How to toilet train a puppy in 5 steps?

How to toilet train a puppy in 5 steps?

When considering how to toilet train a puppy it's important that you follow these steps:

• During the day, take your puppy out to your designated toilet area as soon as they wake up and after eating or drinking. Also take them out every hour or so.

  
  

• Be prepared to wait for a while - toilet training takes patience and puppies are easily distracted.

  
  

• Once they've been to the toilet, reward them with a treat and plenty of praise. The more opportunities you get to reward them when they get it right, the faster your toilet training will be.

  
  

• Give them lots of opportunities to go to the toilet in the right place.

  
  

• Never punish your puppy for accidents - it's not their fault that their needs haven't been anticipated. Any punishment will slow progress and also damage the relationship you are trying to build with your dog, so keep toilet training positive.

The importance of a toilet area

When thinking about the best way to toilet train a puppy, you ideally want to separate the 'play' part of your puppy proofed garden and the 'toilet' part. You can do this by fencing-off an area and always using that as the toilet. This makes it look and smell different to the rest of the garden, so your puppy can learn to recognise it and use it in preference to other parts of the garden.

Most puppies like to go somewhere natural rather than concrete or paving, and grass (or possibly bark chippings) is ideal.

An important part of toilet training a puppy is to keep their toilet area clean by clearing up every day. While the smell of the toilet area will encourage them to use that space, leftover mess can put them off, and they may look for other areas to do their business. No one likes a dirty toilet!

Do be patient with puppy toilet training

Once you've established a toilet area, take your puppy there routinely to let them use it and always then reward them with a treat. If they sniff around but don't do anything, be patient… you might have to wait for a little while. If they still don't go, bring them back inside and watch them carefully for their first five minutes. Take them outside again if you spot any warning signs of needing to go.

Do add in a cue word

It's a good idea when puppy toilet training to introduce an accompanying cue word like 'busy' or 'hurry' as they are going to the toilet so you can use this word later to encourage them to go if you are in a new place.

Don't forget the rewards

Always, always reward successes. The more opportunities you get to reward your puppy for toileting in the right place, the faster your toilet training will be. This does mean that you have to go with your puppy every time (no matter what time it is or whatever the weather!) so you can see that they've been to the toilet and you can reward them immediately - so they know exactly what it is they have done right.

Do be consistent

For the first couple of weeks when house training a puppy, it's your mission to take them out to go to the toilet as soon as they wake up, after they've had something to eat or drink, and every half hour while they're playing. You always have to have your eye on them as well so you can spot their own tell-tale signals of needing to go.

Remember to reward them each time they get it right - and use the cue word when they are in the act so you link it to the behaviour.