Potty Training 101
“I should have invested in Nature's Miracle.” - Derek Weaver
Potty Training Your Puppy
One of the more frequent calls I get from new dog owners is getting their puppy to go to the bathroom outside. When we bring these little ones home, they're cute, energetic, and curious. And they can make a mess in a hurry.
There are a couple of reasons for this. First, puppies are very mobile infants, with sharp little teeth. Most humans aren't potty trained until they're around 3 years old, and your puppy is younger than that for quite a while. They simply don't know where they should go.
Second, the nerves that connect the bladder, and to an extent the colon, aren't fully in tune with the brain until 4-7 months of age for most dogs. This means that we as humans have some work to do to help them learn where to go early so they can get used to going there when they realize they are fully and need to empty out.
A couple of ground rules for successful potty training:
It's hard to do, but your puppy should be managed, by spending lots of time in their crate or an exercise pen (x-pen). They need the sleep since they are growing so fast, and they need to be kept from performing bad habits.
No punishment or "corrections" for accidents. Zilch. Zero. I am not an all positive trainer, but there is a time and a place to exercise discipline, and bathroom accidents aren't it.
Unless you want a dog that thinks they're in trouble for going in front of you, no punishment. No rubbing their nose in it, no swatting with a newspaper, and try not to raise your voice.
That little demon you see right above was determined to only go to the bathroom inside.
1. Keep a close eye on your puppy until they've earned freedom
Puppies are a lot like young children. They'll get into trouble, learn to blow you off, and since they're not sure if they're full and need to go, they'll go where they are.
I recommend keeping your puppy on a leash indoors until they reach a certain level of training, obedience, and ability to hang out in the house without supervision. More on this in another post, but the best results come from solid early management.
If you can't watch your puppy, into the x-pen or crate they go.
It's much harder to have accidents in the house, if the puppy isn't wandering around. More importantly, you'll begin to recognize when your puppy starts to sniff, circle or any other tell they have that it's time to go.
2. No free feeding, and possibly no free watering
Eating and drinking tends to stimulate the need to go. Part of good training is providing structure, which means not having an all you can eat and drink arrangement for your puppy. Feed on a schedule, and offer water until your puppy has indicated he or she isn't thirsty any longer.
3. After play or eating/drinking, out into the yard they go
Play is a great way to exercise any dog, especially puppies. It also tends to make them need to go to the bathroom. So, just like with eating and drinking, get them into the yard, and wait them out until they've had a chance to go pee and poop.
4. Establish a signal for your dog to know they've done the right thing
This one piece witll help your dog to learn more in their training than almost anything else: sit on the floor, and either get a clicker, or select a word that tells your dog they're being rewarded. Most say "yes," but you can say good, or other simple, one syllable word you'd like.
From here, make the signal, then toss a treat away from your dog. Repeat this for 10-25 reps, then move on. Your puppy may have a flinch or startle response towards you, or where the treat has landed. When this happens, they've made the connection.
If they don't get it in the first go-round, just come back and repeat 10-25 repetitions until they do.
5. Here's the magic: tell them to go potty, and then reward them for going in the right spot
Simple, mostly easy, and effective. When you see your dog get into a pee or poop squat, say "go pee," or "go poop," and when the last bit hits the ground, signal for the treat, and then give them that treat.
With time, your dog may start running to you in anticipation of the reward. Potty training is so important to a clean and stress free home that I'm not opposed to rewarding every time your dog goes outside essentially forever. For dogs that never learned to go, or got comfortable going in their personal area, this may be required to maintain potty training for your dog.
6. Repeat until you're accident free
That's really all there is to it. Most dogs will be fairly well potty trained by the time they're 4 or 5 months old. Some, though, are slower to develop and could get up to 6 or 7 months before they've got full control.
If your dog hasn't had any indication at their vet checks that there's an issue, try not to worry that there's something wrong. They just need time to develop. We can't speed development along by much, but we can clear things up and get the right habits started when they're young.
I routinely tell clients that they'll ride a rollercoaster through at least the first year of their dog's life. It's a question of whether you want it to be a Disneyland rollercoaster, or a Six Flags ride.
Either way, it's important to remember that they're only puppies for a short time, so don't miss it.
