Toilet training
Your puppy has probably been using puppy pads to toilet on while in the nest and
then put outside when he wakes, after he has just eaten or been playing for a
while. Once you have brought him home you will need to continue his
training. Remember he is now in a new house and will have to learn where
your back door is!
Follow the same pattern of taking puppy outside first thing in the
morning, after waking from a nap, after eating, drinking, playing or if he just
hasn't been outside for an hour. Watch your puppy carefull and learn to
recognise the signs when he is about to wee or poo. Some will sniff the ground, others will start to circle
round. As soon as you see your pup
doing this, you must be quick to get him outside - at this age he needs to
‘go’ as soon as he thinks about it so accidents will happen!
You will feel that all you do is rush in and out with your puppy to
toilet him, but it will be worth it in the long-term when he learns quickly
where he is to go to toilet. If he
has accidents in the house – it’s not his fault – you have not been taking
him outside to toilet often enough!
Dogs can be trained to toilet on command which is very useful if
they’re going on a long car journey or a visit to a friends house. You
can do this by using a word when the puppy ‘goes’ and lots of praise every
time he performs outside. Examples
of a command word are 'be quick', 'hurry hurry', 'wee-wees', 'be clean'. You can
even train a dog to defecate on command - you might want to use a different word
for this or the same as the 'wee' command.
Don’t expect him to be clean in the house at night right away, not all
puppies are able to hold it all in over night. You might need to get up in
the night at first to let him out, try to do this before he makes a noise or he
will learn this is an excellent way of calling you to him whenever he wants!
House training takes time and consistent training, take him to the same
spot in the garden, you could even buy a ‘pee post’ to encourage him to one
spot in the garden.
Never, ever rub his nose in a mistake, just clean it up and wash the area
with either a proprietary pet urine stain remover or a solution of biological
washing powder/liquid. This will remove all the smells that could attract him
back to the same spot. Ordinary
cleaners may remove the smells that you can smell, but your puppy will still be
able to smell where he has toileted – hence the use of the biological
detergent or pet cleaner – these will break down the enzymes that only your
puppy can smell.
If you catch him in the act of toileting you can say “Ah Ah!”, try
clapping your hands as a distraction and take him outside to finish off, when he
does, don't forget to praise him.
Newspapers and training pads do have their place.
If you do not have a safe, secure and CLEAN garden to take your pup to,
then you will need to use either newspapers or puppy pads until your puppy has
had his vaccinations and can go outside without risk of catching something.
As a rule though, if you have a safe outdoor place for your pup to
toilet, this is the best way to go because using papers or puppy pads can be
confusing to a pup – he is firstly taught to toilet indoors on the pad, then
you have to teach him to use the garden.
Copyright © Dogs & Co 2009 unless otherwise stated
Updated July 2009