House Training Your
Dog Made Easy
From the Team at
Bondi Behaviourist
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on introducing a dog to your family. Whether you’ve adopted a rescue dog or bought the cutest 8-week old purebred puppy into your home, the rules for successfully toilet training your dog are the same. The more diligent you are in house training, the smoother and faster your new furry family member will learn.
At Bondi Behaviourist, we’ve spent years working with all sorts of dogs, all sizes, breeds and temperaments and collaborated with some of the top vets and animal behaviour experts from all corners of the globe. With more than four decades of experience between our team, we truly do understand how dogs think and feel, based on scientific research and experience—as much as a humanly possible that is.
Having worked all across the world, one of the most frequently asked questions we get from pet owners is “How do I toilet train my dog?”
Google it and you’ll get a myriad of answers. It seems these days, everyone who's owned a dog considers themselves to be an expert on toilet training. The advice on the Internet is endless and not all of it is correct. It ranges from ringing bells, taking your dog for a “boring” walk or spreading newspaper throughout the house to rubbing your dog’s nose in its mess. Every dog is unique. While there may be some great suggestions on the web, this book provides you with the foundation knowledge that can be applied to aspects of house training.
Dogs are not stupid but they don’t think like we do. No dog is untrainable. It takes persistence and patience and a whole lot of love.
Let’s get started so you and your new pup/rescue dog can live a harmonious life without your home becoming a free range litter box.
7 TOILET TRAINING TIPS
YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU TRIED
Establishing a toilet area
A grassy patch in the backyard where your dog feels safe is the ideal location to establish a toilet area. If you don’t have access to grass or a dirt patch, you may need to get creative with fake grass or a dog toilet from your local pet store. We don’t usually recommend puppy pads because they can confuse your dog. I
f puppy pads are your only option, using one location and one puppy pad provides more clarity for your pooch. Soft surfaces absorb the scent of urine longer, and so dogs are more inclined to gravitate towards them, hence why they will often go on carpets and rugs.
The first time your puppy does its business in the correct place, be sure to leave the pee or stools for several minutes so those odours have a chance to linger before cleaning it up. This allows your dog to pick up its scent with its highly sensitive nose, but not long enough to subject your family to the whiffy pong.
Top Tip #1
Place a water bowl near where you want your dog to carry out its business. If you ensure the only water bowl your dog has access to is near their toilet location, it naturally encourages your dog to independently migrate to this area. The more your dog becomes familiar with going outside to get water, the more likely they are to toilet out there. Keep in mind, lots of water bowls around the home will leave your dog with a lack of clarity. If your dog doesn’t have to go outside to access water, why would it? No dog will take the hardest path to get water if there’s an easier option right in front of their nose.
If you also feed and train near the established toilet area, the time spent outdoors builds familiarity with the area and your dog will learn it’s a place they can feel comfortable and relaxed. When a dog feels safe in a certain area, they are more likely to toilet there.
Trivia Fact #1
A dog’s nose is comparatively forty times more sensitive than a human nose. It’s little wonder it’s their number one method of gathering information. If your dog pees inside, even if you can’t smell it, your dog can. And smelling like a toilet indicates to your dog that it smells like the right place to poop and pee.
SET REGULAR
TOILET ROUTINES
As you are well aware, dogs are unable to communicate verbally, but they are still able to tell you in their own way—body language—and it’s up to you to learn it.
New puppies often require toileting soon after waking up, eating or drinking. It's best to take them outside immediately following any one of those activities. That’s the easy part. What’s harder is catching your pup from peeing inside when it’s exploring the house, especially if they haven’t had anything to eat or drink. Being distracted by new smells while free-roaming around the house can result in your dog’s muscles being relaxed, increasing the possibility of it being caught short. The best way to avoid indoor accidents is to take your pup outside to the toilet every 30 minutes. It can be easy to get distracted by cooking dinner, wrangling kids, carrying out housework or simply feeling lazy, so setting an alarm clock can serve as a good reminder that it’s toilet time. You can gradually increase the duration between alarms, so eventually your puppy will only need to go three or four times during the day,
Top Tip #2
The ideal time to set your alarm for is five minutes before the half hour is up, so your furry friend doesn’t have any indoor accidents.
Trivia Fact #2
When well trained, dogs have better bladder control than humans.
