Potty Training Tips
You need to decide which type of potty training you are going to use. Whether it is going to be puppy pad training or training to go outside to potty, YOU and your consistent actions determine success or failure.. Whichever method you choose, again, the main key to success is YOUR consistency. You must be consistent so as to not confuse your puppy about what is expected.
Again the main key to successful potty training is YOU!
Your puppy is intelligent and willing to please and very capable of learning if YOU are willing to be patient, watchful and consistent I have successfully potty trained several puppies and here is what I did every time.
Do not immediately give your puppy free reign through the house. Keep the puppy in the same room with you at all times. Be watchful, and learn to recognize the signals that your puppy needs to potty.
If you cannot watch your puppy, put him in a confined area like his crate (FOR VERY SHORT TIMES). Each and every time you take your puppy out of the crate immediately take him outside to the area you want him to potty in. (no exceptions) Give him time to wander around and sniff a good spot.
Each and EVERY time he potties in the proper place lavish him with praise and a tiny treat. Tell him "Good potty."
Keep feeding times on the same schedule each day. Puppies need to be fed several times each day, not just once. After each feeding, pick up the food bowl and put it out of reach, and take the puppy outside. If the puppy does not potty after a few minutes take him back in the house but KEEP HIM IN THE SAME ROOM you are in and be watchful. If you see the puppy begin to sniff around scoop him up and go back outside to 'the potty place'. Give him ample time to investigate and let him get around to remembering he needed to potty. (Smaller, younger puppies need their food available at all times)
If you consistently dedicate a few days to constant supervision of your puppy and make a million trips out side to 'the potty place' you will 'accidentally' catch enough sucessful potties in the potty place and reward him for pottying there you will achieve success.
Remember EACH & EVERY time your puppy exhibits signs of looking for a place to potty scoop him up and head outside to the potty place saying something like, 'let's go potty'. Those first few days may be exhausting for you making a million unsuccessful wasted trips out side to 'the potty place' but you will also have several successful trips to the potty place.
Remember to instantly reward the puppy when he finishes pottying in the proper place and he'll get the idea.
If you are watchful enough indoors you will catch the puppy starting to potty on the floor and if you react calmly jumping up and gently but firmly saying,"no no"scooping him up and calmly rushing him outside to 'the potty place' then giving him time to potty there and then instantly rewarding him with praise, he will quickly learn.
Again the keys to successful potty training is how well you supervise the puppy and how often you take him out to 'the potty place will determine how quickly and solidly your puppy achieves successful potty training.
If you need to do something and cannot have the puppy under your watchful eye, put him in his crate or preferrably a playpen. Try to take him out to potty BEFORE confining him, and you'll have fewer messes to clean up.
Never leave him confined in the crate or playpen for very long and EACH and every time you take him out of the playpen or crate go immediately outside.
The only time a puppy should be crated or confined in a playpen very long is overnight.
If you crate your puppy at night, do NOT feed him too close to bedtime, and make sure he is given ample time outside to potty before bedtime. (This does not apply if your puppy is young enough and small enough to need his food during the night to avoid a sugar low)
AND here is the big one, when you get up in the morning, IMMEDIATELY remove the puppy from the crate and take him IMMEDIATELY outside to the potty place and give him ample time to potty. He will almost always be successful at pottying outside first thing in the morning.
Keep in mind, first thing in the morning, TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS BEFORE PLAYING!
- Take puppy out of crate
- Go IMMEDIATELY to the preferred potty spot,
- Put him down,
- Watch him,
- The only interaction from you should be a calm, "Go Potty" (not repeatedly)
- Let him roam and sniff around
- Have treats at the ready,
- DO NOT PLAY until puppy has had ample time to potty if he needs to.
- TREAT and PRAISE IMMEDIATELY the second he finishes pottying!!
- Let him finish before getting lous and excited, you want him to complete the job before getting distracted.
- If puppy does not potty, he does not get the treat
I kept a little ziploc bag of treats by the back door (out of puppy's reach) and on the way out the door each time I'd grab the bag. Puppy only got a treat if he actually pottied outside.
DO NOT use the crate for punishment. Do NOT spank the puppy for accidents.
If he had an an accident, it is your fault for not watching him closely enough and catching the signals to take him out.
Do NOT smash his face in his accidents or rub his nose in it. He has no idea why you are doing that.
Again, when you get a new puppy, it is YOUR job to keep him in the same area you are in, and be always watchful of what he is doing.
Sniffing around is the thing a puppy will do before pottying. The instant you see sniffing activity, get up and take him out to the potty spot.
BE CONSISTENT. If you get lazy and ignore the signs the puppy will have accidents.
Don't grant your puppy time in other areas of the house away from your watchful eye until he has fully understood and mastered pottying outside. If you do, you are setting him up for failure, and that failure will be 100% your failure not the puppy's.
It will take much less time in the long run to be completely dedicated every waking moment to the task of potty training. If you get lazy, and are not consistent potty training will last forever.
- Be consistant,
- stay on task,
- pay attention to puppy's signals,
- and potty training will be a quickly learned task.
If you are lazy or inconsistant about potty training you are setting yourself up for a long, messy, frustrating road.
A good way for the puppy to learn to TELL YOU it is time to go out, is when he comes to you, ask him, if he needs to potty and take him out.
- Even if that means you make a million trips outside for nothing. He will eventually learn that he needs to potty outside and that he can tell you he needs out.
A puppy does not fail to potty train, but instead YOU fail to teach him consistently.
Again, those first few days, may be exhausting, but isn't that easier in the long run, than having a puppy pottying for months in the house.
Potty training can be achieved in just a few days to a couple weeks IF YOU ARE WATCHFUL and CONSISTENT.
Another key to success,
- is to have a family meeting and go over the potty training plan with every member of the family,
- so that everyone participates, takes turns
- AND does the same things.
Like a child, the puppy needs to be getting the same messages, same actions and same words from every member of the family.
If you confuse the puppy, potty training will take longer.
Or if sometimes he isn't watched and has accidents in the house, potty training will take longer.
Over the past 30 years I have potty trained dobermans, german shepherds, Maltese, poodle, pomeranian etc and this method has always worked in two weeks or less.
Because, for that time period, the puppy was NEVER unwatched and the most accidents that happened were three or four per puppy. We always caught the puppy the instant the accident started and out the back door we went, with treat bag in hand.
Invest in an easily portable a baby gate. Take it with you from room to room, so the puppy is ALWAYS under supervision without spending its first weeks living in the crate.
If you choose to puppy pad train instead of out side train, the same principals apply.