The New Arrival

As soon as you bring a puppy home, take her outside. The excitement of the car journey coupled with unfamiliar faces, sights, and sounds will have her bladder bulging. If you can orchestrate her first toilet break outside, instead of in the house, you’ve taken a step in the right direction. This is about more than short-term hygiene, once your puppy relieves herself inside, the more likely she’ll be to do it again.

Homecoming is a great opportunity for you to set a precedent for toilet behavior!

· Take her to the designated toilet area, and put her down on the ground

· Wait while she sniffs around

· Refrain from petting her or playing with her while she explores so she’s not distracted. To avoid confusion, this area should never be used for anything other than toilet breaks

· When she begins to relieve herself, say the words you want her to associate with toilet breaks such as: ‘Go pee’,or ‘potty time’,or whatever works for you—it’sbest if the phrase is short and easily recognizable. Use the same voice inflection each time so that your dog can learn to associate the meaning with the phrase.

· When she’s finished, make a big fuss over her; shower her with praise and affection and give her a treat

Once you take her inside the house, the training regime you’decided to use should start immediately. Crate training is generally accepted in dog training circles as the most effective and efficient means of house training a puppy over a short span of time.

Crate Training

Crate-training is using a small indoor kennel—the crate—to confine your young puppy when you’not able to actively supervise her. Crate training is effective because all dogs dislike soiling the area where they sleep. Because you’re restricting your puppy’s movement to her sleeping space, she quickly learns to ‘hold it in’ until she’s let out of the crate unless you leave her there too long.

If you opt for crate training, be sure the crate is sized properly. If it is too big, she’ll be able to use one end as a bed and the other as a toilet. It will be more cost-effective for you to choose a crate that’s big enough for your puppy to grow into. It should be big enough for her to stand up comfortably without crouching; turn around; and stretch out to lie down once she’s full grown. Since you’ll be buying for an adult dog, use a barrier to reduce the internal size of the crate while your puppy is small. A wire grille or board will work just fine. Alternatively, you can buy an inexpensive smaller crate or make a simple crate yourself then replace it with a larger model as your puppy grows.

Using the crate for house training

To crate train your puppy, keep her in the crate at all times unless she’s sleeping, eating, outside going to the toilet, or playing with active supervision. You need to be consistent with crate training, or it won’t work. You can’t let your puppy wander through the house unless she has your undivided attention.

If you allow her access to the house before she’s thoroughly trained, you’re actually encouraging her to relieve herself inside; and each time she does this, it’ll be easier for her to do it again…and again…and again.


Sample schedule for crate training

7am: Wake up. Puppy comes outside with you for a toilet break
7.25: Breakfast.
7.45: Back outside for another toilet break—accompanied by you
7.50 -8.45: Play-time! Puppy is out of the crate interacting with you and being cuddled
8.45: Outside for another toilet break—accompanied by you
8.50 -11: Puppy goes into the crate for a nap
11 am: Puppy comes outside for a toilet break—accompanied by you
11.05 -12.30: Playtime! Puppy is out of the crate for play and bonding
12:30: Lunch
12.45: Puppy comes outside for a toilet break—accompanied by you
1 -3.30: Puppy goes into the crate for a nap
And so on throughout the day.

Crate training generally takes one to two months depending on the breed of dog and the amount of time you invest in the training process. As the puppy matures, you can begin to reduce the time spent in the crate, but be cautious about doing this too soon!

Other crate training rules

· Your puppy probably wont ’be too happy to go in the crate the first few times. She’ll want to be with you, being showered with affection and attention, and hanging out with the family. It really is for her own good that she spends regular intervals in the crate. Ia surprisingly short time, she’d come to accept the crate as her own personal space—a place to relax and enjoy some uninterrupted sleep. Its important that you persevere: do not respond if she whines or cries.

· The best place for the crate is in the heart of the house—usually the den or the kitchen—where people tend to congregate. Just because she’s in the crate doesn’t mean she should be isolated from the household; it’s important for her to feel included.

· The crate should be a welcoming, inviting place for your puppy. Place a couple of thick blankets or towels on the floor, and put a few toys and a chew inside as well. The door should be left invitingly open any time she is outside the crate.

Some toilet facts about puppies

Puppies’ bladders and bowels are very small and weak. Their window of opportunity between when they realize they have to go and ‘letting go’ is relatively short. Because of this, it’s imperative that you take her outside as soon as she wakes up and no more than ten minutes after eating or playing.

She’ll let you know when she needs to go out by pawing the door and whining. Other behaviors that indicate she needs to go outside include sniffing the ground and circling. While she’s a puppy, she won’exhibit these warning signs for long, so watch for hints and take her out immediately—better an unnecessary trip to the yard than a soiled carpet!

To determine the maximum amount of time your puppy can remain in the crate at one stretch, just add 1 to her age in months and convert it to hours. (e.g., If your puppy is three months old, add one and you’ve determined that your puppy can be in the crate for four hours max.) While this is amount of time what she’s capable of, she’s probably going to be physically uncomfortable (not to mention emotionally and psychologically distraught) if she remains in the crate that long. For her well-being, she should really come out at least once every two hours during the day. If she’s sleeping, let her wake up naturally.

Crate training is a fast and effective way to get your puppy acclimated to her new home.