How to Toilet Train a Puppy

Toilet Train a Puppy – House Training Guide

House training can seem a daunting (and smelly) task, but commit to positive and consistent training and you will have it cracked in no time! Here’s our best tried and tested tips on how to toilet train a puppy for life with positive reinforcement.

What to Do

To toilet train a puppy, decide on where you want them to eliminate before you even bring them home. A garden or suitably safe outside space is ideal. If you live in a flat or going outside every 30 minutes isn’t practical, puppy training pads can be useful. However, using pads delays the training as they have to learn the skill twice. First on the pad and then to actually go outside. It’s easier and more effective in the long term to start taking them outside from day one. If you have a large garden, corner off a designated toileting area. Your pup is less likely to get distracted if they always go to the same spot and can’t access other areas.

As soon as you bring your new puppy home, take them to their new designated toileting area. If they have been in the car or traveled to get to their new home they will probably need to go soon. If they do go outside, give them lots of praise and a treat reward immediately. From this point onward, you will need to bring them to their toileting area (garden or pads inside if necessary) every 30 minutes whilst they are awake. Encourage them to go by saying ‘wee wee’s’ or another word. You can chose any word or phrase you feel comfortable with, just make sure you always use the same word. Keep saying your toileting phrase as they are eliminating. As soon as they finish, give them a tasty treat and give them lots of fuss and praise.

Your puppy is most likely to need to eliminate when they first wake up and after eating or drinking. They may also need to go after play or training sessions. Get into the habit of taking them out at these times. It is your responsibility to take them to their toileting area, not their responsibility to remind you! Behavior that shows that your puppy may need to go include sniffing around in one spot and walking in small circles. If you spot these signs, lead your puppy to their toileting area immediately.

What not to do

It is inevitable that your puppy will have accident’s inside whilst they are still training. Try not to worry or get too frustrated. Don’t scold or hit your puppy if they go inside. If you catch them urinating inside, ignore it but take a mental note of the context. Was your puppy over-excited and distracted? Have they been outside recently? We cannot expect young puppies to ‘ask us’ to take them out. They just don’t have the bladder or bowel control, similar to a baby still in nappies. Don’t worry if you take your pup outside and then they back inside and immediately eliminate. Whilst frustrating, this is very common. Keep going and keep the faith- you will get there!

Accidents

As and when your puppy does have accident’s inside, lead them into another room or area whilst you clean up. Some can get very excited by the cleaning up process! When cleaning, use paper towel to absorb the worst of the urine and clean the area with an enzyme based cleaner. If they’ve had an accident on a blanket, toy or other object then put it it in a boil wash. Use poo bags or paper towel to pick up ‘number 2’ accidents then deep clean or boil wash as appropriate. You puppy is more likely to go in areas they have gone before so its important to get rid off any lingering smell. Thick, fluffy rugs often feel nice for pups to go on and can be difficult to clean thoroughly enough to get rid of the smell.

How to Toilet Train a Puppy at night

For the first few weeks after you’ve bought your puppy home, they will need to eliminate during the night. Your pup will crack toilet training much quicker if you are proactive and prepared. So let them out to go before they settle down for the evening and let them out again when you go to bed. Set two alarms- one for about 2 hours after you go to bed and another one for 3 hours later. When your alarm goes off, quietly and calmly go to your puppy and lead or carry them to their designated toileting area. Encourage them to go with your chosen cue and be prepared to wait up to 10 minutes for them to go.

Whether or not they go, take your puppy back to their sleeping area. Repeat at the next alarm. This makes it much less likely they will go eliminate in their own bed. Puppies and adult dogs do not want to mess in their own sleeping areas, but they will do if they don’t have a choice. By trying to prevent them having accidents, they are less likely to bark or cry in the night to be let out too. Most puppies can sleep through the night without needing the toilet from between 10-14 weeks.

Expectations

To toilet train a puppy, the biggest skill you need as an owner is patience. House training often takes longer than we may expect or hope. With consistent, positive training, most pups should be fully toilet trained between four and six months old. If your puppy was raised in kennels, on a working farm or another outside dwelling, they will probably take longer to toilet train than pups reared inside. Very small breeds of dogs often take longer to house train too. Be prepared for accidents to happen often in the early days.

How to Toilet Train a Puppy when you work full-time

To ensure your puppy succeeds at toilet training, someone needs to take them outside every half an hour until they are at least 16 weeks old. If you work outside of the home full-time, you will need someone else to come in and check on them. You can ask a trusted family member to do this or a professional. Our puppy pop-in service was designed for this exact need. Between 16 and 24 weeks your pup should be able to hold their bladder for longer periods and having less accidents. However they will still need letting out regularly, every 1 to 2 hours. From six months onward, your pup should be able to hold it for 2-3 hours. Puppies and adult dogs of any age should never be left for more than 5-6 hours at a time without toilet breaks.

Trouble Shooting

If your puppy is still regularly having toileting accidents inside, there may be several reasons. Firstly, consider honestly whether you have been taking them out as regularly as they need to be. It is easy to get complacent when our puppies have mostly got the hang of it. Persevere with regular toilet outings. Check your timing- are you rewarding soon enough? Feed as soon as they have finished going. So bring the treats outside with you and try keeping a pack by the back door to remind yourself. If you been consistent with your outings, rewards and timing, it’s worth having your pup checked over by the vet’s. Urinary tract infection’s are common and can delay toilet training.

Taking Toileting on the Road

When you first start taking your puppy for walks, you may notice that they don’t eliminate until you’re back home. To encourage your pup to do their business on the street, you’ll need to get them up and out for a walk before their first walk one morning. Encourage them to go verbally and reward heavily when they do. Most pups will need to relieve themselves soon enough but be prepared to wait them out. For a video guide on house training, check out Kikopup on youtube.

A Skill for Life

If your puppy is going to be a working, sport or service dog when they grow up, it is vital they have toileting on command. It’s also a useful skill for pet dogs to have. Follow the steps described above to completion. Once your puppy is reliably toilet trained and not having any accidents at home, you can begin transitioning your verbal encouragement to eliminate into a verbal cue. This process should not be started before your puppy is at least six months old.

To begin, take your puppy out to their designated toileting area. It is easiest to use the same word or phrase you were using to start with e.g. ‘wee wees’ or ‘poo poos’. Make sure to use separate words for bladder and bowel elimination. Just as they go to squat down, say ‘wee wees’ or your given word immediately. Then mark or click and reward them once they have finished doing their business. Practice this step several times. After many repetitions and sessions, you can begin to say your cue a fraction of a second earlier until there is a clear break between you saying the cue and then your puppy toileting. With practice, you will be able to ask your puppy to eliminate in a variety of environments.

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