Toilet Training Your Puppy

In the first few weeks, your puppy may not be able to hold themselves for much more than an hour.  As they mature they can start to hold themselves for longer. However, in the early stages, leaving them unattended or unsupervised for much longer than an hour is likely to lead to accidents. 

If your puppy is toileting very frequently it is important to get your puppy checked by their vet to rule out any disease or condition that could be responsible

This often doesn’t come until much later and only once the puppy truly understands that they are supposed to toilet in the garden/outside.  Once they have learned this (and they are able to hold themselves) they may start to give signals that they would like to be let outside e.g. scratching or barking at the door..   

However, please be aware that some puppies never progress to this and their signals may be more subtle e.g. waiting quietly at the door or sitting in front of you and staring at you.

Some puppies do not feel confident enough to toilet alone so may not go if you do not stay outside with them.  

If you go outside with your puppy you can observe them and be sure they have actually toileted.  This makes predicting when they might next need to toilet a little easier.

If a puppy is left unsupervised and has full access to roam the entire house, they may be too far away from the door when they need to toilet.  This often results in puppy toileting on the floor instead.   

Restricting puppies to a smaller area in the home during initial stages of training can be helpful.

The opposite can also create problems when a puppy has free access to outside e.g. back door is always left open.  These puppies have no need to learn to hold themselves when they have a full bladder because they have easy access to their toilet.   These puppies may wake their owners multiple times in the night in an attempt to get out to the toilet or may simply toilet indoors. 

Keeping the door closed and monitoring your puppy carefully in the first few weeks can help with the housetraining process.

The behaviour of toileting is self-rewarding, so treats are an added bonus but not a necessity.  However, the timing of the treat is important.  

If the treat is given too early, the puppy may become distracted and toilet again once back inside.  

If the treat is given once the puppy is back indoors, it is the behaviour of coming back indoors rather than toileting outdoors that is rewarded.  This may cause some puppies to attempt to get back indoors for a treat and then toilet on the floor the moment they are inside.  

Any treats/praise should be given just as the puppy is getting up from their toileting squat.

If a puppy is brought back indoors immediately after toileting they may learn to hold themselves to elongate the amount of time they can spend out in their garden. When they come back indoors they very quickly toilet on the floor.  

Instead, remain outside for a little while and let them explore after toileting.

Some household cleaners may simply mask the smell of urine with a stronger scent or contain ingredients which encourage the puppy to return to the area and eliminate e.g. ammonia-based cleaners.  

Instead, soiled areas should be cleaned thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner to break down the uric acid component of urine, so the puppy is not encouraged to return to the area and use as an indoor toilet.

Set mealtimes, rather than free access to the food bowl all day may help establish a predictable toileting routine making housetraining easier.   Most puppies will need to toilet within 20-60 minutes after a meal.

It is also best for a puppy not to eat a meal close to bedtime, especially those fed on dry food.  The increased water intake just before bedtime may lead to an increased need to toilet overnight.

Toileting requires a puppy to remain in a vulnerable squatting position and they need to feel relaxed enough to toilet.  If they do not feel safe they may hold themselves until they can get back to the safety of indoors. 

Your puppy may be worried about using the garden due to a previous bad experience e.g. fireworks or a neighbours dog barking at the fence.  Puppies can also become worried because people are putting too much pressure on them to toilet when they are out together. 

These puppies need help feeling safe and secure in their garden.

It is very common for puppies to not not feel confident toileting out on walks in the early stages.  But in some cases this means they toilet immediately when they return home.  

For these puppies it can be helpful to give them opportunity to toilet in a safe place e.g. garden before and after their walk. 

Puppies learn a surface preference for toileting from their time in the litter, just as we learn, as children, to look for an appropriately shaped porcelain toilet when we need to go!  If, for example, the puppies were encouraged to run out in the garden to toilet on the grass as soon as they were able to do so, your puppy will arrive wanting to do this whenever they feel the need to go.  Your job will then be simply to help them get to your garden whenever they need to toilet so they learn to want to be there and start to signal that by standing by the door.

If, however, the breeder raised the puppies on concrete or shavings, or, slightly worse, did not provide access to a clean toilet area where they could move away from the nest so they learnt to soil their bedding, the task of getting them to be clean in the house will be harder.  It is not impossible, but your carpets may seem like a suitable substitute for bedding or shavings and you will have to work extra hard to make sure they learn to go outside.