At ALMC we begin potty training the day they are born.  What I mean by this is we keep the puppies in a “child’s size” swimming pool that they are born in until they are 3 weeks of age.  During their stay in this confided area they have a small blanket that they all sleep on and the rest of the pool floor is covered in newspapers.  They begin at this early age to pee/poop on the newspaper, as they won’t naturally eliminate where they sleep, which again is the blanketed section of the pool.

After 3 weeks of age the puppies are big enough to crawl out of the kiddy pool so they are moved down into our sun-room.  We push the furniture in this room off to one side and lay down a fake linoleum floor, this area is then fenced.  Newspaper is placed in front of the patio doors and about 5’ out into the room from the first day they spend there throughout that 1st week.  Each week thereafter the newspaper is moved closer to the door, leaving less and less newspaper each week for the pups to eliminate on.  The puppies, again from the previous set up, head for the newspapers to do their business on, albeit an occasional miss…, thus the beginning of controlling themselves till they get to the newspapers.  When the weather is nice the puppies are taken out as a group to the grass in our backyard and told to “go potty”.   They begin to get the concept that “outside” is where they should be doing their business and the newspaper is their backup plan.

Once the puppies go to their forever homes, I suggest placing a few sheets of newspaper at the door you will be using to take your pup outside for potting.  If you choose to use the “bell system”, this is the time you would hang your bells on that door and each time you take your puppy outside you’ll tap the bells with your pup’s front foot, till puppy gets the idea himself, (this will take some time, but be consistent, it does work).   I’m often asked how often should I be taking my puppy outside to potty, the following schedule is pretty close to accurate!  Puppies will need to go out to eliminate after eating, drinking, playing or after waking up from a sleep, plus some extra times in between. Carry your puppy outside each hour and a half during the day, and put him/her in the spot where you want puppy to eliminate. Give puppy a few minutes to get over the excitement of being outside, and then puppy should go potty.  Say your phrase that you have chosen for your puppy to hear when outside going potty, i.e. “go potty”, or whatever you decide on as a family to use.  THEN PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!

If your puppy happens to have an accident inside the house do NOT put puppy’s nose in it. Your puppy learns nothing from doing this except to possibly fear you!

Restrict the area your puppy has to run about indoors to one room or part of one room, unless you are prepared to watch him every minute. Utilize the crate that we’ve already trained your puppy to use, (at least at night).  Begin crating for two to three hour periods during the daytime to help the puppy to strengthen its bowels and bladder and to teach it that it does not always get to go immediately when it feels the inclination.  Don’t be afraid to crate the puppy whenever someone isn’t playing with the pup or watching it.  Remember you’ll be crating your puppy whenever you leave for errands during the day, so brief periods of time during the day while you’re home will soon become the norm to your puppy.  Once your puppy is “trustworthy” you can just leave the crate door open and your puppy will find solace in going in and out of his create on his own when he desires to do so.