How To Toilet Train Your Puppy
Emma Badger 
Top tips to make toilet training your new puppy easy!
THE DOS AND DON'TS OF TOILET TRAINING YOUR PUPPY
Here are a few simple rules for toilet training:
- reward the pup for toileting outside
- ignore accidents that happen indoors
- put the pup on a toileting schedule
Read on for more details…
DON’T use the crate as an alternative to good toilet training. Puppies come pre-programmed to avoid toileting near where they sleep, however, if they have no choice because they have been confined for longer than their bladder or bowel will allow, then toileting in their sleeping area will become less taboo and more acceptable to the pup. Avoid this at all costs.
DO heavily reward your pup for toileting outside. In the dog training world, this is called "positive reinforcement". You're training your puppy that toileting outside is the right thing to do. Your pup doesn’t understand that they shouldn’t toilet inside, but will understand that they're rewarded for toileting outside.
DO reward your puppy immediately after toileting, not when you get back into the house. If you reward them in the kitchen then you are rewarding them for going into the kitchen, not for toileting outside. They'll be keen to get back to the kitchen for their treat, and won’t spend the time that they need in the garden.
DON’T punish your puppy for toileting accidents in the house. It’s unfair to punish your puppy for something that they couldn’t help doing. Punishing your puppy will not help them to understand that they shouldn’t toilet inside. Punishing your puppy will teach them that it’s dangerous to toilet in front of you, leading them to toilet in hidden areas, and may mean that they'll grow up being afraid to toilet on lead, and it will undoubtedly have a negative effect on your relationship with your puppy.
DON’T expect your pup to tell you when they need to go out. They won’t necessarily know.
DON’T use puppy pads unless it’s absolutely necessary, for example, if you don’t have a garden. Puppy pads are an extra step in house training. Dogs develop a preference for toileting on the same kind of surface as they did as a puppy, so by using puppy pads, you’re encouraging your dog to toilet on soft surfaces, such as a carpet. If the puppy gets bored they may well start chewing up the puppy pad.
DO clean up with an enzymatic cleaner if your puppy has had an accident in the house. Normal disinfectant will not get rid of the smell of ammonia and will encourage your puppy to toilet in the same place in future.
DO clean up faeces straight away. Dogs don’t like to defecate where there is faeces so be sure to keep the toilet area clean to encourage your puppy to go back to the same spot. Your pup is at a higher risk of developing coprophagia if the faeces is left lying around.
DO run to your puppy's toilet area as that will stimulate the need to go to the toilet.
DO put your puppy on a lead if you want to keep them focused and encourage them to toilet in a certain area.
DO take your puppy out as soon as they wake up as they are very likely going to need to urinate.
DO take your puppy after every meal. Puppies normally need to defecate within 15 minutes of eating.
DO give your puppy the opportunity to toilet every few hours. As a guideline puppies can hold their bladder for approximately one hour per month of age plus one hour when inactive, but for far shorter a time when active, and they’ll typically defecate shortly after eating a meal.
DO take the weather into account. If your puppy doesn’t like being outside as it’s cold or wet, in addition to the treat reward, reward them as soon as they've toileted by taking them inside. If your puppy doesn't like the rain, consider sheltering them under an umbrella. If the weather is good, in addition to the treat reward, reward them when they've toileted by letting them have a sniff around the garden, or play with them before going in.
DO set your alarm and take the pup out to the garden in the middle of the night if your puppy is very young.
DO develop a toileting schedule for your pup. It’s not your pup’s job to tell you when they need to go out, it’s your job to take them out on a regular basis to give them an opportunity to toilet.
DO bear in mind that the stress of being rehomed is likely to affect your puppy's tummy.
DO bear in mind that changing your puppy's food may affect their tummy in the short term.
THE PUPPY TOILETING TRAINING SCHEDULE
Top tip – have a paper and pen by the back door to record schedule details.
Top tip – have training treats by the back door so that you can reward your puppy toileting outside.
Top tip – ensure that one adult is responsible for the next toilet break – set an alarm or reminder if necessary.
This is an example toilet training schedule for a 10-week-old pup which you can adapt it to fit your pup. If you record the details for 2 days this will give you a great basis on which to start or continue with your puppy's toilet training.
