A lot of times I will receive inquiries from puppy and dog owners who after months of allowing their dog to potty in the house, will decide they need to potty train their dog. Many times they’ve given up on crate training (or discarded the crate entirely), have given their dog free roam of too much square footage, and also allow their dog to navigate around the house unsupervised (would you allow a baby learning to crawl or walk around an area unsupervised?…no.). This is unfair to the dog for many reasons: for as long as you have “allowed” the behavior of going to the bathroom inside the house with lack of management, interruption, or structure; you have been teaching your dog to go to the bathroom inside. So how can you be mad at what you’ve taught? So instead of allowing this behavior to continue on, potty training is a critical skill that should be addressed immediately.
I often encourage dog owners to take on training with a very black and white attitude vs. a very emotional view. We want to constantly advocate for the animal in the best interest of the animal. This means putting our emotions aside. The more diligent and consistent you can communicate the rules and boundaries to your puppy or dog, the better they will respond. Too many times I hear people making excuses such as “feeling bad” for the dog being crated or their dog “doesn’t like” grass. My recommendation:
1) start right away
Do not wait until a problem has become a problem. When you first bring your new puppy or dog home one of the first things I encourage is introducing them to their safe place: their crate. When people tell me they “do not believe” in crating a dog, I am not even sure what that means. Crate training (in my opinion) is one of the critical core foundational skills that should be taught. What happens if you need to travel and the VRBO or hotel requires your dog being crated when you leave the premises? What happens when your dog is spayed or neutered and requires limited activity or crate rest? What do you do when you need to board your dog and your dog needs to be confined for feeding or safety? What about if your dog gets injured and requires a trip to the vet or emergency hospital and they need to confine your dog in between patients? What happens if your dog injures itself and needs limited activity? So beyond managing potty training, there are multiple other reasons crate training should be addressed right away.
2) have a clear and consistent structure
Before bringing any animal into your life you should always carefully evaluate what you are getting yourself into. This means evaluating your family dynamic, your financial situation, your travel plans, your work schedule, your commitment to training and overall care, the feasibility of your environment…and the list goes on. Just like children, puppies and dogs do well with clear and consistent rules and boundaries. When you bring an animal into your home you should have a plan regarding their schedule and rules amongst family members so everyone can be as consistent as possible.
As you are crate training your dog (it goes hand in hand with potty training), it is my recommendation before bed to provide enough exercise to tire your puppy or dog out. I also like to limit and track water intake so I have and idea on how full a dog’s bladder will be. I also avoid feeding my dog right before bed. Typically, putting your dog 15-20 minutes before you go to bed allows your dog to settle away from you in the crate.
In the early stages you may find you are getting up in the middle of the night to let the dog out which is completely normal. I try to remain very neutral in middle of the night hours (as I never want whining or barking to grab my attention, generally), take the puppy out on a leash to a designated area and stay relatively disengaged besides when the dog is physically peeing or pooping as then I will cue the action and verbally reward. Upon completion the puppy should return directly back into the crate.
When morning rolls around I always suggest owners to take a couple of minutes BEFORE immediately releasing their dog from the crate. First reason being I do not want my motion triggering the dog thinking as soon as it sees me it should become over aroused because it is going to be let out. I like to take my time, go over to leash the puppy and go back to the designated potty spot. If I have kept an eye on when my dog normally goes to the bathroom, I then like to see that it does both. So, if my dog always pees and poops in the morning, if for some reason it does not do either of the actions I am expecting, I will put the dog back in the crate so I can avoid an accident occurring. If the dog DOES the actions I am expecting then the dog has earned a reward: freedom to be out of the crate — ACTIVELY SUPERVISED. If you have other plans like doing laundry, taking a shower, or emptying the dishwasher I highly encourage a monitored area such as a play pen (or crate) as you should not be leaving a young puppy (or dog who is not trained) unattended.