Toilet Training

Basic Dog Training

From puppy basic obedience commands to advanced tricks, dog training is not only a rewarding and engaging experience for you but for your dog also.

Just as every new baby comes into a home; it is shown how to behave properly, so must a puppy/dog be trained. Everyone in the household is better off if a puppy/dog conforms to the behaviour expected of it. By nature, a puppy or dog wants to please you. However, if it doesn’t know what’s expected from it? Also how can your puppy/dog possibly behave unless you put in the time training your puppy/dog?

Some puppies/dogs learn by using its natural instincts, for example, a sled dog was born to pull, and you use that natural instinct by working it pulling a sled. Other breeds have a high prey drive, so by using its natural instinct you harness a greyhound to chase a stuffed toy around a racing track.

There are a number of dog-training methods available for teaching your dog these commands, but we recommend positive reinforcement as the best method. Positive reinforcement rewards wanted behaviour rather than punishing unwanted behaviour. This method of training makes learning more enjoyable for your dog, and will help to strengthen the bond between you and your pet.

During your dog’s lifetime you may decide to teach it to carry out all manner of impressive tricks and tasks. Those are optional. However, the following training should be considered as absolutely essential for every dog owner. Also visitors will be happy not to have to endure a poorly behaved pooch rampaging through the house! Let’s start with the basics.

Toilet Training
If your dog spends any time indoors, toilet training is an essential requirement for obvious reasons! Toilet training is often a period of trial and error for everyone involved. However if you are patient and consistent with using the proper technique then the outcome will be a success.

Start when your new puppy/dog first arrives at it’s new, be aware however that a young puppy probably won’t yet have sufficient bowel and bladder control, so be very patient with it. Also for an adult dog may well need to be retrained regarding different circumstances, then the training period is likely to take much longer.

When you begin start by confining the puppy to a single room of your home, rather than offering it the run of the house. You can use a long lead, even a crate to restrict the size of area in your home your puppy/dog has access to, and then every 30 mins to an hour take your new puppy/dog outside and encourage it to go potty. As your puppy/dog begins to learn that ‘business’ is to be conducted outside, then you can gradually expand the area that it’s allowed to roam within the home.

Here are a few tips for effective toilet training:

Regular mealtimes. Keep your puppy on a regular feeding schedule during toilet training. This means no snacking between meals! If it’s not mealtime, food shouldn’t be available to the dog.
Offer regular potty opportunities. Give your pup/dog plenty of chances to take care of its toilet business outside. Take you puppy/dog outside first thing every morning, and then regular intervals throughout the day, as mentioned before every 30 to 60 minute. Also every time your puppy/dog wakes from its sleep, immediately take it outside to potty.
Familiarity breeds comfort, if you take your dog to the same spot outside every time, then your puppy/dog will recognise its own scent and will be more readily do its business.
Stay out with your dog, if you don’t then how do you know it’s been to the toilet? Don’t just turn the puppy/dog out in the garden by itself!
Make sure that you really praise your puppy/dogs success! When your dog does go to toilet, praise it! You can offer a treat, or something the puppy/dog really enjoys, like a walk or playing a game.

Toilet training your puppy should be a very a simple process, as long as you take the time and trouble to get into a good routine, if you don’t and your puppy/dog makes a mistake, then look at yourself and see if you did anything wrong, like changed your regular routine.

Initially, you will have to build your routine around your puppy's needs, and this is relatively predictable when they are very young. Puppies need to urinate immediately after waking up, so you need to be there to take your puppy straight into the garden without any delay.

Eating a meal stimulates the pups/dogs digestive system, and as puppies normally urinate within fifteen minutes of eating, and defecate within half an hour of eating (although this might vary slightly with each individual).

Puppies have very poor bladder control, and need to urinate at least every hour or two. They can urinate spontaneously when they get excited, so take your puppy out frequently if it has been active, playing or exploring. The bigger the breed the longer it can take to control its bladder. As mentioned before, be patient.

