Puppy Potty Training – Czech Working Line German Shepherds

Five Easy Steps to Puppy Potty Training

Things to consider when starting your “puppy potty training” journey.

So you made it through the journey of finding that perfect German Shepherd puppy. Now what?

First, are you picking up your puppy in person? If so, consider bringing a crate in. your vehicle along with a water bowl, appropriate sized leash and some absorbent pads or washable towels. It can be overwhelming for a puppy to snuggle in the lap of someone new the entire way home— especially if it is a long drive. A secure place for your puppy to sleep can make the trip more peaceful. A helpful hint: consider bringing a small scented trash bag in case your puppy might have an accident. Throwing towels into the bag can be a quick way to keep your vehicle smelling pleasant should your puppy get a little car sick or have an accident on the way home.

Puppy potty training hack one: start early.

The earlier you can start potty training your puppy (usually), the easier it tends to be. Puppies naturally don’t want to do their business where they sleep. So rule number one in puppy potty training is starting early. You can start this at eight weeks when you bring your puppy home, or if you find it helpful, we have a “puppy boot camp” options that can be included with your puppy. When enrolled in our puppy training class, puppies go through either 30 or 60 days of obedience and puppy potty training. The key, getting started as early as possible turbo charges the process by getting the puppy going outside to potty before it learns any bad habits of peeing or pooping in the house. Not such a glamorous topic; but a topic worth discussing! So, hack number one— start your puppy on a puppy potty training regiment as early as possible.

Puppy potty training hack two: include crate training.

Consider crate training your puppy at the same time you start potty training your puppy. Doing so way to accelerate your puppy’s. A puppy will naturally not want to do their business where they sleep. So take advantage of this natural instinct. Start with a smaller crate. If the crate you use for those early days in crate training is too big, your puppy might be tempted to poop in the back of the crate. So right size your crate. Start with something just right— not too big and not too small. Puppy should be able to stand up and turn around, but not much more. This will help remove temptation for your puppy to poop in their crate. You get the added benefit of your puppy learning the crate is a safe and happy place. The crate should be a safe and natural place for your puppy to hang out during down times. Think about a wolf or coyote in the wild. The den is a safe place to sleep. The same goes for your puppy. Will they generally object at first? Yes. but if you can set aside those early cries, it’s simply a lack of discipline. You do your job and ignore those cries. Crate training your puppy makes for both happy home and happy puppy. And the great news is, it will speed up your puppy potty training.

Puppy potty training hack three: don’t feed late in day.

In most cases, by ten weeks of age your puppy should be able to step down to eating twice a day. If you have someone in your house with a flexible schedule our preferred feeding schedule is feeding early in the morning followed by a second feeding around noon or early afternoon. The goal here is to allow the puppy to get emptied out by evening, giving puppy a fighting chance to extend the amount of time between potty breaks at night. We recently broke that rule. I don’t recall why. Three littermate puppies had been enrolled in our two month puppy bootcamp training. The were mostly potty trained— about 3 months of age. None of the puppies had had more than one or two accidents in their crate within the last month. But… for some reason we fed puppies closer to evening on that day. Then, we had torrential rains at night. The kind of rain that flooded our yard where the water was rushing across our yard like a river kind of rain. With these torrential rains still continuing in the early morning, we were slow getting the puppies outside. These same puppies that had been making it through most of the night without an accident since 8 weeks of age. They all made a mess of the crates. The moral of the story… feeding for the second time earlier in the day will go a long ways towards helping your puppies sleep through the night without an accident. So in keeping with hack number three in accelerating your puppy potty training, don’t feed late in the day!

Puppy potty training hack three: take your puppy outside right away after taking out of crate.

As soon as your take your puppy out of its crate, take your puppy outside. Don’t wait even two or three minutes. Take it out of it’s crate and immediately give your puppy an opportunity to go potty. The same is true if your puppy has been in the house sleeping and wakes up. Puppies that have been resting and become active will often need to go to the bathroom very soon after resting. The same is true after eating. Eating will generally stimulate your puppy’s need for a quick potty break. Many puppies will need to get outside within a few short minutes after eating. Whenever the time comes to put your puppy back in its crate, let it outside for a potty break to make sure its bowels are empty before crating. This simple and easy hack will go a long ways towards speeding up your puppy’s potty training.

Puppy potty training hack four: tie a bell on your door.

Further turbo charge your puppy’s potty training by hanging a bell on your door. Start this while your puppy is yet small. Alternatively, there are some doorbells designed for puppies that sit on the floor that you can teach your puppy to use. The idea is that your puppy rings the bell every time they go outside. In the beginning you will literally take the puppy and use your hand to hold the puppy’s foot to ring the bell. In time, the puppy will learn to ring the bell if it needs to go outside. Using such a tool can be a great means of teaching your puppy to communicate with you. So much better than a big German Shepherd puppy scratching at your front door!

Puppy potty training hack five: verbalize the words “lets go potty” or something similar.

Many people are shocked to find out a puppy can be trained to go potty on command. But yes, this is very true. Teaching your puppy to “go on command” will truly be a huge bonus when it comes to puppy obedience training. Going on potty on command doesn’t mean your puppy is able to potty anytime you ask. It will need to be ready to do its business. But assuming that fact, a dog does not need thirty minutes to smell everything and “get in the mood.” Just like teaching your dog to “sit” or “down,” a puppy can also learn to potty on command. Time to go potty, go outside, get it done with no messing around. More often than not, many dog owners have no idea it’s possible or even reasonable to think a dog can be trained to potty on command. As such they never even ask or expect their dogs to comply in this matter. Too often many pet owners believe their dog needs time to “get ready.” By verbalizing “let’s go potty,” or whatever you choose, you can indeed teach your puppy to “go on command.” Find yourself traveling and need a quick pit stop, you will find this learned skill comes in very handy. The same goes for getting up during the night. If you puppy is young and doesn’t yet have the bladder to las all night, learning to go quickly and get it done can make those early months’ of your puppy potty training far easier to manage. So verbalize your intend for you puppy to potty. It’ll go a long ways towards helping your puppy learn to git er done!

If you have not yet found that perfect German Shepherd puppy for sale, give us a call. We can put y9our on our waiting list or match you with a current litter.