The messy business of toilet training

Help! My puppy is peeing inside – and it’s messy!

Welcome to puppy world! It has its thrills and spills (literally). Puppies aren’t born magically knowing where to pee and poop anymore than human children are. So, we have to cut them some slack. And we need to take responsibility for teaching them what is appropriate.

There’s so much to be said about this but here’s 4 simple tips:

1) Build the desired habit by taking the puppy out to your preferred toileting area. When? After the puppy wakes up, after a drink or food, after indoor play, and before going to sleep. Take the pup out on a leash and give it 5 mins to do its business. Does that seem like a lot? 6-14 week old puppies may need to be taken outside 8-10 times daily (and that’s not including extra night time trips). Being consistent with these timings will make a huge difference in avoiding indoor messes.

2) Learn to recognise the early warning signs. If your puppy is circling and sniffing these can be tell tale signs that toileting is on its mind. Time to clip on the lead and move outdoors quickly and calmly.

3) Reinforce the right behaviours. When your puppy does the business outdoors, reward with a treat and lots of praise. This teaches them that doing this results in good things happening. After a few successes you can introduce your special words like “Go toilet”, “get busy” or whatever you’re comfortable with. The puppies can then get additional encouragement to do what needs to be done.

4) Ignore the wrong behaviours. If you discover a mess or even catch the puppy in the act of letting loose on the new carpet – it’s too late! Punishment or scolding will just teach the puppy to hide what it’s doing from you next time. Ask yourself – where did I foul up (get the pun?) Perhaps you missed the early warning signs or got loose on the toilet timing schedule. Either way, its not the puppy’s fault – they’re still learning.

Finally, toilet training often has its ups and downs and the good news is that puppies (and owners) usually get through it eventually. Puppy classes or a trainer can help with lots of information and help.