Puppies are unable to control their bladder and bowel movements until they are approximately 20-24 weeks of age. There will be accidents but if you keep a good eye on your pup and plan ahead, you can limit those accidents to few and far in between.
Puppies need to be taken outside frequently approximately once per hour. They need to go outside immediately following sleeping, eating, drinking, playing and before retiring for the evening. Take them outside on a leash and potty them in the same location of the yard each time. Dogs have a tendency to return to previous elimination areas if they are taught to go in the same spot each time. Time their elimination with a verbal command such as "potty", "take a break" or "woosh". Following elimination, tell them what a good pup they are and physically praise them.
A dog crate is helpful in the potty training process. It also provides the pup a place to comfortably rest when you can't pay attention to him. To a dog, the crate is like a den. It should be treated as a positive place for the pup to rest and not as a punishment or a place for the pup to be banished to. You can condition your pup to voluntarily go into his crate by placing his dinner meals inside the crate. Leave the crate door open while he eats and take your pup outside immediately after eating. To train your pup to enter the crate upon command, place him in front of the crate, throw a food treat into his crate and release him. When he enters the crate to retrieve the treat, tell him "crate", "bed" or "kennel". Allow him to exit the crate and practice this routine several more times in a row.
Dogs like to keep their dens clean and will attempt to avoid eliminating where they sleep. Therefore, the crate should only be large enough for your pup to lie down, stand up and turn around. Otherwise, he may be tempted to relieve himself at the other end of the crate and return to the front of the crate to lie down. Rather than buying several sized crates to fit your pup's development, purchase a crate recommended for his adult size. Remove the top of the crate and insert a cut out plywood board that stands vertically in the crate. Place it towards the front of the crate allowing your pup just enough room as described above. As your pup grows, move the board towards the back of the crate enlarging his living space.
For the first 2-4 weeks of your pup's arrival to your home, place his crate in your bedroom. This will comfort him being close to you after having been separated from his litter. It will increase his bond to you and allow you to hear if he needs to be taken outside during the night. If he stirs during the night, take him outside to his potty area. After elimination, return him to his crate. Do not play with him, as it is time for continued sleeping. After your pup is able to sleep throughout the night, move his crate out of the bedroom and to the room where his crate will reside as an adult. This location should be out of the way of heavy daily traffic but within sight of the family's activities (a corner of the living room, spare bedroom near the living room, kitchen, den, etc.).
Don't leave food or water in the crate with the pup. It also isn't a good idea to line the crate with newspapers or towels. These items soak up waste material and therefore, may tempt him to eliminate in the crate. Additionally, he is likely to chew a brand new dog bed. Instead, give him a safe chew toy such as a hard rubber Kong or a chew bone made especially for puppies. This will help him with teething and relieve boredom.
When you come home, don't make a big fuss about seeing your pup right away. Change your clothes and do what you need to do for yourself (for 3-5 minutes) and then go to your dog. This will teach him to calmly wait for you. Open the crate door if your pup is calm. If he is whinnying, barking, spinning, etc. wait till he settles down. As soon as he does, open the crate door. You want him to learn self imposed calm behavior gets him what he wants rather than frantic behavior.
Crating a dog is a humane thing to do. When you are gone from the house, a loose dog is usually sleeping or tearing things apart. Therefore, he might as well sleep in his crate where he is safe from harm and your home is safe from him. A dog trained to view a crate as his den will gladly sleep and rest in it during your absence.
Potty Training - Please Help!
Nancy K.G. wrote:
Don't know if this consists of a behavioral issue, but here goes....I have a 10 week old Beagle mix puppy. I take her out to go potty then she comes back into the house and a few minutes later, goes again. Why is that and what am I doing wrong? Please, anyone who can help, please do!! Thanks in advance....
Hi Nancy,
Ohhhh, the delightful and frustrating perils of having a puppy. A puppy isn't able to reliably control their bladder and bowel until they are about 20 weeks of age, although you should see their control improve from 10-20 weeks of age. So in other words, it will probably get better with time.
Here are some quick tips regarding housebreaking:
1. Make sure your puppy has had enough time to do their business outdoors before bringing her back in as maybe she just wasn’t yet done.
2. When you take her outdoors, make pottying the first order of business and then verbally praise her after she eliminates.
3. Take her on leash to the same spot for her to eliminate as the smell of where she has gone before will stimulate her to eliminate.
4. As she eliminates, name the behavior by saying “potty”, “break”, or another term.
5. When she comes back inside, keep a close watch of her in case she needs to go back outside again.
6. Keep a close watch of her by closing the door of the room you are in with her, attaching her to a leash which then is attached to your waist and by teaching her to rest comfortably on a dog bed, “place” command.
7. “Crate train” her so that when you can’t closely supervise her activities she can rest comfortably in the crate that is only large enough for her to lay down, stand up and turn around.
8. Take her outdoors often, much more often than you may think one should have to. This may mean hourly outings and certainly every time after a play session, upon waking up, and after eating or drinking.
9. Feed your puppy a high quality dog food, such as Life Abundance, that doesn’t contain by-products, corn and dyes.
10. Consult with a professional dog trainer for more advice as training questions are a challenge to answer within the confines of an email or blog entry. A trainer can help you make sure your puppy starts off on the “right paw.” And if the situation doesn’t improve despite the above tips, take your puppy to your veterinarian for a wellness check.
