what is the easiest and most successful way to potty train a puppy?

Question

On June 23, I will be the proud mother of a 7 week old st. bernard. Just wondering what the easiest way to train him would be. I have never had a puppy before, just cats.

The whole problem is that I am not home during the day and the lady who is selling me the dog told me not to keep him in a crate all day. I don't really have family close enough to come let him out every 4 hours. I guess I could keep him in the kitchen with puppy pads until we get home. Is this animal cruelty?

Answer 1

A puppy is like a baby. He will relieve himself anywhere, anytime. Because a newly adopted adult dog is unfamiliar with your home, he may not understand where he should "go"! Housetraining, or teaching your dog to go outside to relieve himself, is an important lesson your dog must learn.
It is up to you, the new parent, to housetrain your new puppy or dog with patience, love and understanding.
CRATE TRAINING
In the wild, wolves live in a den or cave. It is important the entire wolf pack keep this area clean. The same idea works with your family pet. Your dog’s crate is his home, his bedroom. It is likely that your dog will not like to soil his bed. Therefore, he will wait until he is let out to do his business.
HOUSETRAINING WITH YOUR CRATE
On average, puppies can hold their bladders one hour for every month they have been alive, plus one hour. For example, if you have a three month old puppy, he can wait 3 + 1 = 4 hours. If you work longer than this, the best solution is to have someone (a neighbour, a relative, a dog walker) come in at an appropriate time to let your dog out.

100 PER CENT SUPERVISION
Supervision is the key to housetraining! While you are at home, your dog must be supervised. Whether you are watching television, making dinner, on the phone or on the computer, your puppy must be watched. While it sounds like an impossible task, it isn’t. Keeping the crate in a social part of the house makes it easier. Using a house lead – a small, thin lead with a little clip on it – also helps immensely. Outside, you put a lead on your dog so you can control him. If the lead is removed after returning home, control is lost. For example, when watching television, have the lead tied to a couch leg. Your dog can have his blanket and toys with him. He’ll feel safe and comfortable. The majority of accidents happen when your pup wanders off and you haven’t noticed. You don’t want him to sneak off into the kitchen and find a puddle a short time later. If your pup is kept from wandering, the possibility of an accident is diminished because he will not eliminate where he is sitting. 100 per cent supervision means ensuring your dog is playing with you, in his crate, outside or on his house lead.

SCHEDULING
In the morning, take your dog outside. He should urinate and possibly have a bowel movement. Spend about five to seven minutes with him and then bring him in. Do not play with him yet. Feed him breakfast, either in the crate or with the lead, and supervise it. If your pup did not have a bowel movement earlier, take him back outside about 15 minutes after he has eaten. Use the lead to keep your pup moving along while outside. Otherwise, he may start sniffing, stopping and playing to avoid the job at hand. You can say “hurry up” and your dog will begin to associate these words with the task at hand. Praise him excessively when he has eliminated. Bring him back in the house and place him in his crate if you are going to work. Continue to supervise him with the crate or the lead if you are home. When returning after being out, go directly to the crate, let him out, praise him and put him back in. Feed him his meal, take him outside 15 minutes after he has eaten, praise him after he eliminates, and bring him back in. Continue to follow the same steps consistently.

While you are home, you should take your pup outside on a regular basis. Even if your pup is in a crate or on a house lead, he still needs the opportunity to eliminate. Also, be careful what you wish for! A pup who barks to go outside may be cute and clever now. However, you must try not to fall into the habit of leaping up every time your dog wants in or out. It is a very submissive gesture on your part. Have your pup wait a moment or two.

Setting up a schedule is also a good idea. If your pup is under four months of age, take him out for five minutes every hour on the hour. If your pup is over four months old, take him out every second hour on the hour. The schedule will help you remember when to take him out. Go out for five minutes only. It provides the opportunity to eliminate even if your pup may not need to go. Take your dog out after active play and also after napping. If an accident occurs, you may have forgotten to take him out .

