Teaching a puppy good toilet routine requires time, effort and above all patience from the owner. Puppies have very poor bladder control, meaning they need to urinate at least every hour or two, and they can also urinate spontaneously when active or excited. Other factors that can cause a puppy to urinate or defecate include:
- Waking up – owners must take their puppy into the garden immediately after it wakes up as it will need to urinate straight away.
- Eating meals – puppies usually urinate within fifteen minutes of eating, and defecate within half an hour of eating, depending on size and breed.
In order to prevent any accidents occurring inside the house, owners must introduce the garden to their puppy as its sole toilet area. It is also important for them to stay with their pup while it urinates or defecates and repeat cue words for each action such as ‘wee wee’ and ‘poo poo’, which will help them to prompt the puppy later on. Owners may also benefit from keeping a record of times of when their puppy eats sleeps, urinates and defecates.