25 Apr Guides for Dog Toilet Training

Training puppies has always been difficult and requires time and energy. The existence of different exercises has made this issue even more complicated. But one of these crucial exercises is to teach the dog to go to the bathroom. Dog toilet training requires a lot of patience, perseverance and practice; But it isn’t impossible. Training a dog for a bath is usually complicated and tedious for beginners. However, if the dog training steps are performed correctly and properly, the result will show itself quickly, and you can pass this training step safely and promptly. In the following, we will explain how to toilet training a dog.

The importance of dog toilet training

Puppy toilet training at the right place and proper time are one of the most critical steps in keeping and training your dog. Unfortunately, bathing in different parts of the house (on carpets, sofas, etc.) is one reason dogs are abandoned and homeless. But you should know if the dog doesn’t know how to pee in the right place, mainly due to lack of work and insufficient training of the dog owner! Before you bring your dog home, you need to decide if your dog is going to the bathroom or outside. Each of these two has its advantages and disadvantages and depends on your lifestyle, time you want to spend, the weather and the coldness and. But most of us live in an apartment and have puppies or dogs suitable for apartment living, so we prefer to train our dog to bathe inside the apartment.

When should I start toilet training for puppies?

According to veterinarians, you can start toilet training for puppies between 12 and 16 weeks. At this age, the puppy has enough control over his intestines and bladder movement and can learn to hold the toilet. If you bring your puppy home after 12 weeks and he urinates in his box (or possibly eats his faeces), you can still teach him the toilet in the right place, but the training process will take a little longer.

If you have brought home an adult dog that hasn’t yet learned this basic training well, you have a little hard work ahead. Of course, with patience and the correct method, you can train any dog, but an adult dog that has already lived in different places and with various training is a little harder to train and needs more time.

How long does puppy toilet training take?

The length of a dog toilet training session depends on several factors, including age, previous learning history, and your training method. Training a 3-month-old puppy is different from training a 5-month-old puppy. Some puppies learn quickly after only a few days of training, but others need several months of training and practice; Especially if he was a lousy mentor before he came to you.

Or the previous dog owner may have used dog diapers instead of toilet training due to laziness. The diapers are used in exceptional cases and, of course, in a short period. If you’re going to use a diaper, it’s better to know its usage and the consequences of incorrect use. With patience and perseverance in exercise, any dog ​​can learn to pee in a specific place. It takes about 4 to 6 months to learn to pee completely in a certain place; But for some puppies, this period can take up to a year. So be patient and don’t expect anything unusual from your puppy.

The ability to control the bladder also depends on the size, breed and dog’s age. For example, smaller breeds have smaller bladders, higher metabolism, and need to urinate more often. Also, the dog’s previous living conditions and environment significantly impact learning to use the toilet. For example, if the dog has been trained incorrectly before, it will take more time to correct his behaviours and habits. From the first day, you start toilet training your puppy, be careful to take him to the toilet after napping, playing, eating and any other activity.

Steps of dog toilet training in the apartment and house

• Limit dog activity in the home until your puppy has fully learned to pee in a designated area. (Using a dog park, collar or put in a room).
• As your dog learns, you can give him more freedom of action and allow him to move around comfortably in your home and apartment.
• Choose a specific area of ​​the house (or balcony or patio), and don’t change it as much as possible; Because it confuses your dog.
• Take your puppy to the toilet at regular intervals: About once every 2 hours and immediately after waking up, during and after playing, after eating and drinking water.
• Don’t forget to encourage. Use a word or phrase every time the dog starts to pee in a particular place and then encourage or treat him.
• Take the puppy water container at night. Remove the water container about 2-3 hours before bed to reduce the chance of urinating overnight. Most puppies can sleep for up to 7 hours without having to go to the bathroom.
• Have a clear and precise schedule for feeding the puppy and take the remaining food after 20 minutes each time. Puppies need 3 to 4 meals a day, depending on their age.
• Feeding your dog at a set time each day will make it easier for him to pee over time, and you will be able to train him more easily.

Dog’s park

The dog park is a relatively large space where you can put a sleeping bag, a water container and dog food on one side, a dog pad and a toilet on the other side. Dogs like to bathe where they sleep, so the dog park should be large enough to hold a dog pad or toilet at a convenient distance. If you take the puppy out to play or eat, take him to the pad immediately after doing so and encourage him to pee with verbal encouragement. You can use urine training drops to get your puppy used to pee on the pad or toilet. These drops have a particular smell similar to dog urine and faeces, and by smelling it, the dog realises that this is a place for bathing.

