Puppy Potty Training 101

The following house training approach will be effective with most puppies in three to four days. You must be diligent in this method for it to work. Using these steps for a few hours and then skipping a day or two will not lead to a housebroken puppy. You need to be consistent with everything you do with your new puppy.

From the moment the puppy comes home, you have to begin the outside training process. Immediately upon bringing a puppy home, put them on a leash and take them directly to the door that leads outside and where you have your bells hanging, take his paw and ring the bells, then open the door and take him to his new go potty spot. Never carry a puppy to its potty spot. When the puppy has reached the location where you want them to go potty, use the command phrase that you’ve selected and do not say any other words. We use the phrase “Go Potty!” Then wait for the puppy to do something.

Immediately upon seeing the puppy complete going potty, bend down and give the puppy a small treat. Praise your puppy! We like to say “Good Puppy Go Potty Outside!” Make it a Party! Be consistent with whatever you choose to say and say the same thing every time! Only one treat per completed job. When finished, lead the puppy back into the house, play with the puppy for maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Then place them back in their crate. Repeat this process every two to three hours.

Aussiedoodles are brilliant dogs. Training them is easy, but you also need to be careful what you’re training them. You can unintentionally train them things without realizing you’re even doing it. Remember that training them with anger will only teach them that humans cannot be trusted. Dogs follow assertive energy. They do not follow angry or frustrated energy. Pay close attention to your body language and your tone when training your puppy. Being an assertive leader is fine; being an angry and frustrated leader is not. To learn more about how to be a calm, assertive dog owner, look into The Perfect Dog training DVD.

If you catch your puppy squatting in the house, rush over, pick them up and say in a calm but assertive tone of voice “No, you go potty outside.” Take the puppy directly outside using the same routine (do not put the puppy back to the crate so you can clean up the mess). Take the puppy outside and then clean up the mess once the puppy is back in their enclosure. Use your Nature’s Miracle Stain & Odor Remover or another useful urine/pheromone cleanup liquid.

Never let the puppy see you clean up its mess, and this means never. If the puppy marks the inside of the house with accidents that are not cleaned up thoroughly, it will use the pheromone in these accident areas as the indicator of where it should go again. The best rule is to avoid the accident in the first place by containing and watching your puppy like a hawk when it is not contained until you think they’re reliable going outside.

Do not scold the puppy for having an accident. Do not use a newspaper to swat them, rub their nose in it, or any of these old school potty training punishments. Make sure everyone in the household and any friends or guests understand not to punish the puppy for an accident. If the accident was inside the crate, then place the puppy in a bathroom or other safe confining area in the house while you clean up the mess inside the crate. This process should take place like clockwork for the first week after bringing home a new puppy. At night, right before going to bed, you take the puppy out for the last time (follow the script) then place them in their crate for bedtime.

Do not give your puppy food or water at least two hours before bedtime; we prefer three hours.

Do not let the puppy train YOU with moans and whimpering at night. Leave the puppy to adjust to its new environment. In the morning, go to the puppy and put the leash on their collar, pick them up and carry them to the door quickly and begin the housebreaking process again, following all the before mentioned steps.

If the puppy soiled its crate, clean up the mess without bringing attention to the puppy that it had an accident. After a month or more when the puppy always goes to the door to go outside, begin to wean the puppy off treats. Start skipping treats every once in a while. Once the puppy is completely housebroken, they can be weaned off the treats completely. Just remember to not give up on training the new puppy.

Do not use doggy doors until the puppy knows its proper spot to go potty and not to go inside. Be diligent, have patience and consistency in your training and your new puppy will be housebroken in a short period.

Puppy Potty Schedules

Puppies urinate frequently and predictably. They go after waking up, after eating, after playing, and when they get excited. Always take your puppy out to the same place, the same time, and following his meals. It is essential to allow your puppy to earn space in your home. Only allow him in a new room after he has gone to the bathroom outside. Do not overextend his limits. He needs to work up to extended freedom in the home gradually. Do not wait until your puppy is six months old to show him your living space. He will not consider this part of his “den” and may not respect it. Teach good manners when they are young. Within 10-30 minutes after you feed your pup, he will have to relieve himself. Walks don’t have to be long ones. The first walk in the morning is just to relieve himself, then bring him back in for breakfast. Pull up all food and water by 7 pm (depending on your schedule, climate, etc.) Your puppy needs to go to bed on an empty stomach and bladder. An ice cube instead of a whole bowl of water is helpful. It gives them liquid in their bowl gradually and is a fun snack. Give your puppy dinner by 5 pm. An early dinner allows him to digest and urinate before bedtime. If he seems hungry later, a biscuit around 7 pm is ok.