Toilet training tips: ‘two pees & a poo’
June 26, 2019
If you’re knee deep in piles of poo and puddles of pee, then this blog from new pup mum Nicolette, sharing her toilet training tips is one for you.
“Ahhhh, isn’t he the cutest thing!” cooed my partner Rob, as we arrived home with Fozzie, the new addition to our family. At just 8 weeks old, our precious little bundle of Cockapoo joy was wrapped up in a blanket, protected against the rain. After removing the ridiculously overprotective blanket and restoring his dignity, we placed him gently on the floor and watched lovingly as he explored his new surroundings. Pretty much immediately he marked his new territory and took his first wee. By way of an encore he promptly rounded it off with a poo which, quite frankly, smelled as if it had come from an over-nourished cow. How something so vile could emerge from a creature so tiny and beautiful was a mystery.
I brushed it aside – the event, not the poo itself – and put it down to the fact that we’d had a half-hour drive home from the breeder. With such a tiny bladder, and all the excitement of joining a new pack, it was to be expected. Thankfully our downstairs floor isn’t carpeted, so damage was minimal.
Stocking up
Before Fozzie arrived, I thought I was completely prepared for all eventualities. I made sure I was ‘fully stocked up’ with a large pack of bacterial wipes and a double pack of kitchen roll. Naively I thought that would be ample for such a tiny creature and would probably last at least a week. Those initial supplies didn’t even last 12 hours. I had to make a mad dash to the supermarket the next day and bought a 12-pack of kitchen roll and two more packets of wipes, thinking that might see us through the first week.
“…the difference being that with a baby all the emissions are contained, not so, with a puppy!”
Two days later I was back in the car and heading for the supermarket again. I’d also noticed that the constitution of his number twos was, dare I say, somewhat less solid than they were. We had made sure to buy treats suitable for an 8-week old puppy to ensure we were giving him the correct nutrition in his early weeks, but quite obviously they’d upset him a bit. It really is like having a baby in the house again, the difference being that with a baby all the emissions are contained. Not so, with a puppy!
I had toyed with the idea of ditching the wipes and kitchen roll and using a mop and bucket for the wee, but at the current rate we’d get through several buckets a day, and, let’s face it, we’d need a new mop and bucket for normal household cleaning. This puppy needs to learn to poop and pee outside, ASAP!
Three days after Fozzie arrived we took him to see the vet for his first health check. She reassured me that as long as our garden did not have any unvaccinated dogs coming and going our little pup WAS allowed outside, which was great news as the real toilet training could begin in earnest.
Tips for toilet training
When you spend every waking minute with your new puppy you are able to observe habits, particularly the unsavoury ones. As soon as Fozzie woke up from his multiple day naps I would take him straight outside. It has to be immediate. I had a wet slipper as evidence of what happens if there’s any delay. This is when the ‘two pees and a poo’ regime was first noticed. There is absolutely no point in bringing him in after his first wee as it’s inevitably followed by another, and then to round it all off…well, you can work it out for yourself.
Needless to say, thankfully, we are now in the early stages of toilet training. It’s very much a case of 3 steps forward and 1 step back, often with damp paws. We’re not out of the woods yet, though. We’re still discovering the occasional landmine in the kitchen, but he’s getting there, albeit slowly.
Moral of the story? Make sure you stock up properly on cleaning products for those first few days, and don’t forget human food while you’re there as a supermarket shop during the day will be impossible if you’re on your own. If you’re prepared, you’ll be able to focus solely on bonding with your new puppy, and the more you watch him or her the more you will notice their habits which should, hopefully, help you minimise the number of indoor mishaps.