Toilet training top tips
Discussion
For the first time ever, and having had 4 dogs over the last 25 years (all rescued / re homed so house trained) we’re are delving into the world of puppy...
I’ve read all there is on the subject, but would like some real life tips on the best way to get her house trained please.
(We already have a 3.5 yo castrated male Lagotto, if that makes a difference..?)
10 week old Boston Terrier inbound tomorrow night...
Cheers
I’ve read all there is on the subject, but would like some real life tips on the best way to get her house trained please.
(We already have a 3.5 yo castrated male Lagotto, if that makes a difference..?)
10 week old Boston Terrier inbound tomorrow night...
Cheers
We have a Standard Poodle pup arriving 20th Feb so ready to do it again.
Our current poodle is 6 yrs old so it's been a while. When we got her she was 9 weeks old. Toilet trained within 2 weeks with only a couple of accidents in those weeks.
Our method was - the pup slept in a cage. Supposedly there is an instinct not to foul the bed area. Every time she woke up she was taken straight out to the grass in the garden until she performed at which time she was praised.
When she was awake she was taken to the garden every time she had eaten and given time to perform and praised if she did. During the day when she was awake she was never left longer than an hour or two without being taken outside.
You'll need a neutralising spray to help remove any smell from any accidents the pup has or it will go again in the same place.
Regarding sleeping in the cage - the pup will find it strange being away from it's family and won't like it. We dealt with this by taking turns sleeping on the floor beside the cage. This also meant that any time the pup was awake during the night it could be taken to the garden for 5 minutes. I can't remember how long we kept up the floor sleeping. A few weeks anyway. We had arranged holidays for the arrival.
It's a lot of work in the first few weeks but pays off. Obviously every dog is different and we may just hsve been lucky but it worked for us.
Our current poodle is 6 yrs old so it's been a while. When we got her she was 9 weeks old. Toilet trained within 2 weeks with only a couple of accidents in those weeks.
Our method was - the pup slept in a cage. Supposedly there is an instinct not to foul the bed area. Every time she woke up she was taken straight out to the grass in the garden until she performed at which time she was praised.
When she was awake she was taken to the garden every time she had eaten and given time to perform and praised if she did. During the day when she was awake she was never left longer than an hour or two without being taken outside.
You'll need a neutralising spray to help remove any smell from any accidents the pup has or it will go again in the same place.
Regarding sleeping in the cage - the pup will find it strange being away from it's family and won't like it. We dealt with this by taking turns sleeping on the floor beside the cage. This also meant that any time the pup was awake during the night it could be taken to the garden for 5 minutes. I can't remember how long we kept up the floor sleeping. A few weeks anyway. We had arranged holidays for the arrival.
It's a lot of work in the first few weeks but pays off. Obviously every dog is different and we may just hsve been lucky but it worked for us.
h for toilet training, next time it'll be a spring/summer pup. Yes, what the others have said basically. EVERYTIME it wakes up, take it out, after EVERY meal take it out. Just generally take it outside a lot and reward when it goes outside. Harder in winter as its cold/dark more.
Do not punish it if it does make a mistake and goes in the house, at this stage they can't differentiate and won't understand why they are being punished, especially if it's a while after the event, i.e. you go out, and only find it when you come back. If you manage to catch it looking to go in the house take them out very quickly and praise and reward when it goes outside. We put a word to it as they go in the right place too. Later, if you need them to go, say because you have to rush out you can take them out and ask them to go which saves time.
Do not punish it if it does make a mistake and goes in the house, at this stage they can't differentiate and won't understand why they are being punished, especially if it's a while after the event, i.e. you go out, and only find it when you come back. If you manage to catch it looking to go in the house take them out very quickly and praise and reward when it goes outside. We put a word to it as they go in the right place too. Later, if you need them to go, say because you have to rush out you can take them out and ask them to go which saves time.
irc said:
We have a Standard Poodle pup arriving 20th Feb so ready to do it again.
