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In today’s episode Kayla Fratt of Journey Dog Training and Marissa Martino of Paws & Reward talk about house training your puppy! Everyone’s favorite pastime! The first half of the show walks you through a specific case study and during the second half of the show they share their ideal puppy house training set up.
Perfect PUPPY house training set up:
PREPARATION:
- Tools needed:
- Ex pen
- Shower liner mat
- Litter box area
- Crate
- How to Crate Train
Process:
- Take the puppy outside every hour, more frequently if the puppy has been playing, sleeping, eating, or drinking.
- The puppy is only allowed out of the crate/pen area with active supervision (read about active versus passive versus reactive supervision here).
- Make sure all potty breaks are on leash and boring until the puppy is empty.
- If the puppy doesn’t go to the bathroom, place the puppy back into the crate/pen area for 10 minutes and then try again outside.
- If the puppy is crying, take the puppy out and see if they need to go potty. Make sure it is a short and quick break.
- If accidents happen, clean them up and try again. Keep note of when and where accidents happen to see if there are any behavioral patterns.
- Pick up water before bedtime if puppy is having a lot of accidents at night. This applies to puppies that are 12 weeks or older. Expect midnight breaks for super young pups.
- Add one hour per month of age to support building bladder control ONLY after the puppy understands the concept of holding it.
Other resources:
Journey Dog Training Resources:
Kayla founded Journey Dog Training in 2013 to provide high-quality and affordable dog behavior advice. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant who’s worked with hundreds of private clients, thousands of shelter dogs, and dozens of working detection dogs. Kayla’s dog and cat behavior advice has been featured in NPR, the Chicago Tribune, and Pet MD. She’s an avid adventurer who is currently doing #vanlife on the Pan-American Highway with her two border collies and a cat. Aside from running Journey Dog Training, Kayla also runs the nonprofit K9 Conservationists, where she and the dogs work as conservation detection dog teams. You can get 1:1 advice with a Journey Dog Training team member here.
