Potty Training Pro Tips
A lot of the questions people have when they bring home a new puppy or dog are about potty training. I get asked about this topic most days. Teaching our new friend where to go and where not to go to the bathroom is at the top of most dog owners’s To-Do lists. It can seem daunting, but there are a lot of ways that we can make things easier for everyone involved.
Use a leash.
At this time, Puppy should be on a leash when we take potty trips. (Yes, even if you have a fenced in yard!) This is to help ensure that we can reward him quickly. Puppies are easily distracted and don’t understand cause and effect the same way that we do. Having him on a leash is also going to give us the opportunity to keep him focused on the task at hand. If he gets distracted by leaves or a sound, we can use the leash to gently lead him away and encourage him to potty.
Take him out and take him out often.
This one seems like a given, but not always! We want to take Puppy out to the area we want him to go to the bathroom in very often. This can be grass, a puppy pad, etc.) I recommend taking Puppy out after he eats, after he drinks water, after waking up (from a nap or overnight), before AND after play time, anytime they come out of their crate/play pen/Puppy Safe Room, and about every 2 hours in between. (Yeah I wasn’t kidding, was I? Haha.) Puppies need to go a lot, and taking him out frequently is going to do 2 things. The first is it is going to prevent him from having accidents inside (win). Secondly it is going to give us the opportunity to reward him for pottying where we want (win again)!
Reward every time he potties in the right place.
Behaviors that are reinforced are repeated! We want to make sure that your sweet little angel gets heavily reinforced for peeing and pooping where you want! Take treats outside with you and as soon he finishes going to the bathroom, give him a treat! This is also a great opportunity to use different types of reinforcers. I will frequently bring a favorite toy outside with me when I start potty training a dog. Pup goes potty, he get a treat and a play session! If you have a securely fenced in yard try taking Puppy off leash after he finishes using the restroom too! And don’t forget praise! Basically the crazier your neighbors think you are, the happier Puppy is going to be going to the bathroom outside and the faster he will learn!
Get a solid cleaner.
Puppies are going to make mistakes when they learn. Heck, you are too! It is important to have a high quality cleaner on hand to clean up those potty training accidents. We want to make sure that any cleaners we use are formulated for dogs so that they get out the smell for your pup. Dogs scent mark, so making sure that we have a cleaner that is removing that scent is important. If not, it will call your puppy to potty there again and again. I also recommend using a cleaner that doesn’t have ammonia in it. Ammonia is in urine. Even if you don’t think it smells like urine, it will to your puppy!
Management, management, management.
Until Puppy learns where he should potty, we need to keep a close eye on him. Preventing him from having an accident in the house is going to prevent that behavior from becoming habit and enable us to reinforce the good behavior of pottying where you want! Puppy needs to be monitored if he is free in the room with us. Active supervision is important in this phase. Active supervision means that we are watching him the whole time and not letting our focus drift in and out. When we can’t watch Puppy, put him in his play pen/crate/puppy safe room so that you can have a break. Puppies tend to have strong denning instincts and don’t like to go to the bathroom where they sleep. (This doesn’t mean they won’t if pushed to, I have worked with many many puppies from puppy mills and pet stores that had their denning instincts destroyed from unhygienic conditions.)
Don’t punish him for making a mistake.
This one is so important. Do not punish Puppy for having an accident. If we see him pottying inside try to distract him and take him outside or to the place you want him to potty. If we just find the excrement but don’t see him eliminating, just take him out. If he potties in the right place; he gets a reward! If not, it’s okay. We are ALL allowed to make mistakes! I recommend putting Puppy in his crate/play pen/Puppy Safe Room with a treat or chew while we clean up the mess. This is not a punisher, it is simply to keep him occupied while we clean. Paper towels and other cleaning products can be very enticing to puppies and we don’t need his enthusiastic but unhelpful assistance.
These are my best professional potty training tips! Let me know if they help you!