You should start training your puppy as soon as you can and don’t be surprised if you have a few accidents to begin with. You should start to train your puppy as soon as you get him/her.
As your puppy will relieve him/herself frequently, you will probably have a few accidents to begin with, but you should never punish the puppy as this could cause submissive urination when you told he/she off. Most of the success can depend upon how well you can judge when your puppy needs to go to the toilet.
The common times are after playing, when your dog gets excited, after walking, and after eating. Some dogs circle around the floor and sniff the floor before they go to the toilet. However, before you start to house train your puppy, you should decide if you are going to paper or house train him/her.
If you are at home most of the time and access to outside is easy, house training will be easier for you as you will be able to take your puppy outside after every meal, whenever he/she has woken up you will be able to let him/her out, or if he/she hasn’t urinated for some time let your puppy out and give him/her the opportunity to do so, and if you recognise any signs that your puppy needs to go to the toilet let him/her out.
After a few weeks you will recognise what your dog does to let you know he/she needs to be let out, e.g. he/she may run around in circles next to the door that they know they go to go to the toilet. Dogs vary on what they do to let you know when they need to be let out for the toilet, so you just need to study your puppy until you realise what he/she does to let you know. If you decide paper training your puppy will be easier, e.g. if you live in a flat or if you are out all day, this is probably the easiest option for you. It also makes good back up for house training as you are bound to have a few accidents along the way.
The aim of paper training is to teach your puppy to relieve him/herself on the newspaper which you eventually place outside. It is a fairly easy process, confine your puppy to an easily cleaned room and cover the floor in newspaper. When you notice your puppy developing a preference to one area of the room, remove the rest of the paper but leave it in the spot your puppy liked. You can then gradually move the paper towards the door. On a nice day, place the place the paper outside, the next day remove it altogether.
Hopefully the puppy will now relieve itself outside. However, you should look for the tell-tale signs of your puppy looking for the paper next to the door, should you notice this let your puppy out.
At such a time when your puppy doesn’t go to the toilet as frequently and you can be sure of the times your puppy need to go outside, you can progress to full house training. Some dogs don’t like the feeling of paper under their feet, usually those who circle when they need the toilet, in this case you should progress straight to house training your puppy.
I think there is so much to learn from your article here and i think it will really help me out next time when I will train
my pup!!!
Hi,
We have our puppy for about 2 weeks now he is a Boston terrier and yes because we didn’t know that by hitting him we are actually causing damage we thought we were doing the right thing. We live in a flat and work during the day, I have put newspapers on the floor all over so that he doesn’t mess on the floor but he still does even though sometimes he actually managers to go on the paper……I think he is just being naughty….hehe……he also does not use one area he does it everywhere and anywhere.
Please help us with any advice on how we can solve his messing on the floor as we don’t want to keep giving him one on the bum….as I believe that they are quite clever dogs and we love him to bits….
I was told about some green carpet that actually works but am not aware on how to get one or even what it is all about, it was her say that I heard….
Please help…..
Belinda, i personally think that any puppy should not be left all day whilst you are at work. You should try to come home at lunch times and walk him, this means he will learn to try to hold it till walk time. Puppies cant be expected to hold it for 8 hours. i have had my puppy 2 days and he has already learnt how to use the paper and even holds his poos till his lunch time walkies. Old dogs are able to hold it for longer as there bladders are larger and they learn how long till walk time. Yea he might be being naughty as well but i dont blame him hes probably bored!