1. Ensure the puppy is always kept in a sage place when alone. A kennel large enough to lie down in and stand up erect or an area cordoned of with baby gates. The most important part here is to ensure they are in an area that they won’t soil.
2. Never allow the puppy to wander the house, ensure that they are always under your supervision. This allows you to catch them in the act and you will be able to react in the moment by interrupting them as you scoop them up and take them outside.
3. Cue phrases are ideal and should be used in the right place and time, when interrupting the puppy say, “outside”, once you have taken the puppy out to the area you want the to eliminate use a phrase such as “Go now”, “washroom”, “potty”. Never use the outdoor phrase inside when you are trying to interrupt them, this will only confuse them.
4. Rewards and praises are given when they do the deed outside. Have treats on you and give lots of love when they do as requested.
5. Indoor accidents just confuse your puppy; therefore you must keep an eye on the 100% of the time. You may need to use a leash indoors for the first little while to keep them from wandering off.
6. If you come upon a little accident, this is YOUR fault not the puppies. Never punish for this.
7. When cleaning up puppy’s accidents ensure you use a good odour eliminator prior to the actual scrubbing. You must remove all scent traces of the mess, if you do not, you puppy will use the area again.
8. Proper diet with a good quality food along with ensuring you puppy is healthy and has no reason for abnormal elimination will go a long way to helping the process.
9. Feed and water your puppy on a schedule that will allow for time to go out before you crate them for extended periods of time.
10. Take the puppy outside about once an hour when you are home. By this I mean TAKE the puppy out, not put the puppy out, you must be there to give praise when the puppy goes as they are being taught.
11. Full bladder and bowel control don’t come until around the 16th week; due to this, do not have your puppy waiting in the crate for extended periods of time. If they have to hold it for to long they will go and this again will not be their fault.
12. Expand smaller dogs freedom in the house more slowly than that of larger dogs. Smaller dogs see the house a larger area that has many good areas to eliminate that are away from where they sleep, play or just hang out.
13. As much as dogs can hold it for 8 hours during the night does not mean that you should wait 8 hours between taking them out. When sleeping dogs systems slow down and allow them to hold it for the night, much the same happens when you leave them for 8 hours when you go to work as they most likely spend most of that time sleeping. When you are home you should be taking them out almost hourly.
Done correctly you can be very successful at potty training puppies; some may take longer than others. Providing proper supervision to minimize accidents and properly cleaning up any messes that do happen in the house will ensure a successful house broken pup.
For more information on Potty Training your puppy or for specific information on Crate Training or Paper Training come visit us at The Obedient K-9.
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