jonny
Well-Known Member
I have never posted in here before but as we are getting a puppy {golden retriever} in June I thought I best find out good techniques to house train the puppy.
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What is the BEST WAY to POTTY TRAIN a puppy??????......
- Thread starter jonny
- Start date
3DE
Well-Known Member
My mistakes first...
Puppy pads - great for teaching dogs that it is ok to pee on anything paper/fabric (not all but mine did)
Cleaning up with bleach - doesn't work
Use a special pet smell remover from the vets or use washing powder
What I did with my second pup was to limit his water (not to the point he was dying of thirst) but so I could guess when he might need to go. I would give him his water (initially every hour so I could train more) and then about half an hour later (or when he looked uncomfortable) I would take him outside. Every time he peed I said Freddie go then goodboy. Eventually he associated "freddie go" with peeing and would pee on command if I said freddie go. It's getting the link to click in their head though :duh:. I did use "freddie go" in the house if he peed but to reinforce the word association, but he didn't get any praise.
It took a few days of solid work but we got there
And it is very hand having a dog that pees on command now
Puppy pads - great for teaching dogs that it is ok to pee on anything paper/fabric (not all but mine did)
Cleaning up with bleach - doesn't work
Use a special pet smell remover from the vets or use washing powderWhat I did with my second pup was to limit his water (not to the point he was dying of thirst) but so I could guess when he might need to go. I would give him his water (initially every hour so I could train more) and then about half an hour later (or when he looked uncomfortable) I would take him outside. Every time he peed I said Freddie go then goodboy. Eventually he associated "freddie go" with peeing and would pee on command if I said freddie go. It's getting the link to click in their head though :duh:. I did use "freddie go" in the house if he peed but to reinforce the word association, but he didn't get any praise.
It took a few days of solid work but we got there
And it is very hand having a dog that pees on command now 
kirstyhen
Well-Known Member
I think it's quite hard to potty train a puppy, they find it hard to straddle the potty... 
On a more serious note, puppy goes outside every half an hour on the dot, or everytime it wakes up, eats, drinks, comes out it's crate, moves... Lots of fuss when he/she.it goes outside, never reprimand for going inside - you'll end up with a dog that hides from you to pee. If you do catch it mid-flow whilst inside, pick it up and put it outside. Always carry outside when you want it to go there, limits the potential for accidents mid-route.
Limit it's access to parts of the house you are in, so it can't relieve itself in secret.
Personally I wouldn't limit access to water, mainly because my Dog had his access to water limited before I got him, and it resulted in him emptying every water bowl in site until he realised they weren't going anywhere!
I used the phrase 'be quick' whilst he was peeing and now whenever I take him out I tell him to 'be quick' and a voila - he pees It's not a phrase that you will use for anything else, so no confusion occurs (you say goodboy for lots of things, and I felt like a prat saying 'be a busy boy' as was advised by someone)
If you decide to crate train, use a crate (or section a large one) small enough so the pup only has space to lie in, as generally speaking they won't toilet where they sleep (there are exceptions!!)
Most importantly, keep at it! Some dogs pick it up super quick, others can take months and months, and just when you think you've cracked it and been accident free for weeks, you'll find a puddle!
Oh and we want lots of pictures of new pup!
On a more serious note, puppy goes outside every half an hour on the dot, or everytime it wakes up, eats, drinks, comes out it's crate, moves...
Lots of fuss when he/she.it goes outside, never reprimand for going inside - you'll end up with a dog that hides from you to pee. If you do catch it mid-flow whilst inside, pick it up and put it outside. Always carry outside when you want it to go there, limits the potential for accidents mid-route.Limit it's access to parts of the house you are in, so it can't relieve itself in secret.
Personally I wouldn't limit access to water, mainly because my Dog had his access to water limited before I got him, and it resulted in him emptying every water bowl in site until he realised they weren't going anywhere!
I used the phrase 'be quick' whilst he was peeing and now whenever I take him out I tell him to 'be quick' and a voila - he pees
It's not a phrase that you will use for anything else, so no confusion occurs (you say goodboy for lots of things, and I felt like a prat saying 'be a busy boy' as was advised by someone) If you decide to crate train, use a crate (or section a large one) small enough so the pup only has space to lie in, as generally speaking they won't toilet where they sleep (there are exceptions!!)
Most importantly, keep at it! Some dogs pick it up super quick, others can take months and months, and just when you think you've cracked it and been accident free for weeks, you'll find a puddle!
Oh and we want lots of pictures of new pup!
Hedwards
Well-Known Member
No advice to add i'm afraid, just wanted to say thanks to OP for asking the question and to those who have answered - i'm due to get a JRT puppy in a few months (fingers crossed due to be born this weekend!) and picking up as much advice as possible (only ever had adult dogs before). Have a crate already (bought cheap and 2nd hand at an equine table top sale - result!)
FinnishLapphund
There's no cow on the ice
I presume that you're buying a puppy and not having a litter but the following way, was the easiest way I could explain how I use newspapers when housebreaking puppies.
When Jonna's puppies was between 2 and 3 weeks old I made the puppy pen larger, there was a dog rug in one corner and the rest of the floor was covered in newspapers. Once they began getting the hang of that the peeing where you sleep not being a good idea, includes not just walking over to the other end of the rug, without actually walking away from the bed area, I began decreasing the area covered with newspapers.
