Remember, puppies don’t have good bladder control or bowel control until 12+ weeks. It is different for every puppy, and standard size puppies tend to have better control sooner, but you should expect accidents to happen often in the puppy’s first few weeks at home. Consistency, routine, and patience is very important. You will be taking your puppy out to potty frequently for the first 4 weeks.

IGK Potty Training Tips & Recommendations.

Crate training is a great way to housebreak your puppy and keep him/her safe when not being watched. If crate training is done appropriately, your puppy will learn to love his/her crate, and you will find that he/she will choose to just go into the crate for “sleep” or “down” time. It will become his/her safe place.

IGK recommends that you carry them to the place you would like to designate for them to potty and take them to that place every time you take them out for the first 4 weeks. If they relieve themselves, praise them and/or give them a small treat. This is positive reinforcement and works the best. Once the puppy is back inside, you will still want to watch your puppy closely over the first 4-6 weeks to learn his/her cues on when they need to go potty. I have attached a “Puppy Crate/Potty Training Schedule” onto this document. This is just a guide; the times can be adjusted to your schedule.

Another potty training method we love and have heard positive feedback on, is the bell training method. This entails hanging a bell on your door and touching the puppy’s nose or paw to it each time when they need to go outside. Our girl, Bella, is very smart and started ringing the bell just because she wanted to go outside and didn’t really need to go potty, so watch out for those smarties.

Crate Training Tips

Crating a puppy for long periods of time without break or if the crate is used in a negative way, the puppy will resent the crate and refuse to go in the crate. If your puppy seems uncomfortable with the crate, I recommend offering a treat or toy when placing the puppy in the crate, or attaching a play yard to the crate so the puppy has a little more room to explore and become used to his/her crate. We are not the type of breeders that keep our dogs or puppies in crates, so other than transport to and from the vet, your puppy has not spent long periods of time in the crate. You always want to take your puppy outside immediately after taking him/her out of the crate. I recommend that you carry them to the place you would like to designate for them to potty and take them to that place every time you take them out for the first 4 weeks.