Potty Training your new puppy
So you have your new puppy home! We have been working hard teaching them where it is appropriate to go potty, so we thought we would come up with some great steps to help you succeed with house training in your own home.
Containment:
- To avoid your dog going potty in areas where they are not allowed, it is crucial to crate train you new puppy. A puppy will generally not go potty where they eat and sleep.
- Keep your new puppy supervised at all times. If you can not be 100% supervising them it is safer to put them in the crate.
- When your new puppy gets home have them drag a leash around the house or tie the leash to a belt loop so that your puppy is with you at all times. This will help you supervise your puppy and makes it easy for you to quickly move your puppy outside if they start to go potty in your house.
- Block off areas of the house using baby gates to keep the dog contained to the area you are in. This eliminates the ability for the pup to sneak off and do their business.
Set a schedule:
- Set a schedule for food, water, and walks. You will soon learn how long after eating you new puppy will need to go potty.
- Do not leave food down all day but offer the food for 15-20 min intervals. By controlling when and how much your pup eats and drinks you can predict when they will need to go potty.
- Puppy's typically need to go potty:
- When they first wake up in the morning;
- After a play session (or even sometimes during!)
- After a nap
- Just after drinking lots of water
- Just before or after they go in or out of the crate
- Just before or just after he eats;
- After chewing on a bone or chew toy
- If he hasn't been out for an hour or two.
- Remember young puppies are still developing control over their bladders so be patient and give them time to both learn when and where it is appropriate and gain the physical ability to gain bladder control.
Praise
- Always throw a mini party for you puppy when they go potty outside.
- Never hit, reprimand or push a puppies face in their mess. Punishing them is counterproductive as it teaches the puppy that going potty in your presence is a dangerous thing, but doesn't teach them not to go potty in the house at all.
- If your dog goes potty in the house, it is likely because he was simply unable to hold his bladder for that long, or was not supervised properly. Dogs do not go potty in the house because they were "mad" at you or "vengeful." If your dog pees on your favorite couch or fancy rug, the ONLY thought that was on your dog's mind at the time was "hey, I need to pee!"
- If your dog starts to going potty while you are supervising, use a sharp "eh-eh!" or clap your hands to distract , and then quickly scoop him up or leash him up and run outside. When he finishes going, praise them and reward them heavily.
- Praise him when he is outside and goes potty- do not wait for him to come back inside to praise him. Otherwise he will think he is being praised for coming back inside with you.
The last tip we have for new puppy owners is when on rare occasions your puppy does go potty in the house make sure to clean it up. Remove all traces of the odor, or the dog will continue to eliminate in the spot. Using common household cleaners is typically not enough, and using ammonia products will actually encourage your dog to return to the spot to go again since the cleaner residue is very similar to urine. Use products sold specifically to eliminate pet urine and feces odors that you can purchase at most pet supply shops. Nature's Miracle and Simple Solution are two brand names for such products.
