- Go_Fetch_It: Off to ride 'Queenie' she has been turned out in her new field today so hope I can catch her! Otherwise its horse recall training time!
(about 6 hours ago)
Click here to search our siteToilet Training a Puppy
Toilet and House Training a new Puppy!
House training is often the bane of all new puppy owners. It is usually prioritised over everything else, especially if the owner is quite house proud!! For me the quicker Mac is toilet trainer the better, my other dogs picked it up quickly so lets hope Mac follows in their steps.
Teaching Toilet on command
My aim is to teach Mac to first learn where the appropriate place to toilet is, and the second to toilet on command. This is a very useful command to teach your dog especially if you do not like picking up poo on walks. Toilet on command before walks means you reduce the chances of your dog going in public! Mac at 8 weeks old is physically not able to hold his bladders for a great length of time and so when he needs to go he will go, wherever he is! It is my job to ensure that he had plenty of opportunities to go to toilet and be rewarded in his garden toilet spot, and no opportunities to make mistakes in the house or set up his own ‘indoor toilet’ spots. I personally would not recommend encouraging your puppy to toilet on puppy pads or newspaper in the home as your are otherwise training him that it is ok that he toilets in the house, and in the long term this can be highly confusing for the puppy! If your puppy ever does make a mistake in the home the best cleaning product to use is a dilute solution of your own clothing washing detergent (preferably biological powder).
How to teach your puppy to toilet on command
Firstly you need to choose a place outdoors where you would like your dog to toilet- this will not be his toilet spot. It helps if it is a little secluded or out of sight as some dogs can feel vulnerable when toileting.
1) Monitor your puppy and when he wakes, has finished eating, finishes playing and at least once every hour take him straight out on lead to the toilet spot.
2) Wait patiently for your puppy- he may sniff around or become a little frustrated not knowing what you are waiting for, but eventually he will need to go so wait patiently!!
3) It may help to encourage your puppy to toilet in the correct place by placing some soiled newspaper or some of his faeces on the spot so he can make the association.
4) As you puppy relieves himself select a command word such as ‘hurry up’ or ‘busy’ and say the command as the puppy toilets (not before at this stage as he won’t know what you are asking!!!).
5) As the puppy finishes instantly reward at the spot with a tasty treat, a game with a toy or lots of stroking and attention- this will reward your dog for the behaviour of toileting outside.
6) Bring him back inside and continue to watch him carefully- do not allow him just to wonder off out of sight as again here he may toilet inside and you will not be able to correct the behaviour. I use a puppy house training line (see my shop for purchase) and actually keep hold of it at all times when the puppy is out of his crate- this means he is not able to set up smelly toileting spots around the house and I have the ability to quickly interrupt him and take him straight outside should he make a mistake. This is what I term the ‘umbilical cord’ method and if you intensively work on this for a full weekend or few days, you will find quite quickly your puppy will have learnt to toilet on command.
7) Repeat the toilet and command association each and every hour and at all the key ‘toilet times’ as listed above. Once you have practised the command association as above at least 10-15 times successfully you can now start taking your puppy to the same spot in the garden when you feel he will need the toilet and using the command to make him toilet!
8) If you are unable to watch your puppy it is best to confine him to a crate (only for very short periods of up to an hour at a time) as he is unlikely to want to toilet where he sleeps- this would have been one of the first lessons his mother would have taught him when he was still in the litter!
The effort and time this method takes at this stage will pay off when you have a dog who will toilet on command. Mac learnt this in two days, see his toilet video!!