by Wayne Whicher

Created on: April 22, 2009

Did you know that puppies really do want to please their owners and learning to go to the bathroom outdoors, when rewarded by massive praise, smiles, and exclamations of "good job" often get the job done.

Our chocolate lab puppy actually "dances" by the door and does a back stepping move reminiscent of Michael Jackson's moon walk. It's hilarious and we laugh and smile at her every time she does it. Then we promptly get up and take her out. One large danger in puppy potty training is ignoring the signs.

As a puppy learns it will give you signs that it has to go outside. Don't ignore them. If you ignore the signs and stay pooped out on the couch then the following is what will go through the thought process of the puppy: "Hey, I let them know that I need to go out, but they aren't taking me. I guess it's okay to go to the bathroom right here on the floor."

Signs will come from your dog in many forms. I had a friend who actually hung a bell on the doorknob and trained their puppy to nudge the bell with its nose when it needed to go out. Worked like a charm.

Our dancing puppy does her little two step and whines and growls a little, and that's her sign. Don't ignore it. Take them outside, and then praise them for getting it right. The thought process will then be: "Hey I let them know with this little dance of mine, they took me out, I went to the bathroom, and boy are they really happy with me. Guess I'll do that from now on. And maybe I'll get a treat or two when I go back inside."

My opinion is that crate training is really important for dogs. I have read many debates on the subject and through experience, my opinion comes down on the side of yes to crating. That being said, even though we are all busy people, please try to limit the number of hours in the crate. Exercise is an important key to ANY dog, but more so for one that is couped up in the crate for any number of hours every day. The beach is a wonderful spot to let them run and get all the excess energy out.

Crate training is important for many reasons, many of which I'm sure you've all read. Personal experience is that the puppy will consider the crate its "home" kind of like a bed or a den. Not soiling ones home appears to be ingrained in puppies and as they learn how to get let outside to go to the bathroom, (and get praise for doing so), they will not go in the crate.

In recently adopting a three month old puppy named Marley (for Bob Marley, not the movie), we have now gained more experience with the amount of water you should give to a puppy. Having consulted with our vet and a couple of puppy books we found out that one reason our puppy could not hold the bathroom needs long enough is that we were giving her too much water. The book recommended about 12 oz. of water per day for a three month old. We switched to that and magically the accidents stopped. Increasing the amount of water as the puppy grows larger and older is important as well. Please consult your vet or pick up a helpful puppy training book.

Giving your puppy lots of attention, and being liberal with praise will help your potty training go well. Being more informed and seeking out knowledge from experience people will help as well. A happy puppy will reward you with years of pleasure.

Enjoy.

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