Dog toilet training

Dog Toilet Training

Imagine this, you carry your young cute looking puppy into his new home. Everyone wants to play with him. Suddenly and with no warning your young charge starts to look worried. Then it happens, down goes the bottom, your puppy sighs with relief and a pool appears on your carpet! House training has become a priority!

Toilet training your young puppy is not difficult if you follow the tips outlined below.

• Before you even bring your puppy home you need to plan in advance how and where your puppy is going to go to relieve himself.
  
  
• Are you going to paper train him or always take him outside? If it's paper training prepare and lay the paper down preferably near a door.
  
  
• Puppy need to be supervised at all times, they only have small bladders and when they have to go, they really have to go NOW. The fewer times your puppy has an accident the quicker he will get the right idea. Someone should ideally be in the house with your puppy for the first couple of weeks.
  
  
• Time how long he can go before needing to relieve himself. Use this as a rough guide to knowing when he'll want to go again. Then take him out 5-10 minutes before he is due to go.
  
  
• Take your new puppy potty as often as possible in the early stages of his house training. Once an hour if you can manage it.
  
  
• Ensure your puppy has had his health checked by a vet. If he has worms or is sick it makes it a lot harder to house train him.
  
  
• If you are going to insist he always relieves himself outside, pick a spot and encourage your puppy to relieve himself there every time.
  
  
• Do not let just let your puppy outside to relieve himself. Always take him out and check he's been.
  
  
• Use a command like "go pee" whenever you want your puppy to relieve himself. Be careful what word you use though; don't make the classic mistake of using "good puppy"!
  
  
• Give your puppy lots of praise after he's been.
  
  
• Puppies always want to relieve themselves at certain times so be prepared to take him out after he's been fed, when he wakes up from a nap or sleep and when he gets excited after playing.
  
  
• Their are going to be times you just can't supervise your puppy. Consider purchasing a crate to help confine his movement. All dogs and puppies will attempt to move away from their sleeping area when wanting to relieve themselves. If they are crated they can't move far enough away and will attempt to hang on. Be careful not to leave a puppy in his crate for too long as sooner or later he will have to go and you will have reinforced the very behaviour you are trying to avoid.
  
  
• If an accident happens, clear it up immediately and disinfect the area. Stay calm and never punish him for it. If you do their is a danger he will hide to relieve himself next time.
  
  
• Puppies are going to have accidents. When they do stay calm, never get angry, just clear up the mess.
  
  
• Never ever rub a dog's nose in his mess. It won't help you house train him any quicker and will in fact have the opposite effect.

The most important thing about house training is being consistent. The more often you can reinforce the correct behaviour (relieve himself in designated spot) the better. Some dogs can be house trained very quickly, others take a bit longer. Be patient remember he is young and wants to please you; it's just sometimes he gets confused. I know I do!

Have fun with your new member of your family, bond with him and he'll repay you in spades.

All the best,

Laura