Welcome to our series of puppy training tips, in this blog we'll cover puppy toilet training tips.
Congratulations on your puppy. Here at Pup Chic we love our dogs so much we started this business to create stylish quality dog accessories that not only look good but fit, especially for puppies! We don't just want to offer great products, we also want to share our words of wisdom. I'm Samantha and I have two toy poodles, my sister has three Alaskan Malamutes so we a thing or two about raising small and large breeds!
One thing which is the same with all puppies is toilet training. Some are great and go straight to the training pads when they need to go, others (like my Villanelle) walk straight over the puppy pad and instead go on your expensive rug! But at some point, ideally straight away, you want the to go outside whenever possible.
When should you take them for a toilet break
The general rule is to take them outside as soon as they stop doing something; stop playing, finish eating, just woke up. When puppies are young, they tend to go after they have stopped doing one of these activities.
How long can the go in between toilet breaks?
Generally a puppy can hold its bladder for an hour for every month it is in age. So at eight weeks old they will need to go every two hours, three months old three hours, and so on. This means you shouldn't really leave them home alone for longer than this, especially when you are trying to teach them to wait and go outside.
How to tell when they need to go
Now this is an interesting one, my two poodles are completely different. Darcy will paw at the balcony door if she needs the toilet (I have a Porch Potty there - more on that later), but if she has a dodgy tummy she will go to the front door to tell me she needs to go out out. Villanelle on the other hand, will jump up as if she wants a cuddle but lick my face and neck. They both understand "do you need the toilet/ wee wee?" Because I said that everything I took them out. I've added a bell on the balcony door and taught Darcy to ring it. Everything she wanted to go out I pushed the bell with my hand then opened the door. Then started putting her paw on it before opening the door. Villanelle uses it occasionally, but prefers her cuddle first!
What if you don't have a garden?
Not having a garden can be an issue for training, because you have to be quick to avoid accidents on the way from your flat to the outside. If you have a small breed, especially a girl, an astro turf toilet like a Porch Potty or a fresh grass Piddle Patch can be a great solution - the latter you simply replace regularly which can be expensive, whereas the Porch Potty needs regular cleaning and emptying (especially if you have an open balcony and neighbours below - remembering on rainy days is something I always need to remember! Darcy can wait until we go out now, but I still have it for those late night toilet breaks.
How often do the poo?
This varies on what you feed them. Some dogs can go multiple times a day. I walked a friend's dog once and he went six times on one walk! Raw fed dogs tend to go 1-2 times a day and produce smaller and cleaner poos - stay tuned for our raw feeding blog post if you are interested to learn more.