FEEDING TIME
Having a puppy drink a lot of water and then placing him in his crate is much more unkind than letting him be a bit thirsty for an hour or two. Adult dogs should have access to drinking water at all times. However, this is not the case for untrained pups. Most parents will not allow their children to drink a big glass of water before going to bed. Avoid setting your pup up for failure. Restrict his water intake to three or four drinks daily and make sure you remove the water dish about three hours before bedtime. This will help your dog sleep more comfortably.

If it is a hot evening, supply your pup with a few ice cubes. They will enter your dog’s system at a slower pace. When feeding your pup, provide a high-quality food that is a good source of protein. The food must be concentrated so your puppy’s body doesn’t require much of it. If you feed less, your puppy eliminates less. Food is directly related to how well puppies do in their housetraining.

EXERCISE
It is important that your pup gets a lot of exercise, especially while crate training. You can play fetch, chase or hide and seek in your home. You can call ‘come’ at the same time to provide further training. Anyway you do it, your pup needs to be able to run and play.

Answer 2

Crate Train - This is the most Humane and easiest way to potty train your puppy. I understand that you are gone all day and as much as you hate to cage your new best friend it really is the easiest and safest way for you take care of him/her. Most puppies can only hold their pee/poop for 4-5 hours, but as I found when they spoil their cage a few times they seem to hold it in just a little longer. The crate will become their den. They will actually look forward to going in to the cage and after a while will learn not to go in their cage. The Crate I would go with would be one that can be adjusted over time. You want it to be so they can only lay and circle around. If they have too much room to move they will just go to the bathroom and then move away from it. The crate also confines the dog so they will not chew on your furniture or get hurt by climbing or eating something they should not. Also do not rub a dogs nose in it or beat them for peeing. I've made this mistake in the past and it does nothing but strike fear in to the pup do move his bowels. The best thing to do as a pup is keep them close by at all times, take them out frequently, praise them after going to the restroom outside, and finally if you catch them in the act try and stop them and take them out right away. Say No, take them outside, let them go outside in their spot and then praise them. I think this way will be the most humane and effective. Enjoy your new pup.

Answer 3

1. Take him outside about 1 hour after every "meal" and often throughout the day.
2. Tie a jingle bell to the door that leads outside and use the dog's paw or nose to gently RING IT each and EVERY time you open the door to go outside to potty. Say "let's go potty" or something else when you do this. The dog will eventually begin ringing the bell when it needs to go (this is true! My dog does this every day and she is 5 years old now)
2. Praise him when he goes potty outside.
3. If he doesn't go right away, take him again in 20 minutes or so.
4. At night - do what they call "crate training" (you can find info on the web for this). Get a crate that is small enough to fit him NOW, without much extra room. Put your shirt in there as a nice smelly comfort cushion (and to help with bonding). Close and lock the door at night. Dogs will not urinate/poop in their "den" or sleeping quarters unless it is an absolute emergency. Get up throughout the night to let him outside to go to the bathroom and return him to the crate to sleep. Don't forget to ring the bell each time!

Dogs love having a "den" (aka crate), it is in their nature to be enclosed while sleeping. This doesn't mean you have to keep your dog in there at night forever. Eventually, you will allow the dog to have more freedom at night when it is more fully potty trained. You will then leave the gate open to let the dog come and go.

It's a lot of work now, but if you train them correctly it will be easier down the road for you.

Have fun and enjoy your pooch!

Answer 4

Patience and understanding. First you should start with having a crate(available at any pet store) for him to sleep in. Dogs are den animals and they wont pee or poop where they sleep so that itself is a beginning exercise. You have to constantly watch him and look for the "gotta go" signals. When he sniffs around constantly, he's gotta go. Put him on his leash or pick him up and put him in the designated potty area and give a command like "go potty", when he goes, he gets a treat. If you catch him in the act indoors, stop him with a stern NO or a SHH sound, bring him outside and repeat the routine. When you're not home you can leave him in his crate or out but you must remember that puppies have small bladders and it'll take time for them to develop the muscles and such to "hold it in" so just be patient and it will come to the point where he sits or scratches at the door to let you know he has to go.

