Potty training

 

It is important to set your dog up for success! Whether you are training a new puppy or an older dog who didn’t quite grasp potty training the first time around. This success will come from management. You’ll need to look ahead in your day and set up a schedule that is realistic. A very young puppy shouldn’t have to hold it longer than a few hours at a time, their body is just not ready for that; and even though an adult dog can hold it longer, you still want to stay ahead of their needs to avoid any accidents.

When an accident occurs at any point during training, just clean it up with an enzyme-based solution to get rid of the smell completely. If the smell is not removed completely, your pup will continue to recognize the spot as an “ok” place to go.

Reprimanding your dog for an accident will NOT speed up the process.

Creating an environment of anxiety can lead your dog to hide or even eat their poop, thus making it a much bigger behavioral problem than it needs to be.

Take into account that you will need to take your dog to their potty spot after they’ve been playing and running around, after waking up and right after eating.

Begin by selecting the appropriate place for your dog to go potty in. If you are choosing an outdoor area, remember the outside can be very distracting, some puppies and dogs might be over stimulated to go pee or poop outside at the beginning. But this can easily be addressed with a bit of boring outside time.

If you are thinking of using newspaper or weewee pads to train your dog, choose a spot that can be closed-off from the rest of the house, people usually choose either a laundry room or bathroom where flooring can be easily cleaned. Begin by covering the entire area with the newspaper so that wherever your dog “goes”, they will be successful. As you move along in the training, you’ll be able to reduce the area more and more until you have a small spot.

Either inside on the pads or outside, give them enough time to sniff around and find a spot, but keep it short so they don’t think they are out for entertainment, or that the pad is for them to play with. When they do “go”, say “go potty” or whatever your word choice is, in a nice upbeat voice. Allow them to finish, and as soon as they’re done, give them lots of praise and maybe even a treat. If they don’t go potty, go back inside and try again after an hour or so.

At the beginning, you should be going out or taking them to the proper spot about every two hours. When they do go potty, they should be able to wait about 3 or 4 hours until they need to go out again.

As you and your dog start communicating better, you’ll be able to leave them longer and they may even start letting you know when they need to go.

Until your dog is potty trained, don’t leave them loose or unsupervised in your home. It is better to keep them confined in a safe spot where, if an accident occurs, it can be easily cleaned. Plus, it’s in your dog’s nature to try and keep their sleeping and eating quarters clean, so they will try to hold it as long as they can.

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Dogs do what works!