07:00 Get your puppy out of the crate, pick them up and take them to their outside toilet area, collecting the training treats on the way. Put your puppy on the grass, and wait for them to pee. When they do, immediately after, reward them for toileting outside with 5 very small treats, one after the other. Then have a puppy party – be really excited and tell them what a great pup they are. Write the details on the schedule – “07:05 – pee”
07:15 Breakfast. When they've finished eating, run your puppy out to the toileting area, collecting the training treats on the way. Wait for them to poo, bearing in mind that this might take up to 15 minutes. When they do, immediately after, reward them (remember, you're using positive reinforcement to encourage your puppy to toilet outside) with 10 very small treats, one after the other. Have another puppy party to show them how good they are! Write the details on the schedule – “07:25 – poo”
08:30 Your puppy had quite a large drink of water after food and has had a play. It’s been just over an hour since the last toilet trip outside. Run them out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to pee. When they do, immediately after, reward them with 5 very small treats, one after the other. Have another puppy party! Write the details on the schedule – “08:35 – pee”
09:30 Your puppy has had a training session and played with their toys. Run them out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to pee. You wait 5 minutes and they just had a sniff, try again in 5-10 minutes. Write the details on the schedule – “09:35 – nothing”, and closely supervise or confine your puppy to avoid accidents.
9:45 Try again. Run your puppy out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to pee. When they do, immediately after, reward them with 5 very small treats, one after the other. Another puppy party is in order! Write the details on the schedule – “09:45 – pee”
We now have an idea that when your puppy is active they may need to go to the toilet roughly every 1 – 1.25 hours.
12:00 Your puppy has been sleeping for a few hours and has just woken up. Get your puppy out of the crate, pick them up and take them to their outside toilet area, collecting the treats on the way. Put your puppy on the grass, and wait for them to pee. When they do, immediately after, reward them with 5 very small treats, one after the other. Puppy party! Write the details on the schedule – “12:05 – pee”
12:30 Lunch. When your puppy has finished their lunch, run them out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to poo. Remember that this might take up to 15 minutes. When they do, immediately after, reward them with 10 very small treats, one after the other. Puppy party! Write the details on the schedule – “12:35 – poo”. If nothing happens, consider whether they're too busy doing other things and may need to be on the lead. Confine or closely monitor your puppy and try again in 5-10 minutes.
14:30 You were on the phone and missed the next toileting break so your puppy peed in the house. Mistakes happen. Cleanup with the enzymatic cleaner. Consider setting an alarm or reminder for 15:45 so it doesn’t happen again. Write the details on the schedule – “14:30 – pee in the house”
15:45 Your puppy has been chilling and doing some scent work. Run them out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to pee. You waited 5 minutes, they just had a sniff, so confine or closely monitor your puppy and try again in 5-10 minutes. Write the details on the schedule – “15:50 – nothing”
16:00 Run your puppy out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to pee. You waited 5 minutes and they just had a sniff, so you try again in 5-10 minutes. Write the details on the schedule – “16:05 – nothing”
16:15 Run your pup out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. This time they do toilet, and immediately after, reward them with 10 very small treats (just to reinforce that going outside after two unsuccessful trips is good), one after the other. It’s raining so you head back indoors rather than having a puppy party. Write the details on the schedule – “16:20 – pee”
18:00 Your puppy has been sleeping for a few hours and has just woken up. Get your puppy out of the crate, pick them up and take them to their outside toilet area, collecting the treats on the way. Put your puppy on the grass, and wait for them to pee. You waited 5 minutes, they just had a sniff, try again in 5-10 minutes. Write the details on the schedule – “18:05 – nothing”
18:15 Your puppy has just had dinner. When they're finished, run them out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. Wait for them to poo, bearing in mind that this might take up to 15 minutes. This time they have a poo, then a pee. Reward them with 10 very small treats, one after the other. Puppy party! Write the details on the schedule – “18:20 – poo & pee”
19:30 Your puppy has just had the zoomies and also had water after their meal. Run them out to the toileting area, collecting the treats on the way. This time they have a pee. Reward them with 5 very small treats, one after the other. You're winding down for the night so this time you don’t have a puppy party. Write the details on the schedule – “19:25 – pee”
21:30 You were engrossed in something that you were watching on the TV and missed the next toileting break resulting in your puppy toileting in the house. You cleaned up with the enzymatic cleaner and set a reminder for 23:00 so it doesn’t happen again. Write the details on the schedule – “21:30 – peed in the house”
23:00 Bedtime. Your puppy has been chilling with a Kong. Pick them up as they're probably tired now and take them to the outside toilet area, collecting the treats on the way. Put the pup on the grass and wait for them to pee and poo. When they do, immediately after, reward them with 1 very small treat. Quietly return to the house and put them in the crate. Write the details on the schedule – “23:05 – pee & poo”
03:00 Your alarm goes off. Get your puppy out of the crate, pick them up and take them to their outside toilet area, collecting the treats on the way. Put the pup on the grass and wait for them to pee. When they do, immediately after, reward them with 1 very small treat. Quietly return to the house and put them in their crate. Write the details on the schedule – “03:00 – pee”
You’ve now got a schedule that you can work with and adapt as your puppy gets older.
Don’t forget to adapt the timing to your puppy; shorter intervals if your puppy is younger, longer intervals if your puppy is older.
Categories: Puppy Training Tips