09/11/2024
Potty Training
PCDTRAINING
Bryan Litchford CPDT-KA
479-522-6095
Potty training is one of the first challenges of owning a puppy. It can sometimes seem to be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. If you follow a few simple steps, you can have your pup potty trained in no time.
Management First
Dogs do things that benefit them. If p*eing on your carpet relieves their bladder, you can bet that is what they will do. It’s not a matter of right or wrong but rather what works. So until we can teach them that it’s more beneficial to go outside, we need to control their access to indoor spaces.
Crate training​ is perhaps the most useful tool you have for potty training. Dogs generally do not like to do their business in the same space where they sleep. Take advantage of this! Puppies sleep approximately 18 to 20 hours of a 24 hour period. So if your puppy is in a crate the majority of that time, this leaves 6 to 8 hours that needs to be managed.
Playpens​ are a great way to control their access to indoor spaces while they are awake. They are also a great alternative to crating your pup if you need to be gone for a longer period of time. I recommend using a combination of a playpen attached to a crate for this. It gives your pup a den to sleep in with access to a potty and play area. Keep a p*e pad at the opposite end of the playpen from the crate. Do not cover the whole floor with p*e pads. You want there to be an obvious difference in his sleep and play area and his bathroom. Make sure to tape the pad down, or your pup may decide to play with it.
If you are using a playpen while you are present, I would recommend not using a p*e pad. They really should only be used if you need to be gone for extended periods as they can possibly cause confusion if you are planning on the bathroom being outside.
Leashes​ are a great way to keep an eye on your pup if you need to be moving around the house a lot. Just attach a leash to your waist and have him follow you around. Be careful not to step on him.
How To Potty Train
Predictability
Wouldn’t it be great if you knew exactly when your puppy needed to go potty? While it can sometimes seem so random, there are a few very predictable times when he may need to go.
Here are the 3 most predictable periods that your pup may need to go.
1. Just after waking up- Whether it’s when you wake in the morning, or after your pup has woken from a nap, he needs to go out immediately. No exceptions.
2. After eating and drinking- Puppies need to use the bathroom 15 to 20 minutes after they eat. Don’t wait for them to let you know. Just take him out.
3. After play- Playing stimulates their bowels, so if your pup has been active even for a short time, you need to take him out.
Making it work for you
So now that we’ve established when they will most likely need to go, how do we teach them where to go and where not to go? As I mentioned before, dogs do what works for them. Unfortunately the very act of p*eing or pooping is in itself reinforcing, because it gives them relief. So the best we can do is prevent them from doing it indoors through management and a watchful eye, and make sure it’s extra beneficial to go outside. How? By ​immediately​ rewarding the behavior with something they love such as a treat. Later, once the pup has developed a habit of p*eing outside, you can fade out the use of treats, and you can relax your management incrementally.
Rewards / Reinforcement
Above I mentioned rewarding ​immediately​ for pottying outside. This is where most people make a mistake. Dogs most easily make associations between behavior and reward when the reward happens instantaneously following the behavior. Over the years I have heard countless times from pet parents that they gave their dog a treat after they came back in the house. The problem with this is that it is often not clear to the dog what they are being rewarded for. Is it pottying or coming into the house?
This can also cause the pup to come back in prematurely before he has emptied his bladder in order to get the treat. Then finish the job on your favorite rug. You want to be as clear as possible as to what behavior you are reinforcing.
Here are four rules for reinforcing pottying outside​.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Go out with your pup.
Make sure he is on leash, so you have control of the distance he is away from you. Take at least 3 treats with you! He may need to go multiple times.
Have a short play or sniff session before coming back inside.
Schedule and Consistency
Beyond taking your pup out at those predictable periods, it is important to keep a schedule. This means feeding at the same times every day, keeping a consistent bedtime, and planned potty breaks every 45 minutes to an hour between those predictable periods. Being consistent with this can greatly shorten the time it takes to potty train your puppy.
Accidents will happen
Your puppy will have accidents. How you respond is equally as important as your response for correct behavior.
So what do you do? Clean it up! It is not anybody’s fault if your pup goes in the wrong place. Think about it this way. A human child wears a diaper for the first few years of their life. Why? Because if they didn’t, you would have a mess. Now obviously humans and dogs develop differently, but the principle is the same. You would not punish a human baby for soiling themselves. These things take time. This is true for puppies as well. Punishment is only going to confuse your puppy and have a negative effect on your relationship. In fact punishing a puppy for p*eing in the house can backfire big time. Dogs basically see the world in a few different lenses. Safe, unsafe, and neutral. If pottying in your presence is deemed unsafe because you have punished him, he may decide to find a safe place to potty, like behind your couch or under a bed. Good luck keeping up with that. It can also mess up any plans of rewarding immediately for going outside, because pottying near you is considered unsafe. He may instead hold it until he comes back in and finds a safe place to do his business.
Patience
All dogs are different. If your puppy seems to take longer than expected to learn this, they may have a physical issue that should be checked out with your veterinarian, or it could just be that they learn at a different rate than the puppy down the street. It doesn’t mean they are dumb or stubborn. Just be consistent and patient, and it will happen.
