Picking up your puppy is probably the most exciting part about puppy raising, but as soon as all the cuteness has warn off (actually some of the cuteness will wear off the first time he piddles in the house) one of the first things you will think about is How To Potty Train A Puppy.
When we first started raising guide dog puppies over five years ago we received a guide dog puppy manual on how to train a puppy. As guide dog puppy raisers we follow all the rules and puppy training guidelines outlined in our puppy manual and when it comes to potty training our puppy we simply turn to page XX in our manual and follow the instructions on how to potty train a puppy.
So today were going to discuss how we go about potty training puppies.
How To House Train A Puppy
Here are some of the basics we are given on how to potty train a puppy from our guide dog puppy training manual:
Reggie A Golden Retriever Guide Dog Puppy In Training
House training is obviously one of the first things youll want to teach your puppy. If done properly, house training is not difficult. The key is to be consistent. Never allow the puppy to be unattended or out of your sight. If you are unable to do this remember to use confinement as a means of prevention. Keep your puppy on a schedule. Feed him at regular times and always give him a chance to relieve himself right after being fed. Using a designated area in your yard, let your pup have plenty of time (fifteen minutes) to relieve itself. Encourage the puppy to go by using words such as Get Busy. (That is the command used at GDA). When the puppy has done his business, praise him lavishly. A good rule of thumb to follow is to give your puppy a chance to relieve himself at a minimum of these times:
- First thing in the morning.
- After each meal.
- After a nap.
- After playtime.
- Right before you and your pup retire for the night.
Remember your puppy should always relieve on leash. It is important to train the puppies to relieve on leash in a variety of surfaces (grass, gravel, cement etc)
As I mentioned these house training tips are from our guide dog puppy manual and dont need to be followed to a T if youre training your puppy as a family pet. One thing I wish I would have known sooner is to train my puppies to relieve on different surfaces. My rescue pup, Linus learned to pee and poop on the grass and was potty trained in less than two weeks. However, when he was nine months old we took him camping and he would not go potty on the dirt. There was no grass and we were worried that wed have to drive into town (about an hour away) to find grass for him to pee on. After holding his pee for about a day (24 hours) he finally relieved in the dirt and peed for about 2 minutes straight.
Using these potty training tips Derby was quickly potty trained
The moral of the story? Its important to train your pup to pee on a variety of surfaces and all of our guide dog puppies have learned to pee and poop on cement, grass, gravel, rocks, wood chips, dirt, and any other place you might imagine.
How To Potty Train A Puppy
More Potty Training Tips One of the great things about being a guide dog puppy raiser is the incredible network of knowledgeable puppy raisers and guide dog trainers we have at our disposal. Some of the members in our Orange County group have been guide dog puppy raisers for 20+ years and have raised a dozen or more puppies. I guess were relative neophytes as Dublin is only our third puppy in training and this is only our fifth year as guide dog puppy raisers. As guide dog puppy raisers we are required to enroll our puppies in a minimum of one Puppy Kindergarten and one basic Dog Obedience Training class. One of the first questions we are asked at Puppy Kindergarten is how are you doing with potty training your puppy? Even our most experienced puppy raisers will still sometimes have questions on how to potty train a puppy. Here are some of the puppy training tips and hints Ive learned over the years when working on potty training with my own puppies:
- Keep an eye on your puppy We learned pretty fast that its important to keep a constant eye on your puppy. Use puppy gates (same as baby gates), tie downs, and leashes to make sure you can always see your puppy. If you see him start to sniff around, circle, whimper, or squat then quickly scoop him up and take him out to his designated potty place in the yard. Give him a ton of praise when he pottys in his spot. Its important to keep your puppy under constant supervision not only for potty training purposes, but to keep him out of trouble in general. Weve found many a chewed up shoe, cell phone, remote control because we didnt keep a close eye on our puppies. This can be both costly and dangerous for your puppy.
- Keep a puppy potty schedule If you keep a puppy potty schedule youll notice your pup can be fairly predictable with his potty times. We just use a sheet of paper and write down every time our puppy pottys (youll start to notice trends on your puppys potty schedule). Here are a few potty times that should automatically be on your schedule.
