Tips on Potty Training a Puppy

Dogs live in the moment. The effective cause and effect window for a dog is just under 1.5 seconds.

After 1.5 seconds have passed, it’s your dog: 1, and you: 0. You must catch them in the act.

Coming across a puddle of pee on the ground is frustrating, but if you scold the dog at that point….

Are they really understanding what the issue is? 🤔

No.

They DO learn that you HATE finding that… you can’t stand coming across a pee or poop….

But they aren’t thinking to themselves “they’re upset because I put that pee or poop there”.

This is often why we as trainers hear “they know they did something bad….

I can walk into the room and they’re acting guilty before I even find it!”

The dog DOES know that there is poop or pee in the room… and that you get really upset when that’s the case.

But, they’re not relating it to the fact that them putting it there, in your house, is the issue.

Another common instinct:

When seeing the act first hand, people may scold, yell, and then run over immediately to try to correct this unwanted behavior.

Let’s revisit that correlation window of just under 1.5 seconds…. they’ve committed the dirty deed.

They’ve been caught in the act!

However, this scenario is also a very common motivator behind why dogs will sneak off and go to the bathroom in the house…

Or how they’re very good at hiding it from you because you never actually see them do it… or when you take them outside to pee… they’re suddenly shy about it.

What the dog has understood is:

You don’t like them going to the bathroom in your presence.

The correction should be perceived to come from the environment, not you directly.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙜'𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 🐕💖

You want to swoop them up and save them from the scary things that happen when they piddle inside and take them outside… where’s it’s SAFE and good to do that!

So… how to you do that?

Get yourself an air horn. Yup…An air horn. 📢

Notify any neighbors and let the whole family in on what you’re doing so no humans end up having their own accident.

When you catch your dog going to the bathroom inside, take that horn and blow it up and away.

This will certainly startle your dog, and you can then swoop in… take them outside… and show them a better way.

This air horn will be your environmental punishment.

Dog starts to think: “I go to the bathroom in here… and the sky opens up and scares the crap out of me!” (PUN ALERT) 🚨

You are now the hero…not what they should try to avoid when they need to go to the bathroom.