Dog and Puppy Potty Training


So you've chosen your cute little pup, waited excitedly until he's old enough to leave his mamma, paid out your hard-earned dollars to his breeder and finally brought him home.
And what's the first thing he does when he gets there?
That's right. Pees on your carpet. They never told you that he leaks!

An 8 week pup has a very small bladder (and bowels) and needs to evacuate frequently - he can't hold it any longer than a small child can - and he'll do it just anywhere. His only instinct is not to soil his bed.
So how do you go about teaching this little chap to only go in a certain place?
How do you make him understand as he gets older that he must not soil in the house and must wait to go outside, or even to "tell" you that he needs to go?

(Our Bernese actually does a little dance and points his nose at his lead when he needs to poop. But then he's a Drama Queen.)

Housetraining a puppy takes time, patience and tolerance. A sense of humour helps. A glass of wine helps even more!

These days you can buy disposable "Puppy Pads" in any pet store; these have a scent which encourages the pup to "go " on them. In the old days, we just used reams and reams of newspaper on the floor. You learnt never to leave the Sunday Telegraph on the floor by your chair until you'd finished reading it!

 So here are a few useful guidelines for potty-training your puppy:- 
  • Place the puppy pad (or paper) in front of the outside door (or wherever your chosen place is).      
  • Whenever the puppy wakes, and after he has been fed, and after play, take him immediately to the pad. When he performs, praise him to the skies. Your puppy loves to please you.      
  • During his waking hours, someone in the household has to be detailed to watch him like a hawk for signs that he needs to "go", (circling round with nose down; looking agitated, and so on). At the first sign of squatting in the wrong place, yell "No!" and hustle him to his pad. Pick him up if you have to. If you get peed on, put it down to experience! This part is labour-intensive but usually produces quick results - within a couple of weeks the pup should head determinedly for the pad. When he gets a bit older, you can start putting the pad outside the door - so he'll head for the door when he needs to go.      
  • Never lose your temper, hit him, or worse, rub his nose in his mess. This is counter-productive and will only distress your puppy and delay progress.      
  • Expect accidents. Take the puppy to the pad anyway and clear up the mess without further comment, using one of the products on the market to neutralise the smell, otherwise he'll use that spot again.      
  • At night, and when you have to go out, put him in his crate (I'll deal with crate-training in a separate article). No young puppy can be expected to last hours without having to "go".
 
Follow this advice, and by the time your puppy is 6 months old, he will be thoroughly housetrained, day and night, and will be a credit to you!