Did You Get a PUPPY for Christmas, (Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Canada Day, etc...)?!? Here is an article that might help you along...
Thinking back on Koda's life, she was a perfect dog."What? You don't BELIEVE me??? I'm crushed! "
O-kay..., so Koda wasn't perfect...
but it's our love of the animal that makes us see them in a different light.
We quite happily forget the stages the puppy has gone through to become a dog. The many times spent on our knees scrubbing the rug after a bladder (that was just emptied!) refilled and leaked all over our carpet! WE won't even mention how many "presents" Koda left for us! (Well. Ok. I will... maybe.)
How do you train a puppy to go to the bathroom where you want them to?
Don't expect them to understand right away, it may take weeks, (or in Koda's case MONTHS !). Don't give up, all the frustration will be worth it in the end. The first thing we would like to emphasize... and I'm not sure you can hear me shouting, but try...
(did you hear me?... I can shout louder...)
How in the world is rubbing your pet's face in its urine or feces supposed to train it not to go to the bathroom in the house??? I know, I know... "We've done it that way for years and it's worked!"... or has it ?
Think about it, you've found a pile or puddle on the floor. You KNOW who created that mess, so you yell for the mongrel to "get its butt over to you NOW!" The puppy comes, but shrinkingly, wondering what that new sound in your voice is? You reach down, angrily, grab the pooch by the scruff of the neck and begin shouting at it, "LOOK AT THE MESS YOU MADE! WHAT A BAD DOGGIE!" Then you man (or women) handle it against the floor and proceed to smear the mess all over your dog's face. Then you open the door and toss the dog outside, all the while shouting that it is a bad dog! You slam the door shut, ignoring the whining, and proceed to clean up the mess, now smeared all over the place in your attempt to "teach the dog a lesson ". Then when THAT mess is cleaned up, you relent and go to let the dog back inside... but... ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! GROSS!! What is that smell?!?
OH (insert your own explicative here, - my favourite is "fugicles-n-ice-cream!")!!!
Now the dog needs a bath, your blood pressure is rising dangerously high, and you are wondering just what made you decide you wanted a dog in the first place? You will go through this procedure at least a dozen or more times through the day!
Now, examine this method. See if your dog, and you, aren't happier, (or would have been happier if you had tried it before.)
You bring that puppy home. Before you let it in the house, take it to a spot where you have chosen to have your pet use as its washroom. Wait patiently in the driving rain and blowing wind storm while the pet examines every inch of the area. Keep the puppy on a leash while you do this and don't walk around. Just stand in ONE spot, let the puppy explore, but not further than the end of the leash. EVENTUALLY the puppy will relieve itself. Be ready for it. As soon as the puppy relieves itself, be very very quick to praise it and offer a treat, (if you have one ready) or just lots of praise and petting. THEN take your new puppy into the house. LOOK at a clock, or set a timer to let you know when 30 minutes has passed. Play with your new puppy, IN the kitchen. (Or what ever room of the house you have that you can close off from the rest of the house and which has, preferably, no carpeting.) Do not feel the need to show the puppy the whole house right now. The kitchen is big enough.
Now, some people prefer crates, some don't, either way is fine. We didn't use one for Koda, (or Taz or Flower), but believe, quite firmly, that we will for any future puppies we let worm their way into our hearts.
If you have decided you would like to use a crate, make sure it's in the kitchen with you. (If you are going to use a cardboard box, prepare it in much the same manner.) Put a comfortable blanket and a FEW chew toys, (make sure they are VERY hard chew toys, small 'Kongs' are excellent.) Show your new puppy their food dish and water dish. They may or may not eat or drink now, who knows, for sure, what a puppy will do?!? (Speaking of food, we are firm believers that food and water should be available at ALL times for your pet, it seems that especially when they are puppies, if they always know there is food available for them, as they get older, they are less interested in begging or overeating, but I digress...)
Has that timer you set gone off yet? Put the leash back on your puppy and take him/her out the door you will be using to allow them access to their washroom and take them to the spot you did before and wait until they relive themselves again. No walking around. Just say "Go lmno..." (or what ever words you wish to associate with this routine. "Go tinkle"; "Go pee"; "Relieve yourself";... whatever, just be consistent.) When the dog has relieved him/herself, (finally), take them back into the kitchen, (or whatever room you're using.) Look at the clock. This time you may wait one hour, 60 minutes, 3600 seconds... (if my math is correct...) Play with your puppy. Don't take them into the rest of the house yet, there'll be many years for that. At the end of one hour, if your puppy has made it that long without an accident, leash them up and take them back to that spot in the yard. NO wandering around, straight out, straight to the spot, and wait. Your puppy will soon try and play all sorts of games to get you to walk or play with them during this time, and, even though the little creature is soooooo cute, RESIST! Remember, offer lots of love and praise when your puppy finally does his/her business, then back into the house, into the kitchen.
