Introduction to toilet training
Toilet training your puppy is a time consuming process and requires a great deal of commitment and consistency. By making the effort early you will reap the benefits later and have fewer accidents to clean up.
Puppies have very weak bladders and bowels because they are still developing and they will need to relieve themselves much more often than an adult dog would. The only toileting skills a puppy will have is to not go in or near its bed. It is up to you to teach your puppy where it is allowed to go to the toilet after that.
You should begin toilet training as soon as you bring your dog home. Take your puppy into the garden first thing in the morning, last thing at night, after food, after play or any form of excitement, when it wakes from a snooze and then every two hours after that. If your puppy goes to the toilet in the garden praise it considerably and during the early stages, reward it as well.
If your puppy is showing signs it is about to relieve itself take it straight into the garden. Circling and sniffing of the ground are good signs your puppy is about to perform. If you catch your puppy in the act then make a very high pitched noise to distract it and take it immediately into the garden to finish. Don’t reprimand the puppy if you catch it performing, you will only make it frightened to go in front of you. Just clean up the mess quietly and try to be around the next time it is likely to happen.
You will not be able to keep this routine up during the night so make sure that you provide an area for your puppy where accidents are allowed. Most breeders will have paper trained their puppies so make sure you provide fresh clean paper for the puppy to use during the night. Your dog should be able to go through the night without needing the toilet at around 6-7 months so expect to be cleaning up night time accidents for quite a while.
Try to limit the use of paper to the nightime or when you absolutely cannot keep up your routine during the day. Allowing the puppy to use paper too often will delay proper toilet training so keep it to a minimum and think about when you will start to phase out its use.
How to toilet train your puppy in the garden
If you would prefer your dog not to have the whole garden to use as its toilet it is important that you portion off an area where the puppy is allowed to go and only ever take the puppy to this area of the garden to go to the toilet. If you have a male dog you may wish to introduce a pee post as well.
Once in the garden encourage your dog to go to the toilet. Choose a command to teach the dog that it is acceptable to go to the toilet and use it every time you take the dog into the garden and whilst the dog is performing. Make sure you chose something you are prepared to use in public because you will be using it on its walk and in the park. ‘Do your business’ is a good command which should not cause offence or embarrassment. Once the dog has performed make a huge fuss. The more fuss you can make the quicker the dog will learn that this is acceptable behaviour.
If your dog is reluctant to go to the toilet because it is distracted try walking your dog in circles or up and down the garden. Such a behaviour mimics the actions of a dog before it is about to relieve itself and will speed up the process.
Once your dog begins to understand that the garden is for toilet you need to progress to teaching your dog that it is acceptable to go on its walk and in parks. If you don’t you will find that your dog tries to hold it until it gets homes. This is OK until you want to take it on a long walk or holiday and then toileting becomes very stressful for both you and the dog. Start by taking your dog on its walk first thing in the morning before it has had a chance to go to the toilet and try not to come home until the dog has performed. Remember to use the command you have been teaching your dog in the garden and if your dog does perform praise him considerably. Try to progress to other environments such as the park or other family members gardens.
Things not to do when toilet training
Never rub your puppy’s nose in any accidents you may come across. The dog will have no idea that it was responsible for the mess and will not learn from this lesson. If you do find any accidents, quietly clean up the mess and try to be there the next time it is likely to happen.
Never use a locked crate to toilet train your dog. Dogs instinctively know not to mess their beds but locking them in so they can’t go is CRUEL! Crates are great around 6-7 months when the dog should be able to hold its toilet over night and you want to restrict any late night roaming for a crafty wee or poo.
Don’t leave the back door open to the garden for the dog to come and go as it pleases. This may work during the summer but in the winter or when it is raining the dog will prefer to use the house instead.
Written by Nicola @ Dog Store