So that by the time the puppies was coming up to 8 weeks old and only using the puppy pen during the night, their puppy pen had a dog rug in one corner, lots of empty floor and only in one end there was a few newspapers.
The older they became, the more daytime was spent outdoors and/or loose indoors and with just a few newspapers just inside the door, instead of our usual doormat. From when they where 7 weeks, they could often hold themselves all night and they only had the odd random accidents, usually due to me not paying attention enough.
They always had water available, I fed them indoors and made sure that they all went outdoors after eating. I always took them all outdoors as the very last thing before I went to bed myself and since I had the puppy pen in my bedroom, if I heard that they walked over to the newspapers before I had managed to go to sleep, I got out of bed, scooped the puppy up and carried him/her outdoors. First thing in the morning, I sometimes tried to stagger up only half awake and take them outdoors, if I woke up by suspicious sounds.
Basically, it was just like with the puppies that I've bought, before eating, after eating, after sleeping and after that they have been playing for a while, take them outdoors.
And the most typical time, when a puppy accident happens indoors for me, goes as follows : I have just managed to sit down and a puppy goes and sits inside the door and whine, which makes me say, "You have already been out three times and you just want to play, now you have to play indoors for a while before I take you out again ".
It does not matter how many times I have been out with them, whether they have been out two, three or five times, it's always when I give up and just want to sit down for a moment that their whining inside the door, means that they really, really have to pee! NOW!
*sigh*
When Jonna's puppies was between 2 and 3 weeks old I made the puppy pen larger, there was a dog rug in one corner and the rest of the floor was covered in newspapers. Once they began getting the hang of that the peeing where you sleep not being a good idea, includes not just walking over to the other end of the rug, without actually walking away from the bed area, I began decreasing the area covered with newspapers.
So that by the time the puppies was coming up to 8 weeks old and only using the puppy pen during the night, their puppy pen had a dog rug in one corner, lots of empty floor and only in one end there was a few newspapers.
The older they became, the more daytime was spent outdoors and/or loose indoors and with just a few newspapers just inside the door, instead of our usual doormat. From when they where 7 weeks, they could often hold themselves all night and they only had the odd random accidents, usually due to me not paying attention enough.
They always had water available, I fed them indoors and made sure that they all went outdoors after eating. I always took them all outdoors as the very last thing before I went to bed myself and since I had the puppy pen in my bedroom, if I heard that they walked over to the newspapers before I had managed to go to sleep, I got out of bed, scooped the puppy up and carried him/her outdoors. First thing in the morning, I sometimes tried to stagger up only half awake and take them outdoors, if I woke up by suspicious sounds.
Basically, it was just like with the puppies that I've bought, before eating, after eating, after sleeping and after that they have been playing for a while, take them outdoors.
And the most typical time, when a puppy accident happens indoors for me, goes as follows : I have just managed to sit down and a puppy goes and sits inside the door and whine, which makes me say, "You have already been out three times and you just want to play, now you have to play indoors for a while before I take you out again ".
It does not matter how many times I have been out with them, whether they have been out two, three or five times, it's always when I give up and just want to sit down for a moment that their whining inside the door, means that they really, really have to pee! NOW!
*sigh*
Booboos
Well-Known Member
Oooh! A puppy!!! How exciting!
Crates are invaluable both for toilet training, for safety and to make sure the puppy does not destroy your house. The more vigilant you are to start off with, the easier it is to avoid accidents, the quicker the puppy will learn. I either have the puppy in the crate or I am with it and keep an eye on it constantly, that way you are less likely to get accidents. Use a crate that is appropriate for the size of the puppy (not too small as they need to be able to lie down, get up and turn around comfortably, but not too large either as then it might not work that well as a personal space), don't leave the puppy in the crate for too long and most puppies will refrain from going to the toilet in the crate.
Puppies will tend to go to the toilet quite often, so they need a lot of opportunities to go out and you should also exploit times when the puppy will be ready to toilet, e.g. as soon as the puppy wakes up, pick him up and take him out. Also take out after eating and drinking, after playing, etc.
Accidents will happen, personally I ignore them and clean them up very well. If you can keep the puppy in an area with tiles or wooden floor so you can really clean up any accidents.
Crates are invaluable both for toilet training, for safety and to make sure the puppy does not destroy your house. The more vigilant you are to start off with, the easier it is to avoid accidents, the quicker the puppy will learn. I either have the puppy in the crate or I am with it and keep an eye on it constantly, that way you are less likely to get accidents. Use a crate that is appropriate for the size of the puppy (not too small as they need to be able to lie down, get up and turn around comfortably, but not too large either as then it might not work that well as a personal space), don't leave the puppy in the crate for too long and most puppies will refrain from going to the toilet in the crate.
Puppies will tend to go to the toilet quite often, so they need a lot of opportunities to go out and you should also exploit times when the puppy will be ready to toilet, e.g. as soon as the puppy wakes up, pick him up and take him out. Also take out after eating and drinking, after playing, etc.
Accidents will happen, personally I ignore them and clean them up very well. If you can keep the puppy in an area with tiles or wooden floor so you can really clean up any accidents.