When the puppy manages to behave well in the park and only pee on his pad or toilet, it’s time to give him some freedom of action and familiarise him with the home environment. Gradually take the puppy out of the dog park for 10-20 minutes a day so that you can finally trust him and let him go anywhere in the house he likes. Of course, during all this time, you should monitor and control his behaviour, and whenever you feel that the puppy wants to pee, guide him to his pad or toilet.

In addition to urine pads, there are toilet and dog trays that you can use to train your in-house toilet. Preparing a urinal or toilet tray for dogs and toilet training can help you solve this problem. If your dog keeps going to pee where he did previously, it’s probably because you didn’t clean the area well, and there‘s some smell of urine or faeces left. Use a special enzyme cleaner to clean your dog’s urine or faeces to make sure the odour is completely gone.

Boxes and cages

Those who haven’t had the experience of keeping a dog yet or having a dog may find it cruel to put a dog in a cage for the first time. The box itself is a helpful tool, and our behaviour and the way we use the box can turn it into training or a punishment tool. In the process of toilet training dogs, you can also use the box (at least for a short time). The cage has a controllable space, and you can thoroughly monitor the dog’s behaviour; and by observing the symptoms of having a toilet, you can teach him to hold urine.

The main reason for using the box for toilet training is that dogs are clean creatures and can’t tolerate the urine and faeces smell in their homes; thus, they instinctively keep their toilet while they’re in a cage. But you shouldn’t overdo it and keep your dog in the box too much. When using the box and cage, observe the following points:

• The size and dimensions of the cage should be such that the puppy can easily stand, rotate and lie down; But it shouldn’t be large enough to use one of its corners for peeing.
• Each time your dog goes to the box, give it a treat so he can have a good memory of being in the cage.
• If you keep your puppy in a cage for more than 2 hours, be aware that freshwater is available to the puppy.
• If you see signs of having a pee in your dog, take him out immediately to the toilet.
• If your puppy urinates in the cage, don’t use the cage to train the toilet.

Urinating in a cage can have several meanings:

•  He may have learned this habit when he was in a shelter or with a previous owner.
• You may not have taken him out enough, and he was annoyed.
• The size of the cage may be too large.
• Or maybe your puppy is still tiny and can’t hold his urine.

Monitor the behaviour and symptoms

As long as the puppy’s toilet training continues, it’s better to limit his activity at home and attach his collar with a collar strap about 2 meters to the sofa or somewhere near you. Then, be aware of the signs of having a pee in your puppy. Some of the symptoms of a dog having pee are:

• Barking
• Nailing on the door
• Squat
• Restlessness
• Smelling the earth
• Spinning around

Whenever you see these signs, immediately take the collar and take your dog to the bathroom. If the puppy did his job right there, say, “Well done!” And encourage him to eat. Of course, sometimes your dog doesn’t show any particular symptoms, but you will notice that he did something somewhere. There are several possible reasons for this. Involuntary dogs ​​urination can be for fear, happiness and even define territory. You need to be able to recognise these behaviours and symptoms well and prevent them from occurring.

No matter how well you teach your dog, he can pee several times until he learns to toilet entirely in a specific place. This is perfectly normal and part of the dog training process. Dogs don’t like to pee where their faeces are. Besides, not cleaning the dog toilet increases the risk of spreading various infections in the home environment and transmitting diseases from the dog faeces. If you find your dog is peeing in the wrong place, do the following:

• Interfere while peeing and don’t let him do his job completely
• Make a sudden sound (clap your hands firmly) to distract your dog from peeing (be careful not to scare your dog, of course) or tell him, “Get out!” And take him to the toilet immediately. If he continues to pee in a specific place, encourage him and give him a treat.
• Never fight and punish your puppy for peeing in the house!
• If you notice he pees on the carpet or somewhere else, it is over. So clean it thoroughly.
• Thoroughly clean the stain with an enzyme-based cleaning spray to eliminate the urine and faeces smell. If the dog notices the smell, he is encouraged to go there again.
• Clean or replace your dog’s urine or toilet pad every time he urinates or defecates.

Puppies, like newborn babies, need care and training. Like you used to teach two to 4-year-olds how to go to the bathroom; You should also teach dogs to let you know when they have a toilet. Dog toilet training isn’t a complicated process and requires a little patience, perseverance and a lot of practice. So when toilet training dogs, always keep these things in mind to get better results. Our professional groomers in Mishka will provide you with the complete information you need; also, we will help and accompany you along the way.