You may find it useful to keep a record of when your puppy/dog eats sleeps, urinates and defecates. A simple diary list will help to work out a regular time schedule that works for your puppy/dog. By using the same words like 'wee wees' and 'poo poos' ect, while the puppy/dog is actually urinating or defecating will actually help throughout your dogs lifetime. However, please use different words for each action so that you will be able to prompt the puppy/dog identify what you expect of it.

Always go with your puppy into the garden so you are there to reward immediately and say the cue words to the successful actions! Thankfully, puppies are creatures of habit, so as long as you introduce the garden to your puppy as its toilet area early on, you should be able to avoid most of the common pitfalls.

How to toilet train your puppy: most common errors
Unfortunately there are many reasons why 'toilet training' might not go as smoothly as it could, so make sure you do not make any of the following mistakes:

Over-feeding.
Not feeding at regular times, remember to stick to a schedule. This can cause overnight defecation.
Feeding an unsuitable diet or giving a variety of foods, your pup/dog may have a sensitive stomach.
Don’t punish your puppy/dog for its indoor accidents which can make it scared of toileting in front of you - even outside. Accidents happen!
Don’t feed salty foods e.g. stock from cubes, this will only make them thirsty and drink more.
Using ammonia based cleaning compounds which smell similar to urine that will encourage them to repeatedly toilet inside.
Leaving a puppy/dog alone in the garden, so you are not there to reward it for going outdoors, just how is it meant to learn that it is more popular and advantageous going outdoors, if you’re not there to show your approval?
Expecting the puppy/dog to tell you when it needs to go out. Don’t be unrealistic, it’s far better to take them out at regular intervals.
Leaving the back door open for the puppy to come and go as it pleases will allow the puppy will think that the garden is an adventure playground, rather than a toilet area. Also, what is a puppy meant to do when the weather gets cold, and it is faced with a closed back door?
Don’t think about leaving the puppy on its own too long, it’ll be forced to go indoors. That can only set a bad precedent, to the point of a bad habit of going indoors.
Don’t be lazy, you must all do your part, in toilet training, otherwise they’ll be more wees indoors than outdoors.
Misguidedly using the words 'good girl' or 'good boy' when they toilet, as opposed to the specific cue words. Guess what could happen the next time you praise your dog?
Lift up all rugs or carpet; they are not puppy pads, which are nice and absorbent, just like grass.
Leaving a puppy/dog alone in the garden, so you are not there to reward it for going outdoors, just how is it meant to learn that it is more popular and advantageous going outdoors, if you’re not there to show your approval?
Submissive or excited urination can often happen when your puppy/dog greets you or a visitor, if this occurs, take your puppy/dog straight outside before you greet it and tone down your greeting so it is less exciting or overwhelming.
It is unfair to expect your puppy to go right through the night when it is very young, so be prepared to set your alarm throughout the night during house training.
Why not try putting your puppy/dog in puppy in a crate or puppy pen this can help with house training but you should let it out in the garden to relieve itself during the night. So yet again don’t forget to set your alarm, for those early hour toilet breaks they need.

How to teach your puppy/dog to toilet out on a walk
Many owners appear to be disappointed that their young puppy or dog won’t toilet when out on a walk, yet it will relieve itself the second it gets back home. This is just because the puppy has been taught to toilet only at home, by this point I hope its garden and not in the home, and because they are creatures of habit, they often will wait until they have returned home before evacuating their bladder and/ or bowels. This on day trips is not healthy for your puppy or dog to do.

So to break this habit, you will have to get up very early one morning, on a day that you have plenty of time, and get your puppy/dog out on a walk before it has had its morning toilet time. You should then not bring it home until it has been forced to go out of the home because of desperation. If however, you are unsuccessful, and your puppy has not toileted, then take it immediately into the garden on your return, or you risk it relieving itself indoors.