More Potty Training Tips

Potty training is a problem for many people. I have found that people either get it or don't, and it's not an issue with the dog. It's not the dog's fault. It's an owner issue.  People call me to discuss puppy training, and their entire focus is on potty training. This happens a lot, and it's been happening ever since I've owned Top Gun Dog Training. 

The goal of this article is to shift the new puppy owner's focus to the bigger picture of raising a puppy, beyond potty training. A dog trainer can only provide tips on how to potty train your puppy. We can't do it for you because we don't live with you. It's best if you do it in the environment where they're going to grow up. Look at the bigger picture of raising a puppy. 

Setting Rules and Boundaries

This is very important. I have clients with new young puppies who use a lot of baby gates, a leash in the house, and their crate. They say, "Well, the puppy cries in the crate." That's very short-term. It's just temporary. They're going to get used to it. The goal is to tire them out. You want to make sure the puppy is mentally and physically tired, and they take a nap in their crate, and they learn to like it. It's a place for them to relax. It's their safe place. 

Create a Structured Schedule

Most dogs that are not being potty trained effectively and having a lot of accidents in the house are not on a structured schedule. In my book, The Complete Puppy Training Manual, I include a structured schedule. I also have a structured schedule outlined on the blog at PuppyTalkPodcast.com so that you can take a look there. 

A structured schedule will work like this. The puppy gets up, goes outside, and goes potty, maybe at seven o'clock in the morning. It comes back inside, you do five or 10 minutes of training. You feed the puppy, then you take it back out again to go potty. Then you come back in, do a little play, maybe a bit more training, and the puppy's going to take a nap for hours, and then you're going to repeat that cycle over and over throughout the day. Puppies need 16 to 18 hours of sleep a day. That's another reason why you want to make sure that they're on a schedule. 

Obedience Training

Your puppy needs to learn basic obedience, including sit, down, stay, come, leave it, drop it, and go to your bed. I recently did a podcast on the most important command to teach your puppy, and it's the stay command. 

The very first day I got Dixie, I went to her bed and stayed, and she never moved until I told her she could. That was my first day with her. She was 10 weeks old. She did great with it, and I have it all on video. She learned it instantly. She understood that the bed was her place. She can't move from it until I tell her to, because if she moved off of her bed, she might have a potty accident. You see how this works? 

Leash Training 

How are you going to take your puppy out for a walk, even in your backyard to go potty, if they don't like to be on a leash? You just can't let them run around the backyard and do what they want because they're going to get into trouble. They're going to find some rabbit feces and get that in their mouth. They're going to start picking up rocks and eating grass and digging holes, and you don't want that. Another dog could be off-leash and get into your yard. You have coyotes, you have hawks. You have all kinds of things that could be in the backyard with your puppy, and it could hurt them pretty badly. The puppy has to be on a leash and supervised at all times. 

Socialization

Immediately start socializing them. The number one thing that puppies don't get early on that can create behavior problems later is socialization. People think they don't need to socialize a young puppy because it doesn't have all its vaccines. I've done a podcast on that, and puppies can safely go outside of the house without being fully vaccinated. You have to be safe. 

You can go to a friend's house. You can take them to socialize with your neighbors and other vaccinated, healthy dogs. 

In Review

When you work on everything at once, you'll spend very little time on potty training because you're working on everything else, and potty training takes care of itself.  When a puppy can stay in one place, they can easily be potty trained. When they're tired, they're easily potty trained. In a puppy training program, potty training accounts for 10% of the program.   

The main thing you need to do for practical potty training is to control the puppy’s space inside the house and never take your eyes off of them until they are completely potty trained or they're in the crate. 

Above all, get rid of pee pads. 

PRO TIP

Monitor their water intake by giving them one ounce per pound of body weight. If your puppy weighs 10 pounds, give them 10 ounces of water throughout the day. That means about 2 ounces of water, 5 times a day. Here's the trick. After they drink those two ounces of water, they will need to go potty 2 or 3 times within the next hour. You must make sure you are available to take them outside to go potty right after they drink water.  If they weigh 20 pounds, you're going to give them 20 ounces of water.  That would be 4 ounces of water, 5 times a day. 

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