Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Paper Training Your Puppy

If you are lucky, then your puppy will have been part paper-trained by the time you get him, but you will still have to continue the good work when you get him home.  After all, he’ll be in a new, strange house and probably a little scared at his first time away from his mum and litter, surrounded by new smells and new people.

The first thing to do is to make sure you put plenty of paper down.  A small puppy doesn’t have a strong bladder and when he needs to go, he needs to go and probably won’t look too far before going.

Put more paper down near your back door than anywhere else but make sure there is paper in every room that the puppy will go in.  That way, the puppy will learn that the easiest place to go is near the back door.

If he does make a mistake, then put his nose close to it (don’t rub his nose in it, that may be an old way that trainers used to use but it’s not very nice), give him a little smack on the nose (sharp enough to feel it but not hard enough to hurt) and then put him on the paper.

Once he gets the idea, or he’s had his first injection and can go to the toilet outside, start to pick up the paper gradually.  Pick up the paper furthest from the door first.  In each room, leave one or two pieces of paper to start with - but be sure to leave the ones nearest to the door.

Some puppies learn quicker than others, so do be patient and rest assured that once they’ve had their first injection and started to go outside, going outside is something they’ll learn quickly as it’s much more interesting for them outside!