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One of the easiest ways to teach a pup or dog to eliminate in a particular place inside the home, is to make use of puppy pads - simply toss in dustpan after use. We also have Odour Control you can use, and everything you will need for elimination purposes for your cat. Do have a look on our website, and you are welcome to contact us if any question. www.mcmac.co.za
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Teaching a Pup to eliminate on paper or puppy pads - same procedure can be used for an adult dog, especially in an apartment
By Scotty Valadao – Friends of the Dog
It is not an ideal situation to keep a pup or dog in a flat or small townhouse without access to an outside elimination area, but in the event that this does happen, here is an easy way to teach your dog to eliminate on puppy pads or paper.
Dogs, by their very nature are clean animals, and will tend to eliminate away from bedding and food. The exception to this occurs when a pup is in a pet shop in a small cage with no access to a toilet area - retraining a pup that has had this experience is much harder, but following the procedure below, and with patience, it can be done.
How To:
Read the article below on right hand side which will tell you when a pup is more likely to eliminate and bring this into standard toilet training for when the pup is out of the puppy pen or designated room.
You can take the outside toilet training a step further if you want too, by carrying the pup to a designated area, away from where kids play, the verandah etc - always a good idea.
What can happen with some pups is that they develop a preferred substrate, such as newspaper or grass, and become unwilling to eliminate on any other substance. To stop this happening, take your pup on different surfaces while out for walks to get it used to different substrates.
Do bear in mind, that some breeds, and some pups will take longer than other to master this skill than other pups, and age can also come into play - this does not mean that the pup is stupid at all - just that dogs, like humans, master skills at different paces.
Dogs, by their very nature are clean animals, and will tend to eliminate away from bedding and food. The exception to this occurs when a pup is in a pet shop in a small cage with no access to a toilet area - retraining a pup that has had this experience is much harder, but following the procedure below, and with patience, it can be done.
How To:
- Set up an area for the pup which is big enough to hold the pup's bed with the food and water bowl close by the bed. Areas such as bathrooms, laundry rooms are ideal, and nowadays we have play pens available, which are far preferable as the pup can see the outside world. If you are using a bathroom or laundry, rather than shut the door, place a baby gate or similar in the opening of the door so that the pup can see out.
- Keep the pup in this area when not supervised
- Now line the whole area with puppy pads or newspapers, except for the bed and feeding area.
- Although this may sound strange, when you remove the soiled pads, always leave one soiled pad behind, and place in the corner which is further away. This pad can be replaced daily with a newer soiled pad. The reason for this is that dogs tend to prefer in an area which already smells like a toilet - we find that this method makes the toilet training process quicker. Replace the rest of the soiled pads.
- Over the next few days you will keep up this routine, and if you do happen to see the puppy going to eliminate, then reinforce this behaviour while the pup is in the process of eliminating, by saying 'good hurry ups - good potty', or whatever word you choose, and even give a treat the second the puppy finishes.
- Once you find that the pup is always going to the furthest corner to eliminate, you will start the next step. Do note, that some pups will cotton onto this new routine in a few days, while others you may need to wait a week or two.
- Now that puppy is associating the pads as the new toilet area, start to take away a few pads that closest to the bed and feeding area, leaving a small area with no pads. Every 2 or 3 days repeat, gradually making the toilet area smaller. It is essential not to go too quickly - you are putting down a solid foundation for toilet training, and not to be rushed.
- Continue as above until you only have about 4 or 5 pads in place - this will now become the designated toilet area.
Read the article below on right hand side which will tell you when a pup is more likely to eliminate and bring this into standard toilet training for when the pup is out of the puppy pen or designated room.
You can take the outside toilet training a step further if you want too, by carrying the pup to a designated area, away from where kids play, the verandah etc - always a good idea.
What can happen with some pups is that they develop a preferred substrate, such as newspaper or grass, and become unwilling to eliminate on any other substance. To stop this happening, take your pup on different surfaces while out for walks to get it used to different substrates.
Do bear in mind, that some breeds, and some pups will take longer than other to master this skill than other pups, and age can also come into play - this does not mean that the pup is stupid at all - just that dogs, like humans, master skills at different paces.
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