Your puppy didn't quite make the hour before they relieved themselves on the floor? Take a deep breath, show your puppy their mistake, (note: I said SHOW, not RUB their face in the mess!) say something like, "Naughty puppy," and confine them to their crate (if you are using one) or to an open box that they cannot escape from. Look at the clock. Clean up the mess. Resist the urge to scold your puppy as you are cleaning up this mess. Ignore your puppy's yelps and whines.
When your puppy has been confined for 5 minutes, remove them, put the leash on, take them out to that spot in the yard and praise them lavishly if they make an attempt to urinate or defecate. Take them back into the house and watch the timer. Try to get your pet up to holding their urine for an hour, (the length of time will get longer as you and your puppy get the hang of things). Do this for the rest of the day. Every hour remove your puppy to the yard, and back to the kitchen (laundry room, back porch, whatever.) If your puppy falls asleep, don't wake them up to continue this routine, BUT as SOON as they do wake up, IMMEDIATELY get them outside!!!
As you watch your pet play, you will begin to see the signs that say, "I have to go to the bathroom, but I'm having too much fun.... but I really gotta go!" Usually, they will be playing and will stop short and get a funny look on their face, then they will either urinate immediately, or go back to playing with a toy and stop again a few seconds later wondering what that pressure on their bladder is from??? This is YOUR cue. Don't hesitate, CALMLY , but quickly, get your puppy out to that spot in the yard NOW! Done with due diligence and commitment, your puppy can be mostly potty trained within one week! (Or rather YOU can be trained within one week, your puppy may take a few weeks, but if they are being praised and hugged every time they do their business in the right spot, it will be the easiest part of training them!!!) The key is in being consistent and diligent. Your puppy cannot hold its bowels or bladder as long as older dogs. Frequent trips do not lead to them being able to hold less as they get older, although as they get older, they should be trained to wait a few minutes longer to a few hours between trips to the yard. When they have an accident, scolding them and putting them in their crate should happen within seconds of the offense or it really hasn't much value. Keeping an eye on your puppy will be the best way to potty train them, and confining them to a single room of the house will help if they simply must be left on their own. (Although, for a young pup, being left on their own will result in messes, be prepared for it, just remember, your dog will have no idea what you are yelling at them for if you don't catch them within seconds of their 'accident'.)
Just like with weight loss, there is no magic pill, but at least with 'house-training' you KNOW it will happen!
After you have spent the day going between rubber boots and slippers, it's night time. Now how will you keep that puppy from making a mess all night long? The truth is, you probably won't, at least not the first few nights unless you are very determined and get up at least once during the night. Even puppies in crates will relieve themselves at one end of the crate if they have to. If you take your puppy out to use his/her washroom before you go to bed, (say around 11 p.m.), your puppy should be able to wait until around 5 a.m. before they just HAVE to go. Don't worry that you will set yourself up for a routine of getting up in the middle of the night forever if you start taking your pet out before you go to bed and then once during the night, (you hold it all night now, don't you?) (That whining and yipping? Well that's something for another article...)
We have a puppy in our daycare currently, who just does not understand where (or even when) he needs to go to the washroom. The owners are at their wit's end. We are using this method with him, and he finally seems to be understanding what is expected of him. He is not a stupid animal. He's quite intelligent. Some dog's bladders are just too small. When he relieves himself, some of the time, (rather MOST of the time), he seems surprised when he starts to walk and he all of a sudden realizes he is urinating!
Some dogs take more patience than others, but as many many owners will tell you, it really is worth all the frustration in the end. You'll spend, at most, one year potty training your puppy, but then, you'll have at least ten, (hopefully many more) years enjoying your pet! (Just be sure, if your puppy is really not getting it, that you have your vet check them over to be sure there is no medical reason they aren't catching on!)
Koda, well, she did finally get it. But her bladder was one of those extremely excitable ones and until she was about 6, every time we would come home, we would unlock the door and race backward so she could run out into the yard where we would greet her and she would piddle. Yes, we know that we should have ignored her for the first ten minutes or so when we arrived home to calm her down, but she was so happy to see us, and there were no dog daycares back then, (in the dark ages...), and even though she was only on her own for a few hours, she missed us and we missed her.
So, even we did things wrong, (drats, and you thought we were perfect!), but Koda turned out ok in the end, and we have every bit of confidence your puppy will too!
Just understand that there are as many ways of training your pet as there are pets and owners, so if this method doesn't work for you, first of all examine WHY it didn't work, (it should have!), then figure out what YOU need to do differently to help your pet get over this obstacle in their lives. Also remember, when you remove your pet from the kennel (if you are using one, or box if you're not) don't scold them, you scolded them when you put them in, re-hashing it means nothing to the dog, and you could frighten them into not wanting to go in their kennel for any reason.
Oh, as a side note, don't clean up the area of your yard you have chosen for your puppy's bathroom for several days. Your puppy will learn faster if he/she can smell their smell there. Also they will learn that this is a good place to deposit that mess, because it is still there and no one is angry about it! (Just don't let it get out of hand, when the flies outnumber the blades of grass, it's time to clean up the mess!)
Write me and tell me if this article helps you. Especially write if you think we're barking up the wrong tree.