'Go For A Wee Wee' (Dog Training Techniques)

Member Name: daylelisahall

Product:	Dog Training Techniques
Date:	02/01/07 (630 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: proper toilet training will be remembered for life, clean carpets

Disadvantages: mess to clean up for 1st few weeks, interupted sleep to begin with

As people who had read my other reviews will know, I love my animals and have two Border Collies. I got both my dogs from puppies and a very important part of their early life is to get them toilet trained. In this review, I will explain how I do this.

If you get your puppy from a young age (6 weeks upwards) there is no excuse for bad habits to develop over his lifetime. When puppies are that young, they learn extremely quickly. If you use proper training methods, gentle but consistent, he will learn this behaviour very early on and will remember it for life.

Toilet training your puppy and teaching it where the right and wrong place is to go to the toilet requires a few basic house rules from the beginning. Accidents can and will happen and may still occur as the puppy is learning where to go. The main key to toilet training is watching - both your puppy and the clock, your puppy should be taken out to the garden AT LEAST once every hour (more if you wish) to see if he needs the loo. Puppies need to go out a lot more often than adult dogs, mainly because they are growing so fast, they need lots of water and are being fed 3-4 times a day so obviously they will need the toilet more.

WHEN WILL MY PUPPY WANT TO GO TO THE TOILET?
Puppies have a strong urge to go to the toilet after sleeping, playing, feeding and drinking. Their urge is strongest usually within 30 minutes of each activity. Be prepared for this! Most puppies need to go to the loo at least every 3-4 hours, (sometimes more) but with every month your puppy grows older its bladder control gets stronger. Try and take your puppy outside once an hour and use the command 'go for a wee'. Wait for 5-10 minutes in the garden with your puppy and if they go to the loo, praise them! Be almost over the top with your behaviour, a young puppy is very easily excited and will appreciate a happy smiling face and lots of loud praise when he has done something good. You can even give them a treat to encourage this good behaviour but remember you will not be able to do this for the rest of their life. You must stop giving them treats once your puppy is fully trained as you don't want to make your dog fat with treats.

Your puppy will associate the praise / treat with going to the toilet in the right place and will very quickly begin to learn that it will be rewarded with praise every time it goes to the loo in the right place.

NEWSPAPER
Many people like to put newspaper down to ensure that carpets or flooring are not ruined. Personally I do not like this method as sometimes the puppy can associate the newspaper with going to the toilet and this can lead to problems later. We had a family friend who used this method and her puppy would always go to the toilet on the newspaper, assuming this was the correct place and it took a long while to teach it otherwise. Saying that, I know other people that have used newspaper on the floor and have not had any problems with their puppies associating the newspaper with a place to go to the toilet. As long as you watch your puppy constantly, you should only have a few accidents which you will be able to clean up straight away so I don't really feel the need to put newspaper down.

CRATE METHOD
Many owners choose to use the crate method when toilet training their puppy. For those of you that don't know, a crate is basically a small cage with a lockable door. These crates vary in size and obviously you pick a size suitable to that of your dog. If you puppy sees its crate as its bed, then it is far less likely to create a mess in there. You puppy should be kept in its crate overnight and this should prevent it from messing. You puppy should be taken outside before it is put to bed, and taken out to the garden for a wee first thing in the morning when let out of his crate. When your puppy is very young, for example six weeks old, it is a good idea to get up once, maybe twice throughout the night to let your puppy into the garden for a wee. It is unfair to leave you puppy for 8 hours and not expect it to mess in the crate. It will be locked in the crate and will have nowhere else to go to the loo, so will end up messing in its bed and this again can lead to problems. For the 1st few weeks, I would advise getting up once or twice a night to let your puppy out for a wee, and of course always praise them when they go. As times goes by, you will be able to leave the gaps between toilet sessions for longer until your puppy is fully trained. This is the method I used with my two dogs, and it worked perfectly.

If however, you do not have a crate or do not wish to use that method, there are a few other hints to help to toilet train you pup. Again, you will need to get up a couple of times in the night to let your puppy out for a wee (while your dog is very young). I think it is a good idea to leave your dog in just one room overnight. This is because, if you give your puppy the run of the house, it could wee anywhere and you might not necessarily notice as it could dry before you realise what your puppy has done. At least with one room, you can check the floor easily to see if your toilet training is working.

SIGNS MY PUPPY MY NEED THE TOILET
The signs a puppy may show when needing the bathroom include; circling, squatting, whimpering, sniffing the floor, sneaking off and heading for the door, or sitting in front of the door and looking at you. The puppy must be taken outside immediately to go to the toilet. If you're not quick enough, and your puppy begins to wee, the puppy should still be taken outside to finish what it started and slowly it will begin to realise it needs to go outside when it needs the toilet.

PUNISHMENT
A common mistake that people make is punishing their puppy when it goes to the toilet in the house. This should NEVER be done. The puppy will not associate being told off with going to the toilet in the house. It is more likely that it will associate the punishment with going to the loo in front of the owner and this will definitely lead to problems as your dog will then be reluctant to go to the toilet in front of you again, even when you take him to the garden. If your puppy has peed in the house without you noticing, there is absolutely no point dragging the puppy back to that spot and asking what it has done. It could have gone to the toilet hours before and will not understand why you are angry with it. It is too late by this point; the puppy will not associate the behaviour with the punishment.

WHAT DO I DO IF I CATCH MY PUPPY GOING TO THE LOO IN THE HOUSE?
If you catch your puppy squatting in the house, stop him by making a loud noise (clap your hands, slap a wall or table etc.) and immediately take your puppy (happily) outside to the desired area and encourage him to finish. Once he has finished provide him with lots of praise/treats. If after 5-10 minutes your puppy has not gone to the toilet, take him into the house and put him in his crate for about 30 minutes and then take him out again. If he goes, reward and play for a few minutes. If he doesn't, back to the crate for another half hour and repeat the process. Again, if you are not using the crate method then ensure you keep a close eye on your puppy once he is back inside the house. Keep popping back outside with him and use the command 'go for a wee' and once he does praise, praise, praise!!
If you have popped out to the shops for a while and return to your puppy, it is quite likely that your puppy will be extremely pleased to see you and may begin to pee. Simply pick your puppy up, or encourage him into the garden and use the command 'go for a wee'. Again, praise him once he has and then you can continue the fusses.

HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE TO TOILET TRAIN MY PUP?
Each puppy will vary greatly in the length of time it takes them to become reliably house trained. If you have one that is slow in learning, you'll need to be more patient until he gets the idea. I was fairly lucky with both my dogs and within 2-3 weeks, they were both fully trained, although my youngest dog, Dax did have the occasional mishap where I got too complacent with thinking he was housetrained and did not take him to the garden as often as I should have

CONSISTENCY
The most important this for you and your puppy is that you are consistent in your training. If you take your dog out once an hour throughout the day, then you must continue this routine until your puppy is fully trained and is not having any accidents at all. It is very easy to think that you are making progress, only to break the routine and find that you dog begins to mess it the house again.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Well worth training your puppy as training will be remembered for life.