House training is not just about teaching your puppy where you want it to eliminate. It is much, much more than that.

Successful house training is teaching your puppy its position in your household, training your puppy to be a well behaved,reliable and calm pup.

Successful house training takes time and a commitment from the family to do it right. Whilst it can be difficult and frustrating at times, it is a wonderful way to commence that bonding and training process with the newest member of your family. Puppies don't just train themselves, although some are easier to train than others.  It may take several weeks to several months for a puppy to become reliably house trained.

Always set puppy up to succeed!

Toilet training is probably the first thing you will teach your puppy

 If you are patient and consistent in following the rules outlined below, you should be very successful in toilet training your puppy with a minimum of distress to you or to her.

There are four main times when puppies will most probably need to eliminate:

                                     On waking after a nap.

                            After eating

                            After drinking, this stimulates to reflex action to urinate

                            Puppies will eliminate quite regularly during play.

Consistency and routine are the keys to successful toilet training. An established routine will enable you to encourage your puppy to eliminate in the area you want it to on a regular basis.

Using the above four times frames as a guide, take puppy outside to the chosen spot. When she eliminates offer lots of praise and a treat.

Once puppy is going regularly outside you can introduce a trigger word. Wait until she starts to eliminate and say the word ‘toilet’ or a word of your choice. This way she will associate that word with the action and eventually will go on command. An absolute bonus if you are traveling and time is short!

Supervision will help keep accidents to a minimum. Be aware of where your puppy is at all times, alternatively you can use a hands free belt around your waist to leash pup to. If puppy has unlimited indoor freedom, unsupervised she may develop a preference to go in a particular spot inside. This habit can be very hard to break.

If she sleeps in a confined area be prepared to take puppy outside during the night until she is mature enough to sleep through the night. Puppies do not like to soil their sleeping areas. If puppy sleeps in a larger area such as a laundry, place paper down on the floor away from her bedding so she can relieve herself through the night.

A very young pup cannot be expected to hang on if you leave her for a long period of time through the day in a confined area. The laundry or similar would be more appropriate.

Accidents happen! An over excited puppy will forget her manners! Never punish puppy for eliminating in the wrong place. She will associate punishment with the actual act of elimination not the fact she is going in the wrong place. This may make her fearful and seek out a hidden spot to go. If you catch her in the act interrupt her with an ‘uh uh’ or a hand clap, calmly take her outside to finish and praise lavishly when she does. If you don’t catch her in the act, ignore it and clean up the mess. Any punishment will only serve to confuse her and possibly make her fearful of you.

To clean: use the combination of a good dishwashing liquid and white vinegar. This enzymatic solution is available commercially but is cheaper and just as effective when homemade. The solution helps to break down the enzymes which produce the odor that will attract puppy back to be a repeat offender. Soak up the urine with a paper towel, apply plenty of the above solution and then blot up. Avoid using any product that contains ammonia as it has a smell similar to urine and may attract puppy back to that spot.

As puppy matures and accidents become less frequent gradually allow more freedom around the house. Provide this freedom slowly over a period of time. Sudden transition from supervision to total freedom will most likely disrupt the training process and more accidents will occur. Should this happen go back a few steps until puppy is mature enough to cope with the freedom. With my Ridgeback puppies I find this is usually around the 5 to 6 month mark.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

• Consistency
• Routine
• Praise
• On waking
• After eating
• After drinking
• Whilst playing