Potty Training Tips

In the litter area of their nursery, they have a box filled with pine wood pellets.  That is where they use the bathroom if they are not outside.  When your puppy comes home, we will include a bag of these pine wood pellets in your puppy pack.  We recommend that you take the bag and dump it in a spot in your yard that you want the puppy to potty in.  For the first week or so, take him/her to that spot and use whatever word that you plan to use (“potty,” etc).  Remember to take a training treat outside with you, so that as soon as the puppy goes, you give a treat and lots of praise.  There is nothing magic about the wood pellets, but it does have a distinct smell that your puppy already associates with “potty,” and this lets them know why they are in the yard, and what it is time to do.

For the first few days at least, we recommend taking the puppy out every hour during the day (if you are away from home and the puppy is in a crate or playpen, this doesn’t apply).  The key is to give them plenty of opportunity to use the bathroom in the appropriate place, and not need to eliminate while inside the house, so that you don’t develop bad habits that you have to break.

At night, whoever is the last in the house to go to bed should take the puppy out one last time.  They should be able to give you a good long stretch at night by the time they come home.

In regards to crate training, if you plan to use a crate, we recommend getting one that has a divider, so that you can make it smaller while they are little, and it can grow with them.  You will want to put the divider in so that the puppy can comfortably turn around and lay down in their crate, without being able to make a corner to use the bathroom in.