Your tiny puppy is cute as a button \u2026 and has a tiny bladder too! So it\u2019s likely your puppy will have accidents just about everywhere (maybe even while sitting on your lap) her first few days. But potty training doesn\u2019t have to be a frustrating part of bringing home a new puppy. So here\u2019s how to potty train a puppy, in two easy steps. <\/p>\n
This puppy potty training process is from Dog Scouts of America founder Lonnie Olson. Using her simple two-step method, you\u2019ll learn how to potty train a puppy \u2026 and this is one of the easiest ways to do it. <\/p>\n
The old adage by Ben Franklin, \u201cAn ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,\u201d still holds true to this day. Start by watching your puppy to help avoid indoor accidents.<\/p>\n
Puppies have small bladders. The younger they are, the more often they have to go. And puppies don\u2019t understand that it isn\u2019t okay to potty anywhere in your house. So it\u2019s up to you to keep a close eye on your puppy.<\/p>\n
When she\u2019s loose in your home, watch her. If she leaves the room, follow her. It\u2019s great to give her freedom to explore, but to keep her (and your home) safe, she should never be out of your sight. Being proactive can help you avoid that suspicious puppy silence that means she\u2019s doing something she shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Give your puppy a potty break every 20 minutes at first. Setting a cell phone timer is a great way to make sure she has these regular opportunities to pee and poop. As she gets older, you can extend the timing to a half hour, then slowly keep adding more time between potty breaks.<\/p>\n
A great rule of thumb is to give your puppy a potty break every time she \u2026<\/p>\n
This will create a pattern. It\u2019ll reduce accidents in the house because your puppy\u2019s getting plenty of potty opportunities. Remember, that as a puppy, her life is going to be: eat, potty, play, potty, sleep, potty \u2026 and repeat.<\/p>\n
By keeping her bladder empty, you can give her more freedom in the house without fear of accidents. If your puppy hasn\u2019t \u201demptied,\u201d it\u2019s best to keep her in her crate or X-pen between activities. <\/p>\n
But accidents will happen, so if she\u2019s exploring your home and has an accident, make a sharp noise like \u201chey!<\/strong>\u201d Then pick her up her up and take her outside, even if she\u2019s mid-potty. <\/p>\n The accident is your<\/strong> fault, not hers. Never<\/strong> spank or lecture your puppy after an accident, and don\u2019t show her the mess. She won\u2019t understand, and you\u2019ll only frighten her. These are normal<\/strong> bodily functions, so don\u2019t turn them into something scary.<\/p>\n Always go outside with your puppy. There are several reasons for this. You can see what your puppy\u2019s poop looks like, so you\u2019ll get an early warning of any digestive or other health issues. It\u2019s also a great idea to keep track of the times she pees and poops. And watching where she goes in your yard will also help you know if she\u2019s chosen her \u201cspot.\u201d<\/p>\n The other essential reason to accompany your puppy outside is so you can reward her for pottying outside! This is Step 2 of how to potty train a puppy \u2026 communication.<\/p>\n Communication is key with potty training your pup. As you two get to know each other, she\u2019s going to learn the words you\u2019re using and what they mean. <\/p>\n As she goes potty outside, use a clicker to mark the behavior, and as she finishes, immediately reward her with a treat. (The clicker is best, but you can also mark the behavior with a word like \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cgood\u201d). This will teach her that peeing or pooping outside is what you want \u2026and she\u2019s getting rewarded for it. The timing is important. Use the clicker while she\u2019s going, then give her the treat right as she\u2019s finishing peeing or pooping \u2013 as she stands up or starts to move away.<\/p>\n You can also start introducing some words that\u2019ll be useful later when you want to ask her to potty for you. As you give her the reward, you can say something like \u201cgood potty outside\u201d or if she poops, \u201cgood poop.\u201d <\/p>\n Treats and prizes are a great way to teach your puppy what you want, as well as clicking and \u201cgood potty\u201d words. By using these together, your pup will learn that she gets good stuff for going potty outside.<\/p>\n Quickly, she\u2019ll figure out she doesn\u2019t get a reward for going potty inside<\/strong> \u2026 but that outside, <\/strong>she gets a delicious treat. <\/p>\n Once your puppy understands that peeing or pooping outdoors is good, it\u2019s time to teach her how to let you know she needs to go out. Jingle bells by the door are a great way for her to tell you that it\u2019s time to go. <\/p>\n By training your dog with jingle bells, you\u2019re actually training her to train you.<\/p>\n Once she\u2019s doing this reliably, move on to the next stage \u2026 the same training but holding up the bells. Your puppy will probably catch on quickly and start pawing at the bells. Then you can move on to hanging the bells by the door. Every time you go out, have her paw the bells. <\/p>\n Those bells mean going outside to potty. Going outside to potty means a treat. And treats are what she wants! Within just a few days, your puppy will let you know when she has to go outside to go potty.<\/p>\n And the bells are really helpful for you, too. Chances are, you can be anywhere in the house, and hear those bells and know it\u2019s time<\/strong>. (If you stay somewhere else with your puppy, bring the bells as well, and give her a training refresh. The skills will transfer!)<\/p>\n With careful monitoring, communication and patience, you\u2019ll quickly have your puppy potty trained, with little frustration on your part, and fewer accidents. <\/p>\n ,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Your tiny puppy is cute as a button \u2026 and has a tiny bladder too! So it\u2019s likely your puppy will have accidents just about everywhere (maybe even while sitting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duuvk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Go Out With Your Puppy<\/h3>\n
Potty Training Step 2: Communication<\/h2>\n
When Your Puppy Needs To Go Out<\/h3>\n
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