Our current poodle is 6 yrs old so it's been a while. When we got her she was 9 weeks old. Toilet trained within 2 weeks with only a couple of accidents in those weeks.
Our method was - the pup slept in a cage. Supposedly there is an instinct not to foul the bed area. Every time she woke up she was taken straight out to the grass in the garden until she performed at which time she was praised.
When she was awake she was taken to the garden every time she had eaten and given time to perform and praised if she did. During the day when she was awake she was never left longer than an hour or two without being taken outside.
You'll need a neutralising spray to help remove any smell from any accidents the pup has or it will go again in the same place.
Regarding sleeping in the cage - the pup will find it strange being away from it's family and won't like it. We dealt with this by taking turns sleeping on the floor beside the cage. This also meant that any time the pup was awake during the night it could be taken to the garden for 5 minutes. I can't remember how long we kept up the floor sleeping. A few weeks anyway. We had arranged holidays for the arrival.
It's a lot of work in the first few weeks but pays off. Obviously every dog is different and we may just hsve been lucky but it worked for us.
CheersOur current poodle is 6 yrs old so it's been a while. When we got her she was 9 weeks old. Toilet trained within 2 weeks with only a couple of accidents in those weeks.
Our method was - the pup slept in a cage. Supposedly there is an instinct not to foul the bed area. Every time she woke up she was taken straight out to the grass in the garden until she performed at which time she was praised.
When she was awake she was taken to the garden every time she had eaten and given time to perform and praised if she did. During the day when she was awake she was never left longer than an hour or two without being taken outside.
You'll need a neutralising spray to help remove any smell from any accidents the pup has or it will go again in the same place.
Regarding sleeping in the cage - the pup will find it strange being away from it's family and won't like it. We dealt with this by taking turns sleeping on the floor beside the cage. This also meant that any time the pup was awake during the night it could be taken to the garden for 5 minutes. I can't remember how long we kept up the floor sleeping. A few weeks anyway. We had arranged holidays for the arrival.
It's a lot of work in the first few weeks but pays off. Obviously every dog is different and we may just hsve been lucky but it worked for us.
Not sure about sleeping on the floor- I know I’ll end up with 20kg of Italian fur lying on top of me!
Neutralising spray duly noted - although we have hard floors throughout which should help.
The breeder is giving us a new blanket that the pups mum has slept on so hopefully a bit of comfort for her in the cage.
Is it correct that they won’t / don’t like soiling their own cage?
Poodles are quite intelligent aren’t they?
Not sure about Bostons...
Good timing.
We've just got a French Bulldog puppy at 12 weeks old and we're 1 week into the toilet training.
As said above, it's all about consistency - praise when they go to the toilet outside with treats etc and taking them out every few hours so they can go about their business. Yes, there have been a lot of accidents and she is still going to the toilet in the night in the room she's kept in whilst we're asleep but it's getting better.
Good tip about the neutralising spray though - I didn't know about that so will get some.
It's a bit of a pain with it being winter though. Stood outside at 6am with my coffee, freezing my balls off whilst half asleep is not a good look!
We've just got a French Bulldog puppy at 12 weeks old and we're 1 week into the toilet training.
As said above, it's all about consistency - praise when they go to the toilet outside with treats etc and taking them out every few hours so they can go about their business. Yes, there have been a lot of accidents and she is still going to the toilet in the night in the room she's kept in whilst we're asleep but it's getting better.
Good tip about the neutralising spray though - I didn't know about that so will get some.
It's a bit of a pain with it being winter though. Stood outside at 6am with my coffee, freezing my balls off whilst half asleep is not a good look!
irc said:
We have a Standard Poodle pup arriving 20th Feb so ready to do it again.
Our current poodle is 6 yrs old so it's been a while. When we got her she was 9 weeks old. Toilet trained within 2 weeks with only a couple of accidents in those weeks.
Our method was - the pup slept in a cage. Supposedly there is an instinct not to foul the bed area. Every time she woke up she was taken straight out to the grass in the garden until she performed at which time she was praised.
