Potty training can be one of the most discouraging tasks when you first get a pup. Teaching them that their place to potty is not only outside, but also off the porch and in the grass, can be a sleepless 24/7 job, especially in the beginning.

Thankfully, with training and plenty of encouragement, an accident-prone little pup can become a good house-broken dog.

 

When it comes to the do’s and don’ts of potty training our little service dog in training, there are a few easy steps and rules that we have to keep in mind and follow on a daily basis.

 

First off is crate training – Carolina started crate training the day she got to my house. Crate training is one of the best tools to use when it comes to the complicated game of where she is, and isn’t allowed to potty. Making sure she has the right size crate as she grows into a mature young lady is key. It needs to be big enough for her to be comfortable, but not big enough for her to decide to renovate and add a bathroom to her cozy little home.

 

Everytime a pup pees or poops in the house or crate they are learning that they can get away with it, or worse that inside is the place to potty. In many cases the pups end up making an area in the house to potty and continue to have “accidents” there regularly. If I don’t catch Carolina in the act of having an accident then there nothing I can do but take a rolled up newspaper and whack myself on the head because I can only blame myself for the accidents. Whether it is for not taking her out regularly or not watching her for the little cues that most puppies give when they need to go out to potty.

 

Along with that I have to keep a close eye on her food and water intake, and cut off her water a few hours before bed so she can hold it all night.

First thing in the morning before anything else she goes outside to potty, I give her the command “Go potty!” As soon as she is finished I praise her, telling her that she is by far the smartest girl in the world and that I’m proud of her. Then I follow up with a treat for extra encouragement.

 

Throughout the day we follow this pattern after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as soon as she wakes up from a nap, if she has been playing hard, or just drank a ton of extra water due to this crazy heat!

 

There are so many more things that go into potty training. But I don’t feel like this blog would be complete without at least skimming the top of bell training.

Giving the pups a way to let us know they need to go out can be very beneficial. I have bells hanging on both my front and back door that Carolina will run to and ring whenever she wants to let me know she needs to potty. It can take weeks for a puppy to fully understand what ringing the bells actually means, and to go reliably ring them to go outside. This being said we are all thankful that Carolina taught herself about the bells in such a short amount of time. Now if we can just get her to teach all the other pups of the world!