At birth a new-born puppy is unable to eliminate its own waste - Mum licks the puppies to stimulate elimination and in doing so, cleans up as she goes (the equivalent to nappies on our babies). Around three weeks of age the puppies begin to soil for themselves without the need for stimulation from Mum.

Mum continues to maintain cleanliness in the nesting area. It is instinctive for dogs to avoid soiling their sleeping or eating areas. As the puppies become more physically capable, they will attempt to move away from the nesting area to toilet. This can be further assisted by providing the litter with a different floor surface outside their bedding. The puppies will instinctively seek an absorbent area to toilet, such as grass/soil or carpet.

As the puppies continue to mature, they will attempt to move further away from their own living area. However, like our own toddlers, the puppies will have accidents - Mum will continue to keep the nest clean and will not scold or reprimand a puppy for any mistakes.

Introducing the Puppy to a New Home

If we never interfered with the toileting habits of a puppy living in our home, simply cleaned up without comment, the puppy's instincts would have him clean in your home by adolescence. However, due to a variety of reasons (usually human interference) many puppies' instincts in regard to toilet training become confused.

The following program for hurrying toilet training along, is suitable for all physically sound puppies from eight weeks of age: The puppy cannot possibly understand that your entire house is the pack's living area and should not be fouled - so do not give him/her full access to your home to allow toileting in inappropriate locations.

Restrict the puppy's access by a combination of any of the following means: crate training (see separate information sheet); have the puppy accepting of being placed in a small room such as the laundry or bathroom (where accidents will be easily cleaned up); conditioning the puppy to be on lead; or give the puppy your full and undivided attention. You will need to take the puppy outside, on lead, to the grassy area where you would like him/her to toilet, every 30 minutes to begin with - if he/she obliges, reward with titbits of a favourite food treat, reserved for this occasion and/or a game.

Your aim is to minimise the number of inappropriate elimination and be able to reward toileting in the appropriate location. If the instructions in the above paragraph are followed precisely, the puppy will not have the opportunity to make mistakes and you will be constantly rewarding the correct behaviour.

However, if the puppy does manage to toilet in the wrong location, do not reprimand or show your disapproval in any way. You will not teach the puppy not to toilet in the house, you will simply be teaching him/her not to toilet in your presence - then when you go to the outside toilet spot, puppy will not want to toilet because it will make you angry!

Furthermore, when you return indoors, the puppy will take the first opportunity to find an appropriate spot (your bedroom or the living room - anywhere away from his/her own sleeping and eating areas) to eliminate, when you're not watching!

Watch for the obvious times that your puppy will need to toilet, such as immediately after a meal or a big drink; upon waking up; after a play session; and any other time in between! Ensure that the puppy is in the correct toilet location at these times. If, while watching your puppy in your house, you observe the pre-toileting behaviours such as sniffing, circling, etc. (it will vary from one puppy to the next), rush the puppy to the backdoor, keeping him/her close to floor level so that they can see where they are being taken and how to get to their correct toilet spot.

Thoroughly clean the areas where the puppy has had accidents. The scent of urine or faeces indoors will stimulate a puppy to stop and toilet there. Use this fact to your advantage by collecting up any droppings and placing them in the grassy area where you would like the puppy to toilet - he/she will believe that this area is his/her chosen toilet.

Feeding your puppy indoors and locating water bowls indoors will hasten the understanding that these areas are not suitable for toileting. Take the blame for any mistakes yourself - you were not paying sufficient attention. Remember, your puppy's Mum cleaned up without scolding - attempting to reprimand the puppy for a bodily function will only create anxiety.

The puppy is not suffering from guilt when you walk into the room where the pup has had an accident - he/she simply knows that the presence of a puddle or pile and you in the same room is bad news! Most puppies will be showing a vast improvement by 12 weeks of age, though still having occasional accidents. Toilet training is a natural process and will happen unaided in most instances. However, there will be a wide range of ease or difficulty from one pup to the next.

Try to remain calm and accepting - your stress will be obvious to your puppy and may undermine his/her confidence and trust in you as a consistent, reliable natured leader, capable of taking care of their needs and providing protection.

Older Dogs

For older dogs experiencing toilet training difficulties, you can first try to implement the above procedures.

However, the problem usually occurs for a wide range of possible reasons and specific assessment and an individual program maybe required. Take into consideration the age of the dog and the possibility that their could be medical reasons why this behaviour has suddenly started such as kidney trouble. Quite often it can be caused by a trauma or change in circumstances such as:

A Recent House Move

Other Dogs Have been To Your House.

Frightening Experiences such as Loud Bangs or Fireworks etc.

A Death in The Family or a Crisis.

Tension or Stress in the Family Unit.

The Death of Another Dog in the Household

Urination

If it is a change in your dog's normal behaviour, it might be a bladder infection or some other medical problem, so check that with your vet first. It's also rather common for older spayed bitches to start dribbling. This is easily fixed most of the time with doses of oestrogen. In many cases, the doses can be tapered off after a few months. Some dogs require oestrogen for the rest of their lives. Only small doses are needed, so it's not that expensive to treat. If your dog is urinating in different places around the house, you can try the "vinegar trick". Pour some vinegar on the spot in front of the dog. What you're telling the dog with this is "I'm alpha. YOU may not pee here." Then clean it all up first with biological washing powder and a final wipe over with surgical spirit.

Defecation

Defecation is not usually a problem as much as urination can be. However, the most often recommended remedy for a dog that defecates in the house is to change its feeding times, so that you are likely to be walking the dog when it needs to defecate or it is outside in the garden, etc. This will take some time as you will need to experiment with the amount, frequency, and timing of feeding your dog to get the results you want.