"Every time a puppy goes potty outside and angel gets their wings"
I wish I'd saved all the clips I took of Luna going outside to go potty because she was extraordinary good at it. And when you're talking about an eight, nine, sixteen week old puppy that is a pretty big deal. Did she potty inside, sometimes and you could almost always connect that event with her outside visits being bypassed due to forgetting she would need to go outside.
Potty training can be the bugaboo of new dog guardianship. The popularity of the bell system of potty training has given many the illusion that dogs are born with a ‘tell your human you need to potty’ chip. Rarely do puppies arrive in their new families with a distinct indication signal that they need to eliminate. There was a time when humans knew this so we took them out as often as we thought they needed to go out establishing healthy potty habits. These habits belong to everyone in the family, not just the newest member.
Luna excelled at the potty right outside the door ritual. As a mission centric creature, that was part of who she was. The door outside the garage was the easiest to get to so that was the designated Potty Door.
Potty training can be a source of strife or the beginning of connection. That is up to us because we are framing the presentation and practice. Our dogs are along for the ride on this one because we, almost always, control access to a safe and timely place for the puppy to eliminate.
Luna would eliminate in the house until she was about six months old ~*~if~*~ she was not taken out for an extended length of time. That was absolute evidence that had she been taken outside it would not have happened. It’s all okay because mistakes happen. I prefer to frame this with responsibility on the human because the human has access to the doorknobs. The more we place responsibility on the dog the less likely we are to resolve the underlying misunderstandings in our work with our puppy.
For the most part Luna would eliminate right outside of the door, whichever door you let her out from, for all of her life .
This is the beginning of how we set her up to go potty outside and she pretty much took it from here forward as something to check off of her 'mission accomplished' list:
Healthy Potty Practice
The following is effective at helping most families establish a predictable potty routine for your puppy. If there are impediments to successful house training that is individual and needs to be addressed on a case by case basis
Select a potty spot. Should be easily accessible from a door in your home for simple repetitions of go outside, potty, return to inside (which I always name and reinforce to create a dog who happily comes back in with their human).
Potty Opportunities Happen:
After all snoozed and sleeps: “Waking up” = “Taking Puppy Outside”
If dog is loose in their area, they should automatically go out every 25 minutes
Upon leaving the crate
After consuming food or water: This is an absolute truth. This will never change so negotiating a different system will be less successful than going with what is tried, tested and proven.
When visitors to the home (setting an alarm on your phone may be helpful to you):
Friends and family - Take puppy outside with company and set timer to remind you to give Puppy another potty opportunity as we tend to lose track of time when we’re visiting.
Contractors - The sounds of tools and work boots may upset Puppy or they may not. Pay attention to how Puppy is processing the sounds, sights and smells of work being done in your home and, as with friends and family, take Puppy out more often. If there are people working outside, then take Puppy to a different area if they are too distracted to potty.
Coworkers or Tutors - When you have work based visitors you will have a different management plan for your puppy. Factor in a trip outside for Puppy when they first arrive as well as trips outside if your work time goes longer than an hour.
Eliminating is a biological necessity and innately reinforcing. Creating an optimistic Potty Practice makes it a learning and teaching opportunity for the family. Everytime Puppy eliminates outside everybody is winning!
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