Potty Training a Puppy: A Step-by-Step Guide
Consistency, patience, and positive reinforcement are essential while house training your dog. The idea is to inculcate positive behaviors while also developing a loving attachment with your pet.
Many new dog owners get terrified by just the idea of potty training their puppy. When you first start, it appears to be an impossible endeavor. But, like with many aspects of puppy training and life in general, breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps makes the impossible attainable.
When selecting how to potty train a puppy or recently adopted dog, you have two options: train them to relieve themselves outside or relieve themselves within your home on a pee pad before transitioning them to the outside. We’ll go through both approaches and advise on including crate potty training in your strategy.
When Should You Start House Training?
- Dog experts recommend starting house training your puppy between the ages of 12 and 16 weeks. They have enough control over their bladder and bowel functions at that time to learn to contain it.
- House training may take longer if your puppy is older than 12 weeks when you bring them home and has already developed the habit of defecating in a cage (and maybe ingesting their waste).
- It would help if you altered the dog’s behavior through encouragement and reward.
Do’s of Potty Training a Puppy
If you follow these suggestions, you’ll have your puppy or adult dog potty trained in no time!
Take your puppy out frequently.
- Puppies under 12 weeks of age, in particular, are remarkably advised to socialize with everyone outdoors for two hours.
Puppies are still building the muscles needed to contain their eliminations before 12 weeks. - It’s also a good idea to let your puppy out once he’s finished sleeping, playing, eating, or drinking.
Maintain a Feeding Schedule
- It is common to practice feeding your puppy two meals every day. Each meal consumption time needs to be the same every day.
- Because dogs typically excrete quickly after eating, creating a consistent feeding plan can help reduce confusion and accidents in the house.
Use Crate Training to Help with Potty Training
In the short run, a crate might be helpful for house training your puppy. It will allow you to monitor them for signals they need to go and train them to hold it until you open the box and let them out.
Here are some tips for utilizing a crate:
- Make sure it’s big enough for the puppy to stand, turn around, and lie down in, but not so huge that they can use a corner as a potty.
- If you leave the puppy in the crate for more than two hours, ensure he gets fresh water, preferably in a dispenser that you can connect to the crate.
- If you are unable to be present at home throughout the house training phase, ensure that someone else gives them a break in the middle of the day during the first 8 months.
- If your puppy has defecated in it, don’t use it. Defecation in the container might signify one of several things: They may have picked up harmful habits from their parents.
Always use positive reinforcement.
- Positive reinforcement is essential for successful potty training. Positive reinforcement will educate your puppy that going to the potty outdoors results in them getting a reward.
- When your puppy goes to the bathroom outside, immediately reward them with vocal praise, cookies, or a favorite toy. The incentive should come right after the occurrence, so your puppy develops a good association with going potty outside.
Signs Your Puppy Needs to Urinate
Whining, circling, sniffing, barking, or, if your puppy is free, barking or clawing at the door are all indications that they need to leave. Remove them as soon as possible.
- Keep your puppy on a leash for potty breaks: When you go outside for a potty break, always keep your dog on a leash. This will not only help them become accustomed to being on a leash, but you will also be present to encourage positive behavior.
- Play with your puppy outside for a few minutes after offering a pleasant incentive to prevent forming a negative association with returning inside.
How to Apply the Indoor-Outdoor Method
You’ll need to learn how to potty train a puppy on pads or start crate potty training to start educating your dog to waste themselves in the proper area inside.
Paper training and puppy pads:-
- While some dog owners use wee-wee pads (or pee pads) and paper out of convenience or because they assume their dogs can’t go outside while they’re having their injections, we, along with many trainers, advise against doing so.
- Simply, pee pads encourage your dog to eliminate outside of the home.
- Many dog owners use pads to utilize them as the first step in potty training and eventually teach their dogs to go outdoors.
Issues Happen
- Expect your puppy to have a few accidents in the house as part of the house-training process. Here’s what you should do if it happens:
- Take them to their outdoor restroom location right away, without any drama. If your dog finishes there, reward them with a goodie.
- Don’t penalize your dog for going to the bathroom at home. If you come across a filthy spot, simply clean it up. Rubbing your puppy’s nose in it, taking them to the location and scolding them, or any other kind of punishment will make them fearful of you or of eliminating you from your company. Punishment will end up doing more harm than good.
- Thoroughly clean the contaminated area. Puppies are greatly driven to continue soiling in pee or feces-smelling locations.
You must employ these supervision and confinement techniques to reduce the number of accidents. Allowing your puppy to eliminate regularly in the home can confuse them about where they’re supposed to go, prolonging the house training process.
How to Handle Accidents Correctly
- Accidents happen no matter how hard you try to avoid them. It’s only a matter of identifying the root reason and encouraging healthy behavior.
- Recognizing whether your pet is getting anxious or which factors frequently cause accidents can assist you in devising remedial measures.
- When cleaning up spills, make sure to clean the dirty area thoroughly. Pet-safe stain and odor removers are useful cleaning items to keep on hand.
- Remember that even a housebroken puppy will have accidents when out and about. Keep your puppy’s schedule as steady as possible to limit this habit.
- Take your dog on a long walk with plenty of opportunities to empty their bladder before embarking on a trip or visiting friends.
Bringing toys is another effective strategy for keeping your pet engaged in an activity.
