Let me first point out, I’m no expert. The information that I provide is based on my personal experiences and research.
I truly believe that dogs make the world a better place. They complete a home, and in many cases, complete a person. And because of that, I’m happy that you’ve chosen to bring a puppy into your home.
Bringing a puppy home is exciting…and also a bit overwhelming when you try and figure out how are you going to house train this little bundle full of teeth, piss and poop. Here’s some info that I hope you find helpful on the matter.
Piss & Poop
Tip #1: Be patient. A scared or intimidated puppy is not going to learn. Be patient and know that accidents are going to happen….a lot….but it will get better and all of a sudden, bam – you’ll have a house trained pup.
Tip #2: The greatest advice ever given to me was this – for however months old the pup is, that’s roughly how many hours they can go before they need to poop or pee. So if your pup is only 2 months old, guess what, that pup needs to pee every 2 hours. Now that doesn’t mean you need to get up every 2 hours during the night – just know that during the night or anytime you are gone for several hours, your pup needs to be able to relieve itself (more on this a little later).
Tip #3: Take them outside to use the bathroom after any of the following:
- They just woke up from a nap.
- They just finished eating or drinking.
- They just finished playing.
And if you are using a doggy doorbell (which I do recommend), have them give it a ring before you open the door and take them out.
Tip #4: Reward them for successful trips outside. Dogs love to please so reward them when they meet or exceed expectations with treats and praise. You may also want to use a training clicker. There are plenty of good resources and YouTube videos on using a clicker.
Tip #5: Night time behavior. I stole this one from another site and thought it was well stated. “Pick up your puppy’s water dish about two and a half hours before bedtime to reduce the likelihood that they’ll need to relieve themselves during the night. Most puppies can sleep for approximately seven hours without needing a bathroom break. If your puppy does wake you up in the night, don’t make a big deal of it; otherwise they will think it is time to play and won’t want to go back to sleep. Turn on as few lights as possible, don’t talk to or play with your puppy, take them out and then return them to bed.”
Tip #6: Do NOT give them access to an entire room. Puppies should have small, dedicated areas for sleep, play, and if needed – potty. We use the following set up for our litters:
- Metal crate for dedicated sleeping area. Fluffy beds not recommended. At most, a small blanket.
- Small play area. We use foam tiles covered with inexpensive moving blanket.
- Litter box. We have found that a shallow box lid or tote filled with wood burning pellets works really well. You can also place puppy pads over the wood pellets if they are hesitant to use the pellets in the beginning.
This is a great resource for a crate/puppy playpen setup.
During the night, crate them and take them out if they wake you (as mentioned in rule #5). During the day, if you are gone for many hours, you will likely want to use a setup such as what I’ve outlined above.
Teeth
So the sweet, furry, bundle of love also comes with some sharp little teeth. Puppies love to chew. Chew on your hand, your foot, your favorite pair of shoes. They may be chewing to help relieve discomfort of new teeth or because they are bored…and sometimes perhaps, to relieve anxiety.
Here are a few things that I recommend to help the chewing/destruction concerns:
Tip #1: If you don’t want it to be chewed on, keep it out of reach. Find a new place for shoes to gather.
Tip #2: Make sure the pup has plenty of toys that are acceptable to chew on. Don’t get toys that resemble shoes or other items they are not allowed to chew on. I recommend strong rope type of toys. Pay attention to the types of toys that keep him chewing for long periods of time and continue to offer those. It’s ideal to introduce something new or rotate your dog’s chew toys every couple of days so that he doesn’t get bored with the same old toys. Identify times of the day when your dog is most likely to chew and give him a puzzle toy filled with something delicious. Save some money and explore homemade toys. One of the puppy favorites at our house is an empty water bottle (such as a Kroger brand water) with the lid off so that it’s easy to crush/flatten stuffed inside a tub sock that is tied off. The pups love the crushing sound!
Tip #3: Do not punish your dog after-the-fact. So you came home and found the pup had chewed up the book you were reading that was left on the coffee table. It’s too late to punish him. If you scream/hit/punish the pup now, he has no idea what he did wrong to deserve it.
Tip #4: Ensure your pup is getting enough exercise. If the chewing continues and is destructive, your dog may not be getting enough exercise. Poodles are intelligent dogs and may need more exercise, more stimulation, to combat boredom.
There are many great resources for house training but I’ve continued to be impressed with the videos and information provided on YouTube by How To Train A Dream Dog https://www.youtube.com/c/HowToTrainADreamDog/featured
We hope you find this information helpful and welcome your feedback.