yelled at for going to the bathroom, instead you think she's great... What a turn of events! You want her to think she's the best dog in the world and whatever she did that you liked, she'll really want to do it again, once she figures it out! After she has eliminated, consider spending a little more time outside so she doesn't connect eliminating successfully outside with the "punishment" of ending her fun in the yard. Although Kera still does not go IMMEDIATELY on command, she knows why we're at her elimination spot and what the goal is when we go there. Now that she's older, I give her a shorter amount of time to produce results at each opportunity. If she doesn't go in a minute or two, it's back inside and she gets to wait til next time. When potty training puppies, I would recommend giving them 10-15 minutes to go if it's important that they go at that time (i.e. they won't have another chance for several hours). When Kera was younger, I often encouraged her to go by running her around in a circle to speed the metabolism along a bit!
Potty Training Puppies: Limit Freedom and Supervise Carefully!When your dog is not being taken outside to his elimination area, what is he doing? The answer, when you are potty training puppies is simple. It should be one of two things: You are watching him, or he is in his crate. While using a crate is not ABSOLUTELY necessary when potty training puppies, it is an extremely useful and humane. Dogs have a natural denning instinct and are very comfortable in crates as long as they are big enough for the dog to stand up, lie down and turn around in. If you don't provide your dog with a crate, he may find other substitute den areas around the house. Kera likes to bed down under the kitchen table for example. As long as you don't use the crate as a punishment or time-out tool when you are potty training puppies, your dog will see it as a quiet, safe place of his own where he is happy to rest. As an alternative to a crate, while you are potty training puppies, it is sometimes effective to confine them in a small area, such as the bathroom or the kitchen, using a baby gate. However, the more space you provide your dog, the more likely it is that he will eliminate there. Dogs have a natural instinct to avoid soiling their beds, but if they can easily eliminate in one area and then rest or play in another, the power of this instinct is diluted. When you are potty training puppies, it is important to harness this natural inclination to help your dog stick to the schedule you create by taking him outside. The crate is a perfect resting place for your puppy when you are away from home, sleeping, or otherwise too busy to supervise him carefully. Proper supervision of a puppy you are potty training means that you have enough of your attention devoted to him that you will notice if he starts to show signs of needing to eliminate such as circling, pawing, or sniffing at the ground. If he does start to demonstrate these behaviors pick him up (so he doesn't go on the way) and rush him outside to his elimination spot where you praise him profusely if he performs. If your puppy starts to eliminate inside, or in another unacceptable area, sternly tell him "no" while he is in the act and pick him up (so he will stop eliminating) and carry him outside to finish the job. Praise him profusely when he finishes outside. Then thoroughly clean the area of his accident so he is not tempted to return there. A note on TIMING: Timing is a crucial element when you are correcting your puppy for potty training mistakes. If you don't catch him in the act, DO NOT CORRECT HIM. It's too late and you missed your opportunity to train the puppy this time. Puppies have virtually no ability to associate your anger at finding a pile or puddle on the floor with something that they did five or ten minutes ago. Never rub your dog's nose in it, bring him to the scene of the crime to scold him, or punish him unfairly otherwise. I know it's upsetting (I really do!) and it can be hard to control your temper when you see that a crime has been perpetrated. But punishing the puppy too late, when you don't catch him in the act is of zero value from a training perspective and actually damages your puppy's trust in you. Don't blame the puppy use the opportunity to train yourself. Remind yourself that your puppy is not totally potty trained yet and that you need to do a better job keeping an eye on him in the house, or else confining him when you're not able to watch him closely.
Puppy Gift Idea:Puppy Bed Warmers 
For years the standard advice for new puppy owners has been to wrap a hot water bottle in a towel and put a ticking clock next to a new puppy's bed to simulate its mother's warmth and heartbeat. Now we have a better option. These snuggle puppies are furry and warm, just right for a puppy to den up with for those first few scary nights alone.
Potty Training Dogs:Have a problem that hasn't been addressed here? Maybe you're potty training an older adopted dog or rescue animal.1) Read our article on Potty Training Dogs. 2) Have you thought about Paper Training your dog to relieve himself indoors? 3) Consider Litter Box Training Dogs who are small enough to go indoors for life! Why to litter train puppies. 4) New Puppy or dog? Check out our page on finding the perfect pet dog names.
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