My Experience With Potty Time: Tips to Start Housetraining Your Puppy

Here's my story about potty time: tips to start housetraining your puppy - I'm sharing this because I wish someone had told me earlier.

Housetraining is the most fundamental thing your puppy needs to learn.

In order for housetraining to work, everyone who handles your puppy must understand and follow the same program.

Potty training is a process, but it’s one you and your puppy can master with practice and patience.

Here are some tips to set the groundwork for housetraining:.

Put your puppy on a leash (they’re less likely to be distracted this way) and take them outside to the yard.

I wish I had known this sooner.

if your puppy goes right away, praise and reward them immediately by giving them high-quality treats.

If you don’t have a fenced-in yard, let your puppy play inside your home for a while.

Keep a close eye on them because activity can stimulate the bladder.

After your puppy has some time to romp, put them back in the crate with a chew toy until the next bathroom break in another hour or two.

Watching Lucy go through this was heartbreaking.

if you take your puppy outside and they won’t go potty, give them some water and put them back in the crate.

Gradually increase the time your puppy stays outside their crate — but only if you’re willing to watch closely for signs that they need to go potty.

If you have to leave for more than an hour, put your puppy in a playroom.

When you get home, immediately take your puppy outside.

If your dog is taking way too long to housetrain, identify the source of the problem. Here are the most common obstacles to housetraining a dog:

A health problem: It’s not uncommon for a urinary tract infection or some other ailment to make housetraining next to impossible.

If you’re having serious housetraining problems, ask your vet to check your puppy’s health.

Too much water: Ask your vet how much water your puppy needs.

Let your vet know if your puppy drinks excessively.

I felt so guilty when I realized what was happening.

carrying your puppy outside: puppies are cute and cuddly, we know, but don’t carry your puppy to potty outside.

I learned this the hard way, but at least Lucy is okay now.

not enough supervision: your puppy shouldn’t have any unsupervised free time in the house.

Not paying attention: You need to make sure your puppy empties their bladder before coming inside.

That way, you know their bladder is empty before they come back into the house.

Unearned rewards: Your puppy should not get free time in the house if they didn’t potty outside.

Too many accidents: If your puppy has multiple accidents in the same spot, they may become convinced the area is their private indoor toilet.

If this is the case, it may take longer for you to persuade your puppy to go outside.

Eliminating in the crate: This usually happens because a puppy was somehow forced to pee or poop in their living quarters.

Maybe they were in the crate for too long.

I felt so guilty when I realized what was happening.

if your puppy has an accident, don’t punish them.

I'm sharing this because I wish someone had told me earlier. Hopefully this helps someone else avoid the same mistakes I made with Lucy.