- Your puppy will always need to go potty shortly before and after eating or drinking water. We feed our pups twice a day at specific times which helps control the times they go poop.
- As soon as your puppy wakes up. Puppies almost always go potty right after waking up.
- As Linuss dog trainer used to say: Play makes pee! It seems as though every 10 minutes or so your puppy will pee when playing.
- Be Consistent stay free from variation. Stay consistent so your puppy knows what you want him to do. Be consistent by taking him out the same door to the same potty spot. Be consistent with your puppy potty schedule. Be consistent with your puppys feeding schedule. Be consistent and make sure everyone in your household abides by the same puppy potty training rules. If you do not stay consistent then it will take longer to potty train your puppy.
- Be Persistent continue firmly with your potty training your puppy in spite of any difficulty. At times it may seem like your puppy just does not get it, but dont waver and be persistent. It took our Aussie mix, Linus less than 2 weeks before he was potty trained. It took about 6 months to fully trust Stetson with his potty training. Stay persistent!
- Be Patient defined as the ability to suppress annoyancepuppies are adorable, but they will also test your patience. Try to remain calm and dont get upset with your puppy. It takes time to potty train a puppy. Be patient and you will be rewarded
- Praise Your Puppy The most important thing when we raise our guide dog puppies is to give them tons of praise every time they do something right. Dont forget to give your puppy a ton of praise every time he goes potty in his designated potty area. This will help reinforce the behavior with your puppy.
- Crate Training Puppies we crate train all of our guide dog puppies in training. Many people feel like crate training is like imprisoning your puppy. However, crate trained puppies enjoy the safety and security they feel when in their crate as they will find it much like their den had they lived in the wild. In fact, many of our puppies in training have grown so accustomed to their crates that they will often go to their crates and sleep any time they are tired. Crate training is great for potty training as its your puppys natural instinct not to potty where he sleeps. For more information on crate training check out our page on crate training puppies. For starters here are a few basics on crate training:
- Place the crate in your bedroom where the puppy can still see and hear what is going on.
- Put a blanket or towels in the crate for bedding. A pup will rarely soil the crate, however, if he does, try removing the bedding.
- A crate should not be too big, but large enough for the puppy to stand, stretch and turn around.
- When placing the puppy in the crate, use word kennel or kennel up.
- If he should happen to fall asleep somewhere else, pick him up and place him inside and quietly shut the door.
- Dont use the crate for punishment.
- Take your puppy outside to potty before putting him in the crate.
- Take your puppy outside to potty as soon as you take him out of the crate.
Puppy In Training TVEpisode 2 reviewed several puppy training basics including a short clip on taking your puppy to his potty spot (approximate 2:15 in the clip below).
Check out our other Puppy In Training TV episodes. If youre interested in sponsoring an episode please let us know by sending us an email through our contact form.
DO NOT RUB YOUR PUPPYS NOSE IN HIS ACCIDENTS!
We need to reiterateDo not Rub Your Puppys Nose In His Accidents! Do not hit your puppy for an accident! Do not punish your puppy if you find an accident! Never punish your puppy after the fact. Your puppy will think you are punishing him for whatever is happening at the time of the correction. Your puppy will not make the connection that this is an area that he previously soiled and that is why you are punishing.
Puppy Clean Up
If your puppy pees or poops on the floor or carpet make sure you clean it up immediately (Im sure I really didnt have to say that). However, if your puppy smells the pee or poop on the floor then he will return to this spot to pee again. In order to remove all the stain and order we like to use an enzyme-based remover like Natures Miracle. Natures Miracle claims to permanently eliminate all stains and odors even urine odors other products fail to remove. Weve used Natures Miracle with all of our puppies and have found it to be very effective.
One final notealways remember to bring some dog poop bags when youre out on your walks. One of our biggest pet peeves is the person who does not pickup after their puppy. Its bad for the environment and for some reason the bottom of my shoe seems to always find the dog poop that was left behind. I hope this little guide helps you with your puppy potty training basics.
If you have any questions about how to potty train your puppy then please feel free to leave us a comment in the comments section below. If you want to read more great puppy training tips then please subscribe to our blog at any one of our channels(or if youre slightly more daring all or our channels): Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, RSS, Newsletter.
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