A new puppy is just like having a newborn. It’s hard work but the earlier you establish consistent routines, the sooner you can reap the rewards. The first 2-3 weeks, be consistent in getting up to let your puppy toilet once or twice a night. Over that time you can generally determine how long the pup can hold before needing to be let out. Further down the track your dog will learn to let you know when it wants to go outside. If you are someone who’s a heavy sleeper, you may need to set an alarm to remind yourself to get up during the night. Throwing down puppy pads and leaving your dog to its own devices—simply so you can get your beauty sleep—will only make house training tougher and create problem behaviour later down the track. Skip these vital steps and the longer training is going to take.
Top Tip #3
During the night encourage your dog to sleep in a small space such as a crate, pen or small room that prevents it from getting up and wandering around. Your dog will be far more inclined to sleep longer as they don’t usually soil their own beds.
Trivia Fact #3
The average healthy dog will produce approximately 10-20ml of urine for approximately every 500g of body weight per day.
USE REWARDS AND
POSITIVE REINFORCMENT
Positive reinforcement and rewards will always be a more successful training method than using force or punishment. If a dog consistently gets rewarded for letting you know when it wants to go outside or does it’s business outdoors, it will learn to associate these actions with rewards, and will keep repeating these actions to reap the benefits. Food and verbal praise are great ways to reward your furry friend. When the dog is doing its business in the desired location, simply wait for the moment that it finishes then say ‘good’ and follow this straight up with its favourite food reward. Consistently rewarding this behaviour makes it more likely your dog will repeat it in the future.
Punishment methods for making mistakes will do more harm than good. Using physical force, rubbing its nose in its mess, yelling or shaming may temporarily stop any unwanted behaviour, but it may also turn your loving pup into a dog that suffers from anxiety and stress. Your dog will stop trusting you, not only in toilet training but in all other aspects of your relationship. It may start hiding behaviours by sneaking off to the toilet where you won’t see them, rather than go outside. No one wants to find nasty surprises behind sofas and in spare rooms.
Top Tip #4
You need to catch your dog right before it’s about to go. As soon as you can, use a neutral noise to distract your dog, such as a clap, whistle or by calling their name. Usually, hey will instantly stop what they were doing and cast their attention to you. This provides you with the opportunity to encourage your dog outside. Catching them in the act of actually peeing or pooping is often too late, the dog won’t be able to cut itself off but will feel uncomfortable if we are too harsh. Interrupting this moment is not advised so we don’t cause any nervousness of you when it comes to toileting.
Trivia Fact #4
Dogs live in the present and are not capable of regret or guilt. They are not able to reflect on their behaviour in a moral sense. You have 0.5 seconds to catch them in the act. Whether praising something they got right or stepping in on unwanted behaviour, you need to do it immediately otherwise your dog’s mind has moved on to what they are currently doing at that exact moment.
LEARN TO READ
THE SIGNALS
Pay attention to the signs and signals your dog is giving you. Sniffing, circling, whining, pacing, stiff legs and barking are indications they are getting ready to get down to business. If you fail to pay attention to their body language and then your dog has an accident inside, it’s not the dog’s fault— it’s yours for failing to pay attention. Your dog may develop its own methods of getting your attention or alerting you to their needs such as barking at the door or a paw to the head during the middle of the night.
Top Tip #5
Dogs live in the present and are not capable of regret or guilt. They are not able to reflect on their behaviour in a moral sense. Within 0.5 seconds of doing a behaviour, the dogs mind has moved on to what it is currently doing in that moment, so there is no point in punishing a dog retrospectively. Whether praising something they got right or stepping in on unwanted behaviour, you need to do it immediately or the opportunity is lost.
Trivia Fact #5
Holding on and not toileting (or excessive toileting during walks) could be a confidence issue. If your dog is nervous or hyper-aroused on walks, seek the help of a trainer to assess the problem and assist with toilet training.
Puppies don’t come house-trained no matter what rubbish a breeder tries to tell you. If your pup needs to pee if you notice the following behaviours:
Circling
Sniffing
Stiff legs
Pacing
Whining
Sneaking off into another room
These are signals it’s time to take your pup to his/her toilet location. Your pup will most likely also want to pee 10-15 minutes after eating or drinking, waking up and playtime.
