Potty Training A Puppy
Potty training is one of the most common challenges puppy owners face, but there is hope!
The formula for getting puppies to pee and poo where they're supposed to looks like this:
Prediction + Supervision + Reinforcement
(If you’ve already tried it all and you’re ready for personalized guidance, check-out my online Puppy Potty Training Consultation. Otherwise, read on!)
Prediction
If I had to pick ONE element as the most important for success, this would be it!
If you don’t know when your puppy needs to go, you can’t ensure he’s in the right place at the right time.
Lucky for us, prediction is usually easy!
How often a puppy needs to go depends on their activity and the time of day:
Resting in a crate during the day: one hour for every month old (i.e. an 8 week old pup can physically hold it for two hours)
Outside the crate during the day: start with every 45 minutes and increase time as pup matures AND is accident-free
Resting in a crate overnight: plan for puppies 8-14 weeks old to take at least one toilet break in a 8-hour night.
After Eating: varies puppy to puppy. Some need to toilet immediately after eating, and some don’t need it for about 20 minutes.
After Drinking: I don’t worry too much about timing a toilet break after drinking unless: 1) puppy drinks a lot of water at once, and/or 2) puppy is having accidents.
Supervision
Jovie hangs out in her ex-pen
Supervision is the second most important part of puppy potty training. It happens in two areas and serves two purposes:
Indoors for Interruption
Even with impeccable prediction, your puppy may occasionally need to toilet off-schedule. By supervising, you can spot the signs and take the pup out OR interrupt an accident and take pup outdoors to finish.
Supervision only happens if you can see Puppy.
Baby-gates and ex-pens are, hands-down, my favorite way to keep puppy from wandering off.
Outdoors for Prediction
Prediction only works if you know when your puppy last toileted. During potty training, you have to physically go outside with your puppy and supervise every. single. time.
Reinforcement
You want to finish potty training as quickly as possible, right? Take treats out with you every. single. time. Only praise and petting doesn’t cut it. Your pup will learn faster with food rewards.
As soon as puppy finishes toileting, tell him how brilliant he is and feed three treats in a row.
Make sure to feed the treats outside so puppy makes the connection.
Accidents?
Uh-oh. Puppy had an accident. Now what?
Do not punish puppy. Punishment like swatting or rubbing his nose in the mess only teaches puppy to toilet away from you. This is a HUGE problem to fix.
Clean with enzymatic cleanser like Nature’s Miracle.
Check Prediction and Supervision. Did puppy wander off? Did time get away from you?
Still Not Working?
Your puppy might have a urinary tract infection. Consider making an appointment with the vet. No training will stop accidents from a UTI.
If a vet has already declared your puppy UTI-free, and you’re still soaking up pee and picking up poo, how about a one-on-one session with me? Click below to learn more.