[mistyinca]

Training during the day.

I can’t stress enough, how important it is to successful potty training to take the time to actually train them. They will not train themselves, and it takes consistency and patience to be successful. If you can take extra time off work in those first few weeks you have your puppy, it will really help. I’m a stay at home mom, so I made a point to make sure that I never let Chloe out of my sight during those first several weeks. We had the whole family working on it. Someone had to watch her constantly. If she could not be watched, we put her in the crate.

Decide where you want to have potty be. We use outside on the grass. Sidebar: the whole idea with housebreaking is to get the dog to realize the house is his “den,” and that he does not want to soil his den. I have read that sometimes with pee pads, that it can be confusing to dogs because they often cannot tell the difference between a pad and the rug, and that it is telling them that it is okay to pee in the house. If you do use a pad, it is best to keep it away from eating, sleeping, or playing areas, but close enough to get to in a hurry.

Schedule.
During those first weeks, it will make life easier on you just to schedule potty breaks. Start with every 1/2 hour. Take her to the potty area (whether it is pad or outside), and have treats ready. Note: Chloe did not like pre-packaged treats. So we used tiny pieces of cooked meats; you MUST have a treat your puppy likes. We took Chloe on a leash outside to the grass. Say “go pee-pee” (or what you want to call it) When they go, praise and treat, and I mean get all excited and high pitch about it! Then say “go poop.” In these first weeks, they don’t know the difference, and they CAN poop every single time. They will poop several times a day. It will taper off eventually, but try and get poop out of them each time.

Watch.
Despite scheduling, your puppy WILL potty other times. This is where it becomes so important to WATCH your puppy like a hawk. Watch for the signs: stopping, circling, squatting. New puppies tend to pee when they are playing, so not only is it important to be on top of it, but it makes for some great opportunities to train them.

If you catch your puppy about to potty on the floor, startle him out of it, either with a sharp NO!, a clap of the hands, or a shake can (a few pennies in a soda can works). I found that the shake can was never where I could grab it fast enough, so the clap and NO! worked well for us. Then immediately take your puppy to the potty area.

Note: the idea is not necessarily to prevent that episode of pee pee or poop from happening, but to let them know that it is not acceptable to potty in that place. Chances are you won't be able to stop that instance of pottying from happening, but it is still essential to startle, stop, and redirect the puppy to condition him into knowing pottying there is not allowed.

...to be continued...