Potty training a puppy is a complicated process but well worth it in the end. Now a days, many people are never home all day to take a puppy out to go to the bathroom in the designated area. A few different things can help with potty training a puppy.
- When picking a designated area, make sure it is an area in which the puppy is able to get to whenever they need to go. Although, when they are little, it is hard to leave them outside for more than a few minutes. Using grass or rocky areas for designated potty areas are often common. However, you cannot really pick up the grass and take it inside. Therefore, you can always get a large pan, that will fit the puppy in to choose and area, and fill it with either rock, Astroturf, Saud, or anything that they are allowed to potty on. Resulting in the puppy having the same substrate to potty on both inside and outside the house.
- Treating your puppy after they go to the bathroom in the correct area will help them realize that if they go potty in a certain place, mommy and daddy will give them a reward. But do not over treat the puppies or they will pork up.
- If for any reason the puppy has an accident on the floor, tell them “oops” or “uh-oh” and take them directly outside. Punishing a puppy too late after an accident, causes the puppy will not realize what they did wrong and think you are only being mean to them.
- Potty pads are another way to go. They have an odor in which it helps the puppy decide where to go, on the potty pad. So if the puppy is not crated when you leave and they cannot get outside, they will go potty somewhere that is acceptable for that time.
Since puppies cannot hold their bladder for very long yet, it may take a while to get them to only go potty outside. If you see your puppy next to the back door, let them out! They know that they have to potty outside and if you let them out, they will realize that if they sit there, you will let them go potty. If you ignore the puppy at the back door, they will find a place inside and potty on the floor. What I have done is when I am home, leave the door open so they can freely go in and out of the house so I do not need to watch them at all time. A crate is also useful in teaching a puppy how to hold their bladder. Remember, a puppy will not potty where it sleeps.
It will take a lot of patients and time. My older dog, it took him until he was about 8 months to finally stop potting on the carpet. While my two current puppies are potty trained now using these steps and 10 weeks.
