Having a puppy or kitten in the house is great, of course, but how do you go about potty training properly? For example, you will probably have many questions about when to start, where you can find the right information about it and what the best way is. In the next text I will try to explain a bit more about potty training. Kittens With a kitten it is all a bit easier, they are already potty trained. As long as there is a litter box with cat litter available, you will…
Having a puppy or kitten in the house is great, of course, but how do you go about potty training properly? For example, you will probably have many questions about when to start, where you can find the right information about it and what the best way is. In the next text I will try to explain a bit more about potty training.
Kittens
With a kitten it is all a bit easier, they are already housebroken. As long as there is a litter box with cat litter, they will soon prefer to poop and urinate in it. It is in their nature to do their business somewhere where they can immediately bury/cover it.
The place where you put the litter box is important, they don’t want it right next to their food. Always make sure that the litter box is well maintained and above all clean. In the first years of your kitten, it is also best to place a litter box without a hood, a litter box with a flap is often a bit more difficult because they are still very small. Later you can choose to place a closed litter box, this way you ensure that the scent stays in the box.
Puppies
With puppies, it is important that you teach them to become potty trained. Puppies will become more and more aware of their litter over time and feel the need to pee and poop outside.
In the first months of your puppy, many accidents will happen. The control over their intestines and bladder is not yet fully developed, making it often difficult for them to control this. It is important to use a crate for your puppy, so you use your puppy’s litter awareness to potty train him or her. As soon as your puppy comes out of the crate, it is immediately the time to walk him or her. In this way you create the habit of pooping and urinating outside the crate.
After your puppy has pooped or urinated (if this is done outside as desired), it is always good to reward him or her. This gives your puppy the feeling that something good is happening and will absorb it. Punishing your puppy as soon as an accident has happened inside is therefore out of the question! This causes fear and creates a traumatic experience for your puppy.
If an accident does happen at home, you should mainly look at yourself and not your puppy, then it is possible that you are too late to put your dog outside.
The times when your puppy has to pee or poop is often easy to predict. They prefer to do this at the following times:
- After sleeping
- After eating or drinking
- After playing
How long does potty training your puppy take?
The more often your puppy is outside at the right time to pee and poop, the faster they will get used to having to do this outside. You will notice that it goes wrong less and less often and therefore almost no accidents happen inside.
If potty training does not improve with time, ask your dog trainer for tips from the puppy course or discuss this with your vet. It is also possible that your puppy has an inflammation of his or her urinary tract or intestines, for example. There are also congenital anatomical defects that prevent dogs from holding their urine properly, so it is important that you always know whether your puppy is healthy.
As long as it gets better and better with potty training your puppy, you are on the right track. It’s especially important that you work together and think ahead with your puppy. The occasional tidying up and cleaning is part of achieving a good level of potty training. After 7 to 8 months, your puppy is often potty trained. If this is not the case, please contact your veterinarian.