http://www.yourdog.co.uk 49“Remember: what gets treated
gets repeated.”
Your windows of opportunity to heavily
reinforce toileting outside are:
● First thing in the morning.
● After eating.
● After waking.
● After play.
● After a visitor arrives.
● After any excitement indoors.
● If you see puppy snii ng and circling the l oor.
● Last thing at night.▼CONTROL AND
MANAGEMENT
As much as possible, until the
puppy is fully toilet trained,
he or she should be under the
supervision of a designated
‘watcher’, or in their small
den area.
The watcher’s job is to watch
the puppy like a hawk, for any
body language signals that
indicate the puppy needs the
toilet, such as snii ng and
circling the l oor. This behaviour
is sometimes considered
a throwback to when dogs used
to check the ground for snakes,
and to soften down the grass,
before they eliminated!
If you can’t keep your
eyes on puppy while indoors,
pop him in a nice, small, safe
area, such as a puppy pen in
the kitchen, ideally on a hard
surface and not an invitingly
absorbent one, which dogs love
to wee on.
If you can, make sure puppy
receives his meals and gets
plenty of opportunity to sleep
in his pen, as, like all of us, given
the choice the last place he’ll
want to toilet is where he sleeps
and eats, so the puppy pen is the
perfect location for these short,
unsupervised sessions.
In contrast to some
traditionalists, I’m not a fan of
putting down newspaper or
puppy pads indoors for
a puppy to wee on. As far as I’m
concerned, that’s still ‘training’
and conditioning the puppy to
wee indoors. Ultimately, we don’t
want that regardless of what
surface they’re on, so let’s start
as we mean to go on.OUTSIDE OPTION
Next, we’re going to help the puppy
learn that toileting outside is the very
BEST thing they could ever do.
We’re going to heavily reinforce the
behaviour of toileting outside; as all
good dog trainers and owners know,
behaviour that is reinforced in the past
is more likely to occur in the future. But
when is our moment to strike; how can
we tilt the cards in our favour to give us
those all-important opportunities
for reinforcement?When any of the occasions above occur,
pick up or encourage your puppy outside,
and then wait... silently... and wait... and
wait...
Only when the puppy has gone to the
toilet outside, can you start the huge
reinforcement process; praise, treats,
promise of a pet cat, whatever it takes; if
puppy loves it, make sure they get it as soon
as they i nish their wee or poo.
A formal ‘good dog’ and a i rm handshake
just won’t do it here — be generous, and
remember: what gets treated gets repeated.The lesson from the pup’s perspective is:
toileting inside = nothing; toileting outside
= the best stuf in the world. Who among
us isn’t prepared to cross their legs a little
longer and ask to go outside to earn the best
stuf in the world?
If, however, you’ve taken puppy outside
and he hasn’t ‘splashed his boots’, then
simply give it a quiet i ve minutes, take the
puppy back inside again, and pop him back
in his den. Give it another go in 10 minutes.
Repeat as necessary and as soon as puppy
does ‘go’ outside... it’s party time!KEEP A DIARY
This is the time to mark
in your wee/poo diary.
After a few weeks,
you’ll start to see
a pattern of times
puppy actually
goes to the toilet.
This will help
you customise
your plan to suit
your puppy’s
needs and highlight
the times of day you
need to be taking
him outside.
Set an alarm on your phone
if need be; it’s a pain, I know, but
certainly not as much of a pain
as scrubbing a rug!TOILETING OVERNIGHT
As mentioned, puppies won’t want to toilet
where they eat and sleep; however, those
little bladders and bowels can only
‘hold on’ for a certain amount of
time, so commit to getting up
early at the start of your toilet
training regime to limit mistakes
as much as possible.
If done correctly, you can
soon start adding an extra
10 minutes in your bed
each morning as the toilet
training develops.http://www.yourdog.co.uk 49If an accident occurs, use
a good enzymatic cleaner and
give the area a really good
wash, otherwise dogs will
often be drawn back to toilet
on areas where they have
previously eliminated. Clean
it once and clean it properly.TOP TIP!This is one behaviour where you
want to start the reinforcement
process as soon as the behaviour is
complete, NOT as soon as it starts.
If you’re a little too trigger-happy
with the reinforcement and start the
celebrations before the toileting is
fully done, then puppy will ‘half-wee’,
grab the reinforcement from you, run
back inside and i nish the ‘job’ on the
comfort of your best carpet!TOP TIP!Accidents will happen.Outside is the
place to be.Be vigilant for signs that
your pup needs to toilet.46-48 YD Puppy Problems CS(SW)ok.indd 49 26/03/2019 09:38