When she was awake she was taken to the garden every time she had eaten and given time to perform and praised if she did. During the day when she was awake she was never left longer than an hour or two without being taken outside.
You'll need a neutralising spray to help remove any smell from any accidents the pup has or it will go again in the same place.
Regarding sleeping in the cage - the pup will find it strange being away from it's family and won't like it. We dealt with this by taking turns sleeping on the floor beside the cage. This also meant that any time the pup was awake during the night it could be taken to the garden for 5 minutes. I can't remember how long we kept up the floor sleeping. A few weeks anyway. We had arranged holidays for the arrival.
It's a lot of work in the first few weeks but pays off. Obviously every dog is different and we may just hsve been lucky but it worked for us.
This is very similar to what we did with our working cocker a few months ago and it worked very well.Our current poodle is 6 yrs old so it's been a while. When we got her she was 9 weeks old. Toilet trained within 2 weeks with only a couple of accidents in those weeks.
Our method was - the pup slept in a cage. Supposedly there is an instinct not to foul the bed area. Every time she woke up she was taken straight out to the grass in the garden until she performed at which time she was praised.
When she was awake she was taken to the garden every time she had eaten and given time to perform and praised if she did. During the day when she was awake she was never left longer than an hour or two without being taken outside.
You'll need a neutralising spray to help remove any smell from any accidents the pup has or it will go again in the same place.
Regarding sleeping in the cage - the pup will find it strange being away from it's family and won't like it. We dealt with this by taking turns sleeping on the floor beside the cage. This also meant that any time the pup was awake during the night it could be taken to the garden for 5 minutes. I can't remember how long we kept up the floor sleeping. A few weeks anyway. We had arranged holidays for the arrival.
It's a lot of work in the first few weeks but pays off. Obviously every dog is different and we may just hsve been lucky but it worked for us.
The only difference was that we didn't sleep near the cage. As soon as she came home we put her in the cage and left the room until she stopped crying and was quiet. We then left her in there longer and longer until she seemed comfortable that we would be coming back. We also never rewarded her when she came out of the cage. The first night we had a few minutes of crying and she has been fine ever since. She loves her cage as her sanctuary now.
I'm so glad we toilet trained in the summer, it must be freezing in winter. You soon get used to her signals that she needs to go and then it is outside ASAP and lots of praise.
we got a labradoodle puppy at 12 weeks.
she's 7 months old now and zero accidents.
probably took 1 month of training. she'd occasionally have a little slip up during weeks 2 and 3, but nothing major
we did have her sleep in her crate until she was toilet trained as she wouldn't have accidents overnight.
we'd go to bed around 10:30pm, then get up at 3am to let her out and then back to bed, then up at 7am
just lots of praise when going out and as per others take them out regularly (after food and every 2hrs max).
she's 7 months old now and zero accidents.
probably took 1 month of training. she'd occasionally have a little slip up during weeks 2 and 3, but nothing major
we did have her sleep in her crate until she was toilet trained as she wouldn't have accidents overnight.
we'd go to bed around 10:30pm, then get up at 3am to let her out and then back to bed, then up at 7am
just lots of praise when going out and as per others take them out regularly (after food and every 2hrs max).
Nezquick said:
MellowshipSlinky said:
Gorgeous
What’s she called?
Not sure if you meant me - but if so, she's called Stella. What’s she called?
This is the first dog we've had together and we're both just loving it - she's an absolute beauty. Her personality has really started shining through.
That was on our shortlist for names, and we still haven’t decided yet.
MellowshipSlinky said:
Nezquick said:
MellowshipSlinky said:
Gorgeous
What’s she called?
Not sure if you meant me - but if so, she's called Stella. What’s she called?
This is the first dog we've had together and we're both just loving it - she's an absolute beauty. Her personality has really started shining through.
That was on our shortlist for names, and we still haven’t decided yet.
Keep us updated.
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