Answer 5

Puppies go the bathroom a lot. Be patient. When they wake up take them out, after they eat take them out. Praise them. Good dog, all the time, don't be mean or get mad. Accidents WILL happen.
Male puppies pee more than females. They mark their territory.
Watch their body language puppies will walk in small circles and sniff the ground before they go. Look for this even if you have to pick them up in the middle of it take them outside and praise them, good dog. Teach the dog where the door is and let them know going outside is good. Dogs like rules so make rules and keep to them. Learn obedience training, the dog doesn't need to be trained YOU DO. Time with you pet is the best teacher and positive positive praise.

Answer 6

Your puppy needs to associate something else with it. In other words, your puppy needs a way to tell you he needs to go, and YOU can control how he/she will do that.
Whenever you have her outside and she goes, give her LOTS of praise, letting her know that it is a good thing. She will begin to associate her surroundings with her action and the praise that is followed by it. If you catch your puppy going inside, immediately say NO (be firm, its the tone that they are recieving more, not so much the word) and pick her up and take her outside.
Eventually she will get the point and start going to the door to be let out. Sometimes however if you are not close by you may not notice that they need let out, so try adding a little round bell on a string to the door. (you can work this in after a while). Now every time they go to the door to be let out move them so their nose rings the bell. After a while they will start to associate the ringing bell with being let out to do their business.

Well good luck with the potty training!!
Hope it all works out!!

Answer 7

Many people use crate training. That gives the dog a place to feel safe and to sleep in. The animal won't go potty where he sleeps. Take him out on a regular schedule to go potty. PRAISE the dog for peeing outside. Give him a reward. Eventually, he'll get the idea that peeing outside is a good thing...and it is for both of you!

If your pup is roaming around the house, if you see him pacing or circling it's an indication he's about ready to go. Don't delay for one second, get the dog out of the house (pick him up if you must) and let him pee outside. Again, use praise and reward when he does.

Answer 8

You need to buy a crate, a dog will not go where they sleep.. But you still will need to take the dog out often because they can not hold there bladder very long, But each time you take the dog out side and the dog goes you need to praise the dog. If the dog has an accident which he will you need to take the dog outside right away. Use the crate when you are not home or when you can not watch him.. The younger they are the easier they will to adjust to the crate. But the crate will teach them to hold it because they don't want to go where they sleep. But each time you come home the first thing you need to do is take them outside and praise them when they go outside, because it show that holding it and going outside was the correct thing to do and they did right by you. A dog will always want to please you so if they know that not going in the house is making you happy they will want to continue to do that.---Good Luck

Answer 9

You have to firm and consistent! Whatever schedule you have you need to include your puppy in it. If you get up at 4:00 a.m. that is when puppy goes outside. He must remain in a crate until he is trained. Say you leave at 5:30-- puppy goes out then. You have to come home or have someone take puppy out about every 4 hours until his bladder is more conditioned.As soon as you come home, puppy goes out. it's a long tedious battle but worth it in the end!

Answer 10

take the puppy out side every hour when you are home. When ever they do there business outside, reward them by telling them what a good job they did, you can even break off a piece of a puppy treat and give it to them. You still have to expect messes in the house, but when it happens, in a stern voice tell the puppy "no no, that was bad." and put him/ her outside for a few minutes. (Don't spank or hit them. Rubbing there nose in it like some people say is just mean and nasty and it doesn't work.) Your pup will begin to understand you don't like it when they pee in your floor and you reward them when they go outside.....it wont take too long, just be consistent. Good luck!

Answer 11

I've trained alot of dogs and here is the best advice i can give you.
after your puppy drinks or eats or when it begins to sniff around, take it to the designated area, i.e. a peepad or outside. walk it around outdoors or sit it on the pad until it pees or poos, then praise it , pet it and give it a treat. if it has an accident inside don't spank it with you hand or anything else. gently put its nose where it can smell what it did, take it to the designated area and then give it a treat. it will associate treats with going in the right place and will learn after a bit that the place you take it is where it's supposed to go. it takes some time so be patient. just remember, no spanking and don't stick it's nose INTO the soiled area, you wouldn't want someone to shove your nose in it..
hope this helps.