Top Tip #6
Dogs will go to the toilet where they feel most comfortable. Depending on the dog, it may be a spot closer to where the family is so they can keep an eye on things and see what’s going on. As your dog gets more comfortable with going outside you can gradually increase the distance. Some dogs are nervous and easily distracted. Others just plain don't like being disturbed. so it’s important to cater to the individual needs of your puppy.
Trivia Fact #6
Never assume because your dog is house trained in one house, that it will automatically house trained at a friend’s house or if you relocate. Dogs don’t distinguish rooms the way we do. Where we see kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and gardens, dogs see them as completely separate and isolated spaces where they will learn based on experience in a specific environment. What’s appropriate behaviour to them is often not what is appropriate to us.
BE STRUCTURED &
CONSISTENT IN YOUR
TRAINING ROUTINES
Regular feeding times can help bring consistency to toilet training your dog. We recommend structured feeding, three times a day, (unless your vet has suggested otherwise) until the age of six months.
After six months, we suggest switching to two meals a day. When you put down the food bowl, leave it for 20 minutes maximum. After this time, remove the food whether they have finished eating or not Repeat this process at each meal time. By knowing when your puppy has eaten you can then start to predict the amount of time before the food passes through and eliminate messy accidents in the house.
Top Tip #7
Some owners leave food out all day. Don’t do this. The lack of consistency will make it more difficult to gauge when they need to go to the toilet. If your dog grazes all day, it makes it more difficult to tell whether they are a) simply not hungry, b) don’t like the food c) unwell. In addition to that, food treats as rewards won’t wield the same power.
Trivia Fact #7
Dog's have a strong cyclical memory and easily learn daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly patterns. They take comfort in knowing what’s going to happen next, such as meal times, walks, play time. Routine gives them clarity of the mind. This will not only help simplify toilet training but training in general.
Side note: Be careful you’re not too rigid with your routines. Once your dog has learned a pattern begin to vary the times of certain activities by a couple of hours. This will ensure they learn to tolerate a degree of change and prevent them becoming over dependant on their set routine'.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Is my dog trying to punish me by peeing inside?
Your dog does not spend nights lying awake plotting a vendetta and secretly planning to pee in the lounge room because you’ve given the cat more attention or gone out for the evening, leaving it at home. A dog’s mind simply doesn’t have the capacity to plan out toileting revenge. If your dog pees inside, it is likely to be because they’ve been caught short or it smelt like the right place.
What’s the best way to clean up, if my dog has an accident indoors so it doesn’t smell like the ‘right’ place to go to the toilet?
First soak up urine using paper towels. Next, soak the area with a product designed specifically for this available from all good pet stores. Leave it on the surface for 10 minutes (appropriate to the surface you are applying it to to prevent staining) to break down the enzymes. Then, blot the area with a paper towel until dry.
Why can’t I use normal household products to clean up dog urine?
When dogs pee indoors, the urine tends to penetrate carpet fibres, carpet padding, timber floor and any kind of porous flooring. The uric acid salt crystals attach themselves to the fibres. Household cleaners may sterilise the area but they don’t break down the enzymes or remove these crystals and it increases the likelihood of your dog becoming a repeat offender, returning to the same location because it smells like the right place to the dog.
I have tried everything, but my dog continues to relieve themselves inside?
Have you really tried everything? Have you been consistent and used structured routines? If after following these tips, you find your dog is still urinating inside, we recommend a visit to your vet just to rule out any undiagnosed medical issues.
Conclusion
Toilet training your puppy doesn’t need to be a stressful experience. It does require patience, consistency and lots of rewards. If you enjoyed this toilet training guide from Bondi Behaviourist, register for our regular newsletter or follow us on social media to stay up-to-date with new releases as they become available.
THANK YOU
We’re all about bringing harmony into people’s homes whether we’re raising a puppy or addressing unwanted behaviours.
Each one of our team started in this line of work because we love dogs, but each of us have come to learn at our own pace how much we love helping the whole family create a life in which they’re all happy.
If you’re ever in need of some support, we‘re here to help. We’ve got multiple resources in the form of online courses, in person support and via phone and Zoom.
Thank you for taking the time to read this e-book
Ian Shivers & the Bondi Behaviourist team