When I had my first puppy, it didn't occurred to me that I have to toilet train her. I thought if I put a pee tray in her play pen with her, she will do it there naturally and the rest was history. It was until much later that I realized that I was imposing my thoughts and ideas onto her. And as for her she is just doing what nature has wired her to do. So I search online, went to forums and read books on toilet training puppies and after experimenting with my dogs, I realized that the secret to successful toilet training lies in prevention and having a routine for them.
First and foremost, decide where we want to let the dog do its business. Is it on newspaper or the grass? The important thing to note here is to be constant. If it is decided to let the dog do its business on the grass then be sure to return to the same spot every time, and if its newspaper make sure you place the newspaper on the same spot every time.
The next thing to take note is regular feeding. Having a regular meal time will allow us to monitor the dog's intake. Based on the dogs that I have, they usually relieved themselves 15-60 minutes after their meal. So it is good to bring your dog to its designated toilet area 15-60 minutes after a meal. Especially for puppies, because they have poor control over their bladder, they must be brought to their designated toilet every 60 minutes that they are out. A point to note here is puppy being unable to control their bladder properly, have the tendency to urinate spontaneously when excited.
Another method that can be incorporated is crate training. As dogs like to be clean, they will chose not to soil their personal space if they can help it. As my dogs grows, I gradually lengthen the time I place them in the crate before I bring them out to relieve themselves. As a reference, I never let my dogs run around the house until they are 80-90% reliably toilet trained.
To reinforce the idea of toilet to my dog, I always use cue words and reward them when they do it.
Lastly, I never scream, yell, punish or hit my dogs when accident occur as it will create a negative experience for them and perhaps even induce submissive urination. The way to correct them is to catch them while they are in the midst of doing it and bring them to the designate place immediately and use your cue word. Dogs live in the now and there is really nothing much you can do if you didn't catch it in action.
Below are some resources they might be helpful, grab them if you want if not just follow my way :)
First and foremost, decide where we want to let the dog do its business. Is it on newspaper or the grass? The important thing to note here is to be constant. If it is decided to let the dog do its business on the grass then be sure to return to the same spot every time, and if its newspaper make sure you place the newspaper on the same spot every time.
The next thing to take note is regular feeding. Having a regular meal time will allow us to monitor the dog's intake. Based on the dogs that I have, they usually relieved themselves 15-60 minutes after their meal. So it is good to bring your dog to its designated toilet area 15-60 minutes after a meal. Especially for puppies, because they have poor control over their bladder, they must be brought to their designated toilet every 60 minutes that they are out. A point to note here is puppy being unable to control their bladder properly, have the tendency to urinate spontaneously when excited.
Another method that can be incorporated is crate training. As dogs like to be clean, they will chose not to soil their personal space if they can help it. As my dogs grows, I gradually lengthen the time I place them in the crate before I bring them out to relieve themselves. As a reference, I never let my dogs run around the house until they are 80-90% reliably toilet trained.
To reinforce the idea of toilet to my dog, I always use cue words and reward them when they do it.
Lastly, I never scream, yell, punish or hit my dogs when accident occur as it will create a negative experience for them and perhaps even induce submissive urination. The way to correct them is to catch them while they are in the midst of doing it and bring them to the designate place immediately and use your cue word. Dogs live in the now and there is really nothing much you can do if you didn't catch it in action.
Below are some resources they might be helpful, grab them if you want if not just follow my way :)
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