Toilet Training
There are two important elements to toilet training: prevent your dog from peeing or pooping where they shouldn't and reward your dog for peeing and pooping where they should. Both are easy to do if you use a crate and a playpen.
The crate and playpen make it easy to prevent mistakes. The only time your dog should be out of their crate or playpen is if you are closely supervising them. And the best time for this is immediately after they have successfully used their toilet. You can use the playtime as an extra reward and your dog will be least likely to make a house soiling mistake, but DO keep an eye on them!
If you set your dog's playpen up properly, with a bed at one end and a doggy toilet at the other, your dog will instinctively use their doggy toilet when they are in their playpen, as it will be the place that is farthest away from their bed. Whenever you have to leave your dog for more than an hour at a time, put them in their playpen with a couple of food stuffed chew toys.
However, if you want your dog to eventually have the freedom to enjoy the rest of the house unsupervised, you also have to reward your dog for using their doggy toilet, so they are motivated to hold their bladder and bowels when they don’t have access to a toilet.
This is where the crate is so useful. When your dog is confined to their crate they will instinctively avoid peeing or pooping so they don't soil their bed.
When you are at home you should put your dog in their crate with a food-stuffed chew toy. Leave them in there for one hour and then say "Go to Your Toilet", open the door, put them on-leash and hurry them to their toilet area, whether that is outside or an indoor doggy toilet. Keep them moving, don't let them stop and sniff along the way. Once you get them to their designated toilet area, stand still and say "Go Potty". Give them two minutes to use their toilet.
If they do not pee or poop put them back in their crate. Wait 15 minutes and then take them to their toilet again. Keep doing this until they use their toilet successfully.
If they pee, give them 5 extra-tasty treats. If they poop, give them 10! This is one of those situations where it’s actually well-worth using some of that Enhanced kibble I explained how to make in the Using Food in Training section at the beginning of this course.
You want to show your dog that they have hit the jackpot so give them the treats one at a time and praise them lovingly the whole time. Now that they have done their business you can play with them in your home. If you have a dog or an older puppy whose vaccinations are complete, this is an excellent time to take the dog on a walk, as a big reward.
If you choose to play with your dog inside, be sure to closely supervise them the whole time and then return them to their crate when you are done playing.
Do not let them roam around unsupervised.
If, while you are watching, your dog begins to pee or poop somewhere they should not, you have to immediately and urgently say "Go to your toilet" to interrupt what they are doing and hurry them to their toilet where you can tell them to "Go Potty". If they resume peeing or pooping at their toilet, reward them. If, after being interrupted your pup won't go, confine them for fifteen minutes and try again.
The more times you can reward your dog for using their toilet, the better. Reward your dog for using their toilet enough times and they will learn to save their pee and poop so they can redeem it for treats by depositing it in their toilet.
After several days of rewarding your dog for using their doggy toilet and ensuring they don't make any mistakes in your home, you can start increasing the time they spend outside of their crate and playpen. Continue to supervise them closely as you let them explore, first in one room of your home, then another, and another. After you've supervised your dog in a room for a while and seen that they have not gotten into any trouble, you can gradually reduce your level of supervision, until eventually, they are free to roam, unsupervised, through most, if not all, of the rooms in your home.
If they make any mistakes, house-soiling or destroying objects, go back to a system of confinement and supervision. You really don’t want them to create bad habits, so it’s best to go back to square one and then increase their freedom again gradually. If your dog makes the same mistake more than once in the span of a few days, they clearly have too much freedom and not enough supervision.
If you stick to this plan, your dog will eventually develop very reliable household habits, and they will be able to enjoy a lot of freedom for the rest of their lives.