New puppy training

[jenlradle74]

Hello all. I am new here, just purchased the training program 2 days ago. I am currently most interested in potty training....but, in looking through all the course material, I can't seem to locate any potty training guidance 😕 can someone please tell me where to look...

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, and welcome to the Brain Training Course,

There is a section on potty training filed under the puppy section in the archive. You can access the archive here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/

Feel free to post in the forum if you are encountering a particular issue.

Best,

Adrienne

[kamilla86]

We are trying to potty train our 8 wk old border collie. She'll do really good going on puppy pads and then randomly go on the floor or we will take her in the back yard FOREVER letting her have time to go and all she wants to do is eat the grass only to pee/poop on the floor when coming in....

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello Kamilla86, thanks for the update. At 8 weeks, your puppy is very young and hasn't attained yet much bladder and bowel control so it's pretty normal to have some accidents here and there. It's is also not uncommon for some puppies to pee and poop when back inside. There can be several reasons for this and it may take a bit of investigative work to find the exact cause. Here are a few possibilities:

 

-Your puppy is overstimulated when outside. Perhaps the area designated to go potty may be too over stimulating for the puppy, and with puppies having short attention spans, they can quickly get distracted. With all this sensory overload, things to sniff and explore, and the excitement to stretch their legs, young puppies may get distracted to the point of forgetting that they need to go potty. Only once back inside the home, where things get dull again, they realize the urgency and have an accident right there on the spot.

 

Tips: Avoid talking and interacting with your puppy when she is sent out to potty. If you want to praise your puppy for going potty, don't interrupt her, do so only after she has completely emptied her bladder and bowels. If you play in the yard with your puppy, make sure you play after she has gone potty. If she is focused on eating grass, you can keep her on leash (if she's used to it) and take her to an area without grass if feasible. Move her away enticing her to follow you when she starts the grass-eating behavior. Walk her around the yard. It's a known fact that movement increases motility. When she goes, lots of praise and reward and let her then off leash to play and explore.

 

-She may be looking for her puppy pad. This is a little known fact, but puppies tend to form a substrate preference by the time they are 8 and a half weeks old. This simply means that puppies develop a preference for using a particular surface to use as their potty by this age. So if your puppy is used to using pee pads inside, she may be be simply looking for her familiar pee pad even once outside. You can try bringing a pad outside and see if she goes and if your goal is getting her to potty exclusively outside you can start gradually transitioning her to grass by taking outside a pad and encouraging your puppy to use that. Gradually, the pad may be reduced in size or may be covered gradually with more and more grass until the puppy learns to exclusively potty on grass.

 

-Try training your puppy to go potty on command. This can take a bit of time to master but it will help on many occasions in the long run: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/

 

-Consider that grass is irritating to the digestive tract and some puppies with an upset stomach may be attracted to grass. Too much grass may also cause blockages in small puppies if eaten in substantial amounts. Mowing the grass short may help discourage the behavior. While puppies may eat grass out of pure curiosity, should your puppy appear ill or have signs of GI issues, you may need to have her see the vet to tackle the underlying cause.

 

-Use the right cleaning products for cleaning messes indoors. Puppies having accidents in the home after being outside may be smelling a previously soiled area which entices them to go in the same spot over and over. Make sure you use an enzyme-based cleaner that removes all traces of odors.

 

-Avoid scolding a puppy for having accidents. This only teaches puppies to pee and poop when you are not around. Puppies peeing or pooping inside the house after being outside may be holding it when supervised outside, and then once inside, they may poop inside behind a couch out of sight or their strong urge to go by now has overridden their fear of being scolded.

 

-Last but not least, if this is happening often, since you know exactly when this behavior takes place and you can anticipate it, keep the door open when coming back inside and promptly escort your pup back outside so that she can eliminate there. This gives your pup a chance to succeed by showing her you want her to go outdoors. Make sure you lavishly praise and reward when she eliminates outdoors.

 

 

 

Hope this helps!

Edited November 2, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli