Before we get started understand these are just good tips on how to house break your puppy. We fully believe in crate training to help speed up the process. However here is some great tips for everyone to follow no matter what method you choose to use in your potty training.
Now the tips
Potty training is one of the most important yet dreaded responsibility every pet owner has. Teaching a puppy when and where to relieve itself takes plenty of time and dedication. You’ll need to invest some time in watching over your new puppy to ensure that it consistently pees and poops at a specific place and specific times. However, all this hard work is worth it in the long run. When done correctly, you’ll end up with a well-disciplined dog and a clean house.
Here are some pointers to guide you in potty training your puppy.
Let your puppy get used to peeing or pooping in increasing time intervals.
Potty training begins when you bring your puppy home. Get your new pet used to peeing or pooping at intervals. If you’re allotting a space for a litter inside your house, take your puppy near it every two to three hours in the beginning. If you’re planning to train your puppy to relieve itself outside, do the same. Consistency is important in potty training. Take your puppy out or near its litter whether it needs to relieve itself or not.
Eventually, should increase the time between these intervals. From three, you can increase the interval to four and then to five until you reach a time interval that would work for your personal schedule. But as a general rule, you should take your dog out to relieve itself at least twice a day: once in the morning and then again during the late afternoon or at night.
Try to correct ‘accidents’ as soon as they happen
It’s normal that your puppy will have ‘accidents’ during the first days or weeks of potty training. Make sure to correct these immediately. You don’t need to physically punish your puppy when it accidentally pees or poops where it shouldn’t. Reprimanding them using a stern voice is enough.
Of course, you wouldn’t be able to monitor your new pup 24/7. Not everyone of us can drop everything just so we can potty train a puppy. But when you do spend time at home, restrict your puppy to the common areas of your home where you can easily see them and clean up after them if they have accidents. Also, make sure to thoroughly clean pee or poop off the floor as dogs often return to areas where they’ve relieved themselves because they can still smell the scent of it.
Limit most water and food intake during the day
To lessen the chances of your puppy needing to relieve itself in the middle of the night, try to limit its water intake at night. The same goes for food with the added reminder of setting times at which you feed your puppy. Leaving food out on your dog’s plate all day will result to it picking at its food irregularly. What more, you will not know when your dog needs to go out to pee or poop. For starters, keep a strict time period wherein you leave food on your dog’s plate. For example, take your dog’s plate away after 15 to 20 minutes even if it hasn’t eaten all the food you gave it.
Always reward good behavior
You need to reward good behavior the same way you need to reprimand your dog when
it has accidents. Reward can come in many forms and doesn’t just have to be food. When your puppy successfully uses its litter or hold in their pee until the next time you let it out, give them an enthusiastic praise, their favorite toy or stay outside with them to play fetch for a while.
There you have it. We hope that you found these tips useful in your quest to potty train your puppy. Just remember to be consistent in the times you designate for your puppy to relieve itself, reprimand accidents as soon as possible, limit intake of liquids and solids at night and don’t forget to reward good behavior. The task may seem daunting and time-consuming at first but, trust us, it will all be worth it in the end.
