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Getting started – How do I potty train my 8 week old puppy?
Whether you call it potty training, house training or house breaking, you can teach your puppy the right place to pee and poo from the moment you bring them home. It is important that you try to avoid accidents even in those early days.
The more effort you put in at the beginning, the better things will be. Puppies like to pee where they have peed before. If you can avoid peeing in your home, it is better not to have a history of it.
You will find yourself navigating three key stages as you start your puppy potty training journey. How to house train an 8 week old puppy is the same as how to potty train a 6 month old puppy.
Stage 2 – Learning self control
Your puppy develops some self control during stage 2. When his bladder starts to feel full, he can wait a few minutes before emptying himself. You don’t need to supervise him so closely in the first twenty minutes or so after his last wee.
Your job is still to make sure your puppy reaches his toilet area frequently enough that he doesn’t run out of capacity to hold it in. If your puppy needs to use the toilet, keep an eye on him.
It can be either whine or barking.
restless
sniffing in circles!
You can use your crate.
You can use the crate if your puppy is used to it. There are gaps between toilet trips. If you make him wait too long, he won’t pee in his own bed.
How to crate potty train a puppy
It is not a third method for house training a puppy. The crate is a useful aid for potty training if you choose to crate train your puppy LINK. Your puppy will be reluctant to soil in the crate once they think of it as their bed.
If you are potty training outdoors using our first method, you can use the crate briefly after toilet trips in stage one, and gradually to extend the time between toilet trips in stage two. A crate can be used to mark out a sleeping area vs a toileting area inside your puppy’s pen.
You need to keep an eye on your puppy.
Take puppies out to the right spot at the first sign they might need to relieve themselves, and watch them closely in their crate.
It is important to remember that using a crate won’t give your puppy more control over their toileting than their body will allow.
Even if they don’t want to, they will put their bed down if their body can’t hold on anymore.
You can find out more about rapid house training on this page.
Potty training a puppy when you work
It is one thing to use puppy pads and the indoor potty training method because you need to do the school run or buy groceries.
It is one thing to rely on them when you leave your puppy for extended periods to go to work.
Labrador puppies need company and socialisation while they are small.
You can’t leave a puppy alone all day. He needs to be taken care of by someone.
If you are going to go back to work, you need to arrange someone to look after him, or to come in at intervals throughout the day to play with him and take him out.
If you are thinking of getting a puppy and working full time, here are some articles that will interest you.
There is a Is it possible to get a puppy if you work full time?
When to raise a puppy when you work full time.
How to potty train a puppy at night
Puppies can last a long time without a wee.
Many pups are nine or ten weeks old before they can go to sleep.
Some pups can last up to seven hours from eight weeks old.
You need to accept that this isn’t something you can control.
You can’t influence the puppy’s bladder.
You can make it easy for him to be clean by taking him to his toilet area at night and early in the morning.
Puppy potty training is done at night.
To be on the safe side with an 8 week old puppy, have them sleep in a crate or deep sided box near your bed. You can set up a camp bed close to the room they are sleeping in.
He should be carried outside to his toilet area when he stirs in the night. Don’t make a fuss of him, be boring.
Wait for him to do a wee, tell him what a clever boy he is, and then pop him back into bed.
He may protest a little in the hopes of a more interesting company, but should soon settle back down to sleep.
Getting more sleep.
You will know within a few days how far he can go before he needs to pee.
You can set an alarm if you want to move him to a new bedroom or return to your usual one.
You can gradually move that alarm closer to the morning.
Many puppies will be able to stay for seven hours. Some pups will need more time to get to this point.
Young dogs cannot last more than seven hours until they are six months old.
Will you be able to say that the puppy potty training is complete?
