House Training Your Puppy
When training your new puppy, consistency is crucial! Everyone in your household whether they are family, friends, visitors, etc. need to use the same methods and commands with your new every time. This is less confusing for the puppy and they’ll learn things much quicker.
You’re going to need a few things to get your puppy started.
“The Potty Door”
First of all select a door that will be the “potty door”. Always take your pup to this door when it is time to go outside. Sit them down in front of the door before going outside and say “Potty” a few times. Then take them outside and put them into the grass. Repeat “Potty” several times again. Keep the words short and easy. Keep repeating the word “Potty” every so often until your puppy does his or her business. Then praise them right away. Get down to their level, get excited, give them a treat – anything to let them know they’ve done what they’re supposed to do.
What you shouldn’t do is talk to the puppy when they’re trying to do their business: “Come on Sophie, it’s time to go potty. Let’s go girl.” This is too much for them to process. They don’t understand us – as much as we’d like them to. So by keeping the commands short and few at first your puppy will be much less confused.
Take the puppy outside first thing in the morning, when you return home or right after he/she wakes up from a nap. Use the same routine above every single time. If your puppy has an accident in the house, take the puppy over to the accident, show it to them and give them a firm “No”. Then take them straight to the potty door and then outside, using the commands as described above, even if they don’t go to the bathroom. And if they went number two in your house, pick it up and place it out in the yard to show them where it suppose to go. Let it there so they have a scent to reference as well. Just watch your step when you go outside!
Eventually your pup will learn to go to the door when it’s time to go out. You’ll just have to keep an eye on them, as some dogs won’t bark to go outside. We had this with our male, Clifford. He’d go to the back door for a few moments, and then return to our dining room to do his business when we didn’t let him out. He was very quiet about things and unless we saw him go to the kitchen door, he wouldn’t vocally “tell” us he had to go potty. I eventually got desperate and hung some “doggie bells” on the kitchen door. We’d sit him down, ring the bells, say “Potty” and then repeat it a few times before letting him outside. We’d also praise him when he’d touch them and give him a treat. A few weeks later while watching TV one night we heard a jingle come from our kitchen, and there he was standing at the back door waiting to go out! We get quite a few laughs when we tell people our dog is trained to ring a bell when he has to go potty.
“The Crate”
For best results, place your crate somewhere in the open where the family is. Put your puppy’s toys in there as well as some food and water. Get them use to this being a safe place where they feel comfortable. We’ll sometime find our dogs napping in their crates rather than on our furniture. We also refer to the crate as “Bed”. And if we tell them it’s time for bed, all three of them will take off running and get in their crate.
Keep your puppy in the crate at night and when you’re gone running errands or at work. This is NOT a punishment. This is to your benefit as well as your dog’s. It keeps them safe and out of trouble and keeps your house in one piece. Also, instinctively a dog does not want to potty where they eat or sleep, which also helps aid in the potty training process.
Please don’t expect your puppy to be able to “hold it” all through the night/day at first. Young pups just can’t control their bladder and bowel functions quite like an older dog can. So you might want to set your alarm to get up half way through the night or find someone to let them out at noon during the day. Otherwise, just be prepared to clean out the crate and give your dog several baths. If you’re home all day during the day (even if it’s just on weekends), pen your puppy up for an hour or so a couple times a day (when they’re tired and napping is best). This will help out immensely.
Best of luck with potty training your dog!
You’re going to need a few things to get your puppy started.
- Wire Dog Crate
- Carpet Cleaner & Paper Towel (Yes, you’ll be cleaning up messes!)
“The Potty Door”
First of all select a door that will be the “potty door”. Always take your pup to this door when it is time to go outside. Sit them down in front of the door before going outside and say “Potty” a few times. Then take them outside and put them into the grass. Repeat “Potty” several times again. Keep the words short and easy. Keep repeating the word “Potty” every so often until your puppy does his or her business. Then praise them right away. Get down to their level, get excited, give them a treat – anything to let them know they’ve done what they’re supposed to do.
What you shouldn’t do is talk to the puppy when they’re trying to do their business: “Come on Sophie, it’s time to go potty. Let’s go girl.” This is too much for them to process. They don’t understand us – as much as we’d like them to. So by keeping the commands short and few at first your puppy will be much less confused.
Take the puppy outside first thing in the morning, when you return home or right after he/she wakes up from a nap. Use the same routine above every single time. If your puppy has an accident in the house, take the puppy over to the accident, show it to them and give them a firm “No”. Then take them straight to the potty door and then outside, using the commands as described above, even if they don’t go to the bathroom. And if they went number two in your house, pick it up and place it out in the yard to show them where it suppose to go. Let it there so they have a scent to reference as well. Just watch your step when you go outside!
Eventually your pup will learn to go to the door when it’s time to go out. You’ll just have to keep an eye on them, as some dogs won’t bark to go outside. We had this with our male, Clifford. He’d go to the back door for a few moments, and then return to our dining room to do his business when we didn’t let him out. He was very quiet about things and unless we saw him go to the kitchen door, he wouldn’t vocally “tell” us he had to go potty. I eventually got desperate and hung some “doggie bells” on the kitchen door. We’d sit him down, ring the bells, say “Potty” and then repeat it a few times before letting him outside. We’d also praise him when he’d touch them and give him a treat. A few weeks later while watching TV one night we heard a jingle come from our kitchen, and there he was standing at the back door waiting to go out! We get quite a few laughs when we tell people our dog is trained to ring a bell when he has to go potty.
“The Crate”
For best results, place your crate somewhere in the open where the family is. Put your puppy’s toys in there as well as some food and water. Get them use to this being a safe place where they feel comfortable. We’ll sometime find our dogs napping in their crates rather than on our furniture. We also refer to the crate as “Bed”. And if we tell them it’s time for bed, all three of them will take off running and get in their crate.
Keep your puppy in the crate at night and when you’re gone running errands or at work. This is NOT a punishment. This is to your benefit as well as your dog’s. It keeps them safe and out of trouble and keeps your house in one piece. Also, instinctively a dog does not want to potty where they eat or sleep, which also helps aid in the potty training process.
Please don’t expect your puppy to be able to “hold it” all through the night/day at first. Young pups just can’t control their bladder and bowel functions quite like an older dog can. So you might want to set your alarm to get up half way through the night or find someone to let them out at noon during the day. Otherwise, just be prepared to clean out the crate and give your dog several baths. If you’re home all day during the day (even if it’s just on weekends), pen your puppy up for an hour or so a couple times a day (when they’re tired and napping is best). This will help out immensely.
Best of luck with potty training your dog!