Potty Training

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve potty trained a puppy. Bear is getting it right about 90% of the time. I’ve let him wander around while I watch him and if he starts to sniff the floor or go in circles I say NO! and he stops and I put him in the puppy pen to potty and he’s pretty much got it down pat now. That took a week or so of watching him and redirecting him. He’s not going outside yet, it’s been too cold in Colorado for him out there so we are still going on the old sheets and towels inside the puppy pen. When he goes I pick it up with a doggie bag and put it in a diaper genie so it always stays fresh and clean in the house. I’ve been doing a lot of laundry but it’s either that or fill up the landfill with paper potty pads. Soon as the weather warms up he’ll get his first outside experience. I had his baby shots completed with round three last Monday and he was wonderful at the vets office. Everyone loved him!

Potty training is all about being consistent. If he went in a place I didn’t want him to go in I would say NO! and pick him up and put him in the pen and close the door. He had to sit in there for about an hour before he got to come back out. It really didn’t take long for him to get the idea that there were definitely places to go and not to go. I praised him for doing it right with lots of “Good BOY!!” hugs, kisses and loves. He listens so well and I’m very proud of him so far. He’s now 13 weeks old and such a funny little boy. He loves squeaky toys and zooming around the living room. I laugh at him every day and he even sits on my feet in the kitchen when I’m cooking the same way Nipsey did. He loves sitting next to us on the couch and having the freedom to roam around a few rooms at a time. Seems like every day his paws get bigger and I’m seeing that he’s going to be a BIG boy! He is 28 pounds already and eats almost three cups of dry food a day.

Every dog has the sweetest spirit and discovering Bear’s personality has been so fun. Puppies really do want to please you and they wait for you to tell them what to do. It’s a gentle process of do this and don’t do that and in no time they are doing what you want and making you proud. Consistency is everything. Do things the same way every time and give them a chance to learn.