Piddling, Pooping Puppies

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Potty training your new puppy can be seriously challenging - even a little scary. Yet it's definitely rewarding if you take it on enthusiastically and seriously because that first couple of months will set the tone you want and need for the long-term. Nobody likes puddles of pee and piles of poop all around their home, so here is how we suggest you go about teaching your new little piddling poochie to toilet the way you need him to.

• Repetition, repetition, repetition... (are you yawning yet?). Religiously take your puppy outside or to the designated toileting area inside your home OFTEN - certainly each and every time after eating and drinking, but ideally every 35 minutes during waking hours (bet you didn't know that puppies, on average, need to toilet every 35 minutes!).
• Never harshly scold your puppy in response to toileting accidents in the home, but do try and "surprise" him while he is actually widdling in the wrong place by whisking him up and carrying him to the correct toileting area. He will often be able to then finish his urination there and, if he does, praise him with ENTHUSIASM!
• As for poopus-interruptus... don't do THAT. While the "whisk and carry" approach works nicely for urinating, stopping him halfway through a poop is likely to result in a toileting struggle for him... and mess everywhere for you! The good news is that dogs often behaviorally warn of a pending poo by circling or sniffing a spot on the ground - when you see that, "whisk and carry" before it's too late!
• Praising, cuddling and rewarding with small treats every time he toilets correctly is a must.
• If he wakes up whining in the night, dash out of bed and take him to toilet. And remember: take him to toilet first thing when you wake up in the morning and last thing before you go to sleep.
• When he's going to be on his own, put him in a designated area inside your home. This should be a fairly small area and covered with newspaper or training pads. In time, you will see him tend to toilet in one area of this space and you can slowly reduce the size of the floor area which is covered by the paper/training pads, until ultimately only one small toileting area is left.
• Remember to watch him constantly whilst he's out of the dedicated area and is exploring the house; this way you can "whisk and carry" him before any toileting accidents happen.

He will slowly learn, through boring repetition, where he can and cannot poop or pee. And you will relish that your home is no puppy toileting battleground.