In this article we look at how to avoid daytime accidents when house training your new puppy or dog (in Part I we looked at totally eliminating night-time accidents). Avoiding accidents is very important, because the fastest possible learning is errorless learning.

In Part I of this article series we discussed crate training to eliminate night-time accidents. During the day, it is ok to crate puppy when you can’t supervise. At those times, any accidents are avoided by use of the crate, however we can’t (nor would we want to) crate puppy all day!

Puppies need to be taken outside to toilet after every meal, every drink, immediately upon waking, and immediately after play. It is not uncommon to take a new puppy outside to toilet every hour or even more! Just remember, you won’t need to do this for ever and the more disciplined you are, the less accidents you will have, and the faster puppy will learn to go to the toilet outside only.

If puppy does have an accident, relax. It’s not the end of the world. If you catch puppy (or dog) in the act, then give a quick “no!” to interrupt and quickly lead puppy or dog outside to finish his business. Clean up the mess with an enzyme-based cleaner to remove the smell entirely. Puppies and dogs tend to go where they can smell previous urinations, enzyme cleaner is the only effective way to remove these odours.

Ignore the old advice about rubbing a dog’s nose in it. It doesn’t work at all, it is cruel, and it will only confuse your dog. Invest your time in the more effective techniques outlined in this article. If you have successfully house trained a dog this way in the past, I can assure you it was other factors which eventually got the dog house-trained.

When your puppy or dog does toilet outside, tell them how good they are. You can even give a little treat at the end, or play a game to reward such good behavior.

If you know that puppy or dog is about to go to the toilet outside, try to put the behavior on cue. Say “do wee” or “do your business”. With repetition and reward, puppy or dog will learn to go to the toilet on cue, which is very handy particularly if you are house-training an older dog.

If you have this behavior on cue, you can use planned toilet breaks and ask for the behavior. That way you will know when your dog last went to the toilet, rather than making assumptions or guessing. Older dogs with reduced bladder capacity may need to go on a schedule to avoid accidents. Puppies who are crated need to empty their bladders before being crated.

Dogs Who Live in Apartments

Some dogs will need to learn to use a litterbox as outside access is not always convenient. The instructions are exactly the same, but instead of taking puppy outside, place puppy in the litter tray.

Really Tough Cases

Some dogs, through prior learning, are more difficult to house train. I would always suggest a vet check to rule out medical causes, there are many medical reasons why a puppy or dog is difficult to house train.

If you have an older dog, perhaps a rescue, who is difficult to toilet train, it might be appropriate to tether your dog to you during the day using a leash tied to your belt. That way, your dog is always with you and you will pick up the signs that he or she needs to go to the toilet.

The Waiting Game

Some dogs or puppies, when taken outside to go to the toilet, will procrastinate. They will want to check everything out, or will just lay around and not go. You can avoid this by giving only a set amount of time to go to the toilet. Wait a maximum of 60 seconds, if your dog hasn’t done his business, come back inside. Wait 3 or 4 minutes, then try again (if you are sure a toilet break is due). Consistency and discipline early in the game will pay big dividends later.

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of Positive Petzine, a free resource for people training their own dogs. Join now, and for a limited time you can download all available back issues (a $29.95 value) for free!

If you are having toilet training difficulties, it is definitely worth joining for more information.