Puppy toilet training tips

Puppy toilet training should begin as soon as you get them home.

Newspaper training

• Place  newspaper on the kitchen floor, and after each meal pick him/her up and put them on the newspaper. If he urinates or defaecates on the paper reward him with attention such as “good boy!” and give him a little treat with one of his puppy biscuits.  Do this after each meal and he will soon learn that he is praised and receives a treat each time he does this.
• If you come in and find that he hasn’t used the newspaper, do not tell him off, just ignore him for a few minutes. Being ignored is the best way of disciplining a puppy, as he really wants your attention.
• Once he starts using the newspaper regularly, reduce the amount of paper put down and move it near to the back door.
• When he is using this newspaper regularly, put some lightly soiled newspaper outside the back door and start placing him on this after each meal.
• Once he has the hang of this remove the newspaper and start placing him further into the garden after each meal. It can help to put him on different surfaces so that he doesn’t develop a preference for doing it only on one surface. try concrete surfaces, grassed areas, areas with and without trees.
• Finally you can start to vary the routines and vocal cues, so that he doesn’t become too habitual. This can help avoid problems in the future if his circumstances are changed, such as if an unfamiliar person is caring for them.

Crate training

Your puppy is introduced to a plastic crate or cage, by being fed in it, having toys thrown into it and eventually being closed in for short periods.

• The crate should be large enough to turn around in, but should not be too large or your puppy may rest at one end and toilet in the other end.
• After a few days you should be able to keep your puppy in the crate for a few hours.
• You can work out the length of time between toileting for your puppy by using the number of months age, plus one if a small breed, or plus 2 if a large breed. Thus a 2 month old labrador can wait 4 hrs, but a 2 month old pekinese 3 hours.
• The puppy should be taken outside to eliminate  and should be praised and then given a treat if it does so. It should also be taken outside after each play session and meal, but should be kept in the crate at all other times.