Preventing mistakes
When toilet training your puppy preventing mistakes will help your puppy learn faster. Prevention will mean that the puppy will not know any different. It will become a habit for your puppy if they only ever go to the toilet in their toileting spot. Puppies should be taken out approximately every 2 hours to the designated area. Do not give your puppy the opportunely to toilet inside. This will require puppies to have consent supervision and can be a hard thing to do when you work. If puppies cannot be supervised they should be placed in a crate or a puppy safe playpen with a toileting area (puppy pads, fake grass etc). These things will aid in training.
How your puppy will learn
Toilet training needs to be a positive experience for your puppy. When your puppy toilets in the designated areas, praise highly. Give lots of treats and attention to your puppy when they toilet correctly. You can start to add cues such as ‘Wee Wee’ and praise with treats. Reinforce the cues by saying ‘Good Wee Wee’. You can choose any word for the cue that suits you.
If your puppy has an accident do not acknowledge your puppy! Clean up the mess and learn from the situation that led to the accident, avoid making the same mistake twice. Was the puppy in the other room unsupervised? Have you not taken the puppy out to the designated area? Does your puppy need to go to the toilet more frequently?
Never punish your puppy for toileting mistakes. This will make the puppies learn that they will get punish if they toilet in front of owners (in any experience). This will lead to dogs being unable to release themselves in the owner’s presents and will often look for hiding places to toilet (under beds, behind couches, in cupboards etc)
Holding on through the night
Make sure to take your puppy out right before bed time to the designated area. It is a good idea to take your puppy’s food and water away from them 2 hours before bedtime. This will help your puppy to hold on through the night as they will not feel the need to toilet. You may need to get up early in the beginning of toilet training to allow your pet to go to the toilet. Hello 5am…
Pee Pads
Pee Pads are absorbable mats. Pee Pads should be placed in EACH room of your house. In the beginning, your puppy will not go looking for the pads so there must be one in sight. Firstly, your puppy must understand that this is what these pads are used for. When you feel your puppy needs to toilet place them on the pad. Once they are finished, praise them highly. Once your puppy has learnt what Pee Pads are used for they can be SLOWLY moved into one area of the house. If the end goal is to teach your puppy to toilet outside then slowly move them outside until they are in the designated area. Very slowly phase the Pee Pads out. If the Pee Pads are moved too fast the puppy will have accidents.