How to potty train a dog / puppy - peeing outside and at home on the diaper

The first big misunderstanding between you and your new four-legged friend can happen as soon as you bring the furry ball home. He pees once, twice, three times. You still close your eyes. The dog has to get settled first. However, you should not procrastinate with the potty training your dog. How to be successful?

By nature, dogs are clean and docile. If something goes wrong, it is usually due to poor communication and faulty training. It can also happen exceptionally that a dog will deliberately pee at home, for example, because you do not pay enough attention to him, or he is jealous.

When you bring a dog from the shelter, he will usually already be house-trained, so we focus mainly on small puppies. And just by the way, experienced breeders say that older dogs are easier to toilet train than small puppies. Above all, remember that a small puppy is similar to small children - they just need to be walked more often, because their sphincter muscles are not yet trained and they won't last that long.

The right moment to take your little dog outside to make a puddle is easy to spot. Take your dog for a walk as soon as he wakes up or eats, or if he has been playing for a long time. Walking intervals should be tailored to your dog, and the general recommendation may differ from your puppy's needs, so listen to them. In general, a three-month-old puppy should last about 3 hours without going outside. A healthy one-year-old dog should be able to manage the whole night without a puddle. Remember that a puppy will not learn perfect cleanliness in three months, but perhaps in one year. That's why don't scold him for some extra puddle, be patient, forgiving, but consistent. That's the only way to train your dog to do it right. Now let's see how to do it.

 

 

How to properly walk a puppy

In order for the puppy to get used to the fact that "potty" and "poop" are done outside, everything needs to be explained to him, with the help of praise. It's similar to any other training and command learning: we praise the dog a lot and reward him whenever he does something right that we want him to do. On the contrary, we avoid scolding and reprimanding for something that the puppy did and we only noticed it afterwards. A typical example is a puddle at home that we discover after returning from work. It is appropriate to ignore the dog, not to reprimand it, clean up the area, and take the dog out. There, on the other hand, we will praise him for the puddle on the lawn.

So if the puppy wakes up or eats, we take him outside and put him on the lawn. In places where there are scent marks from other dogs, it can be easier when the small dog's instincts to mark are awakened. As soon as the puppy makes a puddle or a poop, we immediately praise him loudly - it's not so much what we say, but how we say it that matters. We'll add a caress or a treat. If you catch a puppy relieving itself in front of you at home, you can reprimand it at this point by gently pulling it up by the skin behind its neck (which, by the way, is a corrective action of dog mothers).

 

How to definitely not punish a dog

So if we have a puppy at home and we are potty training him, we sometimes have to count on an extra puddle that we will have to clean up. In the past, various methods were used to teach a dog not to pee at home, but these are now outdated. They didn't work very well anyway. It should be emphasized once again that potty training a dog is primarily about learning the difference between what is desirable (he made a puddle outside, we praise him) and what is undesirable (he is caught, we scold him).

The following methods should be avoided:

• Dipping the muzzle in a puddle - you come home, discover a puddle, grab the dog, and dip its muzzle in it. Don't do that. This will only make the dog afraid of you, and this will damage your relationship. Broken trust is hard to rebuild.
• Punishment after coming home - other ex-post punishments are also not appropriate. The dog does not know at all what he is being punished for, so he may start shaking even when he hears you at the door. And you sure don't want that.
• Over the butt with a newspaper - the list of inappropriate punishments that do not lead to anything includes slapping with a twisted newspaper or sprinkling pepper where the dog has made a puddle.

Dog toilets

Se štěňátkem nemůžete být celé dny a občas musí být doma samo. V takovém případě vám přijde vhod záchod pro psy. Vyrobit si ho můžete doma, nebo si ho zakoupit ve specializovaných obchodech s doplňky pro psy. Nevýhodou ovšem je, že štěňátko si může snadno zvyknout na pohodlné čůrání doma.

You can't be with the puppy all day and sometimes it has to be home alone. In that case, a dog toilet comes in handy. You can make it at home or buy it in specialized dog accessory stores. However, the downside is that the puppy can easily get used to peeing comfortably at home.

• Newspaper - you have it right at hand, and if you see that the dog is about to go and you don't have time to take him outside, you can slide it under his butt in an emergency. You can use newspapers by putting them in the box and thus sending a signal to the dog - you've already peed here, you can do it here.
• Cat litter box - some breeders use cat litter boxes for dogs, which is not very practical. It is usually difficult for puppies to climb over the sides. In addition, such a toilet is usually lined with special litter and a puppy can easily eat it.
• Dog toilet - a new product on the market is a special portable dog toilets that simulate walking outside. The top layer is synthetic grass, which allows the urine to flow into the container. The advantage is easy cleaning and minimal smell. The dog toilet is suitable for puppies as well as for elderly and sick dogs.

How did you potty train your dogs?