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How to Train a Dog to Pee in One Place

Josie F. Turner
By Josie F. Turner, Journalist specialized in Animal Welfare. Updated: August 23, 2017
How to Train a Dog to Pee in One Place
Dogs

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One of the major headaches of new dog owners is house training the puppy. No one wants to come across 'surprises' at home, but when your dog is still very small and cannot control itself, this is perfectly normal. However, do not worry. At AnimalWised we have some amazing puppy house training tips to show you.

Our house training tips will also make the whole process a positive one for both the dog and the owner. Do you want to know how to train a dog to pee in one place? Keep reading!

You may also be interested in: Tips on How to Train a Cane Corso

First things first

Before we talk about how to train a dog to pee in one place, it is important that you keep in mind some points:

  • Veterinary examination: no matter if you have an adult dog or you have just adopted a puppy, it is very important that you do not allow your dog to urinate at home when it has a illness. If you have only recently adopted your puppy it may have an illness that you are unaware of. For example cystitis or another infection that can cause your dog to have to urinate more often than usual.
  • Meal times: we always reiterate that dogs are creatures who love routine. Establish stable meal times for your puppy from the outset. If you change meal or walk times with regularity your dog will become confused regarding when it can do its business; this will also be negative for its house training. In addition, the time of the dog´s feed is also used to calculate when it will need to do its business.
  • The assigned area: choose and maintain an area where your puppy will do its business. It must never be located near its feeding bowl, drinking bowl or bed.
  • Clean the waste promptly to avoid odors: it will be inevitable that your puppy will at some point do some of its needs in a place where it was not supposed to. Clean this area quickly to eliminate odors, if not your puppy may think this is the right place to do so.
  • Do not punish your puppy: would you punish a baby for wetting its nappies? Until 6 months old dogs do not completely control their bladder. Therefore, be patient and strive to teach your pet as quickly as possible to do its needs in the indicated area.
How to Train a Dog to Pee in One Place - First things first

How to teach a puppy to urinate on a newspaper

This is a very simple process and ideal to train a dog to pee in one place. To achieve it you first have to pick the area where you intend to place the sheets and have a clear idea of what meal times will be.

Preparing the area: as we mentioned earlier, good house training means that the newspaper should be placed away from the space where the puppy eats or sleeps. Place the sheets of newspaper on the floor. Cover as much area as you can. Do not worry, it is only a temporary means for house training a puppy. The larger the area, the sooner the puppy will learn. As it learns, you can reduce the size of the area.

There are options other than newspaper to house train a puppy. You can use a box and fill it with sand. Another variant is to use soil. Also, you can find training pads for dogs available for purchase on the market . They are special towels for the floor that absorb odors.

Method to teach a puppy to urinate on a newspaper

It is normal that your puppy will have to do its needs around the same times each day. Also, there are bodily signs that will tell you that your dog wants to relieve itself. We list some common ones:

  • The dog walks very fast and nervously
  • It sniffs the ground
  • It walks in circles

Some cry and look towards their owner with a sad face... House training a puppy also means learning to understand its language. When you know that the time is approaching or you see a sign, take your dog to the area so it can do its needs there. If it does so, congratulate it and give it a positive reinforcement in the form of a treat.

Change the paper but ensure you leave a sample with some dry urine. That smell will make it understand that this is the right spot to do its business.

When you see that your puppy has already learned to do its needs in a given area with newspapers, you can remove some of the sheets. In fact, dogs tend to urinate or defecate in the same place, so you can eliminate much of the paper you had initially placed and leave only the parts used by your pet.

If for whatever reason you cannot house train a puppy easily, and it does not do its needs in the marked area, do not worry, and above all do not punish it as it is not doing it on purpose. Wet a little paper in the urine and try again next time around. Do not forget to give it a treat when it gets it right as this will considerably help it urinate in the designed area again.

  • Attention: it is very common that owners push their dogs´ nose towards the remains or dirty papers. It is not at all advisable to do this, not only is it useless, but your dog may become scared or it may start resorting to coprophagy for fear that you will punish it again.

Only from 6 months onward will your puppy truly begin to control its bladder. The process of house training a puppy can be quite long.

How to Train a Dog to Pee in One Place - How to teach a puppy to urinate on a newspaper

Newspapers cannot replace the park

It is important to note that having an area for the puppy to learn to do its needs at home is in no case a substitute for its walks. A house trained dog does its business outside. As soon as the dog can go out (after it had its vaccines), you must start routine walking. Setting a home area is only a temporary solution until the puppy learns to control its bladder. House training a puppy involves several visits to the park.

What we have just mentioned is very important for two reasons. The first is socialization, the process by which your puppy learns to relate to human beings, other dogs and the world in general. If in the first months the puppy does not leave the house, it can develop fear and severe stress which will later be impossible to rectify. The second reason is that, without realizing it, we may be teaching our dog to urinate only on newspaper. Although it may seem strange there are dogs that refuse to do their needs in the park. This is normal as they have learned that they should do it on a newspaper. If this is your puppy´s case, you must teach it that the park is the right place to do its needs.

Take your dog out half an hour after a meal or a little after it has drunk some water to teach it to do its business correctly. When it has done its needs give it a treat. So, little by little, your pet will understand that the park is the right place for this. Once it does its business at the park, you can confidently affirm that the house training process is over.

How to Train a Dog to Pee in One Place - Newspapers cannot replace the park

If you want to read similar articles to How to Train a Dog to Pee in One Place, we recommend you visit our Basic education category.

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2 comments
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Shirley W. Prouty
My 4 yr old Beagle has full fun of my patio and yard area. He lifts his leg at random but frequently is some favorite spots, but favors the area near the front door and on the concrete. It is a mess and smelly. How can I train him to go to a certain area every time. Ha Ha
Administrador AnimalWised
Hi Shirely,

The method in the article should be able to help. Just apply the newspaper method to the place you want them to go. However, it is trickier to do this outside since they have freer range. Give them positive reassurance to do it where you want them to and hopefully they'll learn. Also, you may need to reinforce this learning from time to time.
Rating:
Meng
Thank you for this. I'll try this one
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