Step 1) where will you keep your pup when your away? (crate, play pen, Room)

 

Remember that if you work long hours a puppy can only hold it for so long, and if gone longer then the time they can hold it, they may urinate or defecate in their crate. This is not a habit you want to begin so as best you can, do not allow your pup to have no other option but to potty in their crate.

a 3 month old puppy can hold it comfortably for about 4 hours always add one hour to the age in months and that is about how long they can hold it.

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limit your dog being in a crate to 6 hours max, even that is pushing it. If you are gone longer than 6 hours you might wanna think about a play pen or setting your dog up in a room with toys, chews, a bed, food & water Ect. You also might wanna think about getting help from a family member, a friend, or even a trusted dog sitter/walker to come and let your pup out for some exercise & attention.

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Step 2) When to take your puppy out potty

More than likely these are the times you are going to want to take your pup out and encourage them to go

• After meals

• After they drink water 

• After they wake up from a nap 

• After a vigorous play session

• Shortly after walking

• When overly excited 

• After a stressful or overstimulating event 

These events play a role in when your pup is most likely gonna have to go, however just to be safe i would also suggest taking them out every hour so you give them optimal opportunities to go

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Step 3) How to reinforce potting outside and what to do if they have an accident

Whenever you take your pup out, always take them out on a leash and if not a leash go out with them and watch them making sure they go both pee and poop. In the act of going your going to say "Potty" or even "poop" if you want to teach your dog both. when your pup is finished give them lots of praise and a small training treat. do not wait until your puppy gets inside to give them a treat so they do not associate the treat with coming inside instead of the potting outside itself. The more you reinforce your puppy going outside the more they will learn that going outside and relieving themselves is what is reinforcing and they will soon start to tell you they have to go. You can speed this process up by using a potty bell.

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If your puppy has an accident in the house and you did not see it. There is nothing you can do except clean it up with a really good enzymatic cleaner so that the pup cannot smell where they have gone and continue to go back to that area to relieve themselves. This should be an indication to you, that you need to watch your puppy more closely next time so you can look for signs that the pup needs to go such as sniffing, going out of sight, or circling. If you do catch your dog doing these things interrupt them immediately but do not yell or startle them this can lead to them becoming scared and running off and that is not our intent, our intent is to show them the right choice to make. So interrupt and immediately say "potty outside"pick them up if you need to or have them follow you to the door and encourage them to go outside and again lots of praise and reinforcing if they go.

 

If you catch your dog in the middle of the act...at this point you really are too late. Some people tend to want to yell, hit, or rub their pups nose in its potty for going in the house. Do not do this...these methods are counterproductive and teach your dog nothing. If anything it teaches your pup to fear you or even fear going in front of you, so they will then start to go out of sight and hide it from you.

 

If you have ever seen a dog act guilty and yet you didn't even see the mess yet. You may assume "well they know that they did wrong" or " I know they did something wrong because they look guilty" that is in fact not the case. The dog has just associated going potty and then shortly after getting punished, hit and yelled at so when they see you they are trying to appease you because of the association they have made with you many times before shortly after the accident. So do dogs experience guilt? Well guilt would be the act of feeling bad that they have wronged you in some way and dogs do not experience this emotion. They are more so about keeping peace and trying to avoid being scared, hurt, or treated unfairly so they are very good at appeasing to try and calm an angry or frustrated person to avoid being hurt. Dogs are great at reading body language, facial expressions, and sensing emotions as well. 

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So if you catch your dog in the act...although you are to late you can still try to interrupt and take them outside anyways just so they can associate where you wanted them to go instead. The biggest mistake when it comes to potty training is just not watching enough. 

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Trouble shooting: 

1) My dog will be outside for awhile and then come in and potty? 

If your dog tends to do this, they have been given to much freedom. Leash them up and take them to a certain spot to relieve themselves. Once you see they have done both the reward is freedom in the yard without being on a leash. A lot of times what happens is pups get so distracted and start playing and exploring that they forget they need to go. Then you bring them into the house where hardly any distractions exist compared to outside and they remember they need to relieve themselves. Teach your puppy the expectation of potty first, play later. If they do not go within 10 minutes, bring them inside wait 5 minutes and take them right back out. 

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2) My dog goes poop/pee outside then comes in and goes again?

If you notice this pattern I call these dogs the "second pooper's" they go outside and then go again inside. The deal with this is they just are not relieving themselves completely. Try keeping them out a bit longer to see if they will relieve themselves a second time or after they have relieved themselves once reward and take them inside. Watch them very good for the next 10 minutes and take them right back out to go again repeat this until the pattern is eliminated. 

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