Ali Ramsey Dog Trainer

Toilet Training

Toilet training is one of the things that most new dog owners dread as nobody enjoys finding a pool of pee or worse on their kitchen floor! Luckily toilet training can be really easy to achieve with your new dog providing you commit to a consistent routine setting both them and you up to succeed.

Getting Started

Before you even bring your new dog home ask yourself where would I let them to go? If you have a designated spot in mind that is great. You can teach your puppy to use this space by bringing them to that particular spot and reinforcing with fuss, praise and a tasty treat when they go to the toilet. You can encourage them to use this area by placing a small amount of faeces or a pee soaked paper towel (if they have had an accident in the house). Encourage them with lots of praise if they investigate this area and in time they should see this as a safe space that smells like somewhere that they should toilet in.

If they go somewhere else in the garden don’t be tempted to make a fuss just remember to try and get them to the toilet area next time. Some dogs, particularly sensitive or nervous puppies or adults dogs with a history of being punished for toileting may find it hard to go out in the open with someone watching. As crazy as it might sound, these guys would really benefit from a wooden privacy screen or some hedging to hide behind. Going to the toilet is a vulnerable thing (this is why some dogs won’t toilet out on walks) and having this feature may help to speed up the training process.

Some dogs also struggle to toilet on a hard non-absorbent surface such as concrete or brick so you may need to take this into account when you are picking the “spot”. Also puppies can develop something knows as substrate preference. This means that when a puppy feels a certain texture under its feet is learns that it where they need to go. Depending on your puppy’s or adult dog’s early learning they may think certain floor surfaces means they have found the loo e.g. puppy pads feel a lot like your living room rug!

In order to help your new dog learn that toileting happens outside set a timer to go off on the hour ever hour when they first go home. This will remind you that you need to give them the opportunity to empty themselves. This not only helps practice the behaviour you want but it also eliminates any opportunity for them to have an accident in the house.

It is important to remember that you need to go with your dog so you can be there to tell them “good job” when they get it right. Studies suggest dog very much live in the moment and possibly only have a few seconds between and action and a consequence to make the connection and realise the two are related. What this means in terms of toilet training is that if you leave the back door open all day for your dog to potter in and out and 5 minutes after you spotted them going to the toilet through the window they come back inside and you make a big fuss, your dog thinks “god I am so good at coming back inside” and not “god I am so good at peeing against that tree”!

So what should you do if they go inside?

If your dog or puppy has an accident inside, no matter if you have just stepped in it in your bare feet, you must treat it as a non-event. It is an accident and remember if it occurred more than 2 seconds ago, the dogs doesn’t know what the fuss is about! Tradition training which advised you punish your dog for these mistakes misread what was happening when the dog “knew it was bad, as it looked guilty”. Instead the dog is reading the change in our body language and tone of voice that indicate we are angry or confrontational and in turn offer calming or appeasing body language in response.

Equally if your dog toilets in front of you inside the house telling them off will only damage your relationship with them and potentially teach them “it is not safe to toilet in front of that person”. So now how are you going to praise them for going outside if they now won’t go in front of you? Also punished dogs will often hold for hours on end and at the first opportunity when they find themselves alone relieve themselves – often in another room or behind the sofa etc.

  So you have just discovered a poo or pee on the floor

Pop them into another room and clean up. Antibacterial household clearers contain ammonia so although they smell nice and clean to us, they actually smell of pee to a sensitive dog nose. Biological washing powder contains enzymes that completely break down all urine and faecal matter, leaving the area looking and most importantly smelling clean

Key toilet trip times

As mentioned above when your first toilet training your dog, remember on the hour every hour. Once they have started to show signs that they are holding to go outside you can gradually start extending this time to 90 minutes, 2hrs etc.

• Day time naps are important for both puppies and dogs as they, in fact need much more sleep then us humans, with the average adult dog needing up to 14hrs sleep a day. So if they nap through the alarm make sure you are bringing them out as soon as they wake up.

• Running around playing is a great way to get the body moving, in all respects, so your dog might well need to go to the toilet as soon as the fun stops. Remember, some dogs don’t like to go to the toilet when out on their walks, so if your guy or girl is like this, as soon as you get home bring them straight out to the loo.

• For some dogs what goes in, must come out, very quickly! Give your dog the opportunity to go out to the toilet as soon as they have finished eating.

• If you find that they are reluctant to go in front of you, play a game in the garden, which will hopefully reduce any anxiety they are feeling and have the added benefit of getting the dog’s bowels & bladder moving.

• Remember to keep your garden clean by picking up after your dog daily and keep their access to their toilet area clear of clutter. If you think about it, who wants to go to the loo in a dirty cramped toilet!