Important Points:
• Your puppy will need to urinate immediately after waking up and ought to be taken to his ‘designated spot’ as soon as he wakes. He will also need to relieve himself after eating, drinking or playing.
• He will also usually urinate within about 15 minutes of eating, and defecate within about 30 minutes of eating (this varies slightly with individual puppies).
• Puppies have little bladder control, and need to urinate at least every hour or two. They can urinate spontaneously when they get excited, so take your puppy out frequently if it has been active, playing or exploring.
• If you repeat cue words, example ‘wee wee’ ‘be busy’ while the puppy is urinating or dirtying, this will be a prompt for him later. Use different words for each action.
• Initially, reward your puppy with lots of praise while also repeating the cue word you have chosen. Do not use your ‘good boy’ term here. He will begin to associate the action with the word and may urinate when he hears ‘good boy’ Go with him to his designated spot. It will not take him long to start to make his own way there.
Puppies are creatures of habit, so as long as you introduce the garden to your puppy as its toilet area early on, you should be able to avoid most of the common pitfalls.
The signs a puppy may show when needing the bathroom include; circling, squatting, whimpering, sniffing the floor, sneaking off and heading for the door. Your puppy must be taken outside immediately. If you're not quick enough, your puppy should still be taken outside to finish the act.
Following a few simple rules, will help the toilet training process.
Do Not:
• Overfeed.
• Feed an unsuitable diet or give a variety of foods.
• Punish your puppy for ‘accidents’, gently lift him up, tell him firmly ‘no’ then take him to his designated area. If a puppy is punished for eliminating in the house he may then not 'go' in your presence. Your puppy will not associate indoor elimination with punishment, but with your presence. If your puppy has managed to eliminate without you noticing there is no point in dragging him to the spot or punishing him in any way. IT'S TOO LATE!
• Leave a door open to allow your puppy to come and go as he chooses, he needs to be taught the difference between ‘outdoor playtime’ and toilet training time.
• Never leave your puppy on his own for too long so that he is forced to dirty indoors, this encourages bad habits.
• Expect your puppy to be able to go through the night without relieving himself
Do:
• Feed at regular times and intervals.
• Feed at times to avoid your puppy needing the toilet through the night.
• Remember: Ammonia based cleaners smell similar to urine and will encourage your puppy to urinate your ‘clean’ areas.
• When you are outside, play with your puppy after he has been to the toilet, not before. This way he will be keen to get on with it so the games can begin.
Avoid:
• Access to rugs or carpet (which are nice and absorbent – just like grass).
• Leaving the puppy alone in the garden, so you are not there to reward him for performing outdoors… how is he meant to learn that it is more popular and advantageous going outdoors, if you are not there to show your approval?
Effort by you, put in at this stage will be well rewarded quickly.
Common Problems:
• Submissive or excited urination on greeting: If your puppy does this – take him outside before you greet him and tone down your greeting so it is less exciting or ignore him until he has emptied himself.
Teaching your puppy to toilet out on a walk:
Your puppy will not instinctively know to relieve himself while out on a walk and may wait to perform the minute he gets back home. This is because until his vaccinations are in force, he will have been taught to relieve himself only at home. Dogs are creatures of habit. To break this habit, you will need to get up before your puppy one morning, take him out walking immediately before he has his morning wee and do not bring him home until, out of desperation he has relieved himself. Reward him with lots of praise. Repeat as many days as necessary. Use of your toilet training words at this time will help him know that he is expected to relieve himself while out walking.