How to Paper Train Your Puppy
March 30th, 2010 by Staff WriterLearning to paper train a puppy is a great option, especially when you are living in an apartment. It works well when you are not home for long periods of time or don’t have a yard to leave the puppy in while you are gone. Paper training means teaching your puppy to go to the bathroom on the paper when you are not there to let it outside to go. Having this option means not having to worry when you know you are not going to make it home in time to let the puppy outside.
Choose a Room
Choose a room to do the paper training in and be consistent with it. A room with floors that have something other than carpet is the best choice otherwise the papers may soak through to the carpet. You also want a room with a door on it at first so a bathroom may be a good choice. The puppy will need to be closed into this room where the paper will be. After you have been doing the paper training for a while you will no longer need to shut the door and leave the puppy in there, the puppy will start to remember where the paper is located.
Prepare the Room
Obviously if you are locking the puppy in there throughout the day, you will need to leave the puppy’s food and water and possibly a bed in there as well. Select an area of the room to lay paper down on, the entire room does not need to be covered. Lay several layers of newspaper down to prevent it from soaking through too much. Place the bed, food and water away from the paper in the room. As the puppy gets better at this you can make the are of newspaper smaller and smaller.
Sit with the Puppy
After choosing the room and before leaving the puppy alone in there you will need to spend some time sitting and training your puppy. Sit with him in the room for a while and watch for any signs that he needs to go to the bathroom. Place the puppy on the paper when you think he appears to need to go to the bathroom. Hold him on the paper and wait to see if he will go. Praise the puppy when he does go and reward him.
Pick a Command
Choose a command that you are comfortable saying and using with your puppy to tell him to go to the bathroom. Use it frequently when placing your puppy on the newspaper. The puppy will eventually learn the sound of your command no matter which phrase you choose and associate it with the process of going to the bathroom.
Accidents Happen
The puppy will have accidents but don’t get discouraged. Don’t punish the puppy for the accident. Continue encouraging the puppy to use the paper and rewarding it when it does. The puppy will soon relate going to the bathroom on the paper with being rewarded and will learn quickly after this point. The praise can be slowly reduced once the puppy has the hang of it.
Tags: Pet Care
April 1st, 2010 at 9:58 am
Hey great article on the potty training. I have also found a very informational video on this on puppytrader.com. Check it out when you get a chance. It makes it seem so easy.
July 7th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend against this. It’s exceptionally confusing for a dog, they don’t understand that they are supposed to go on the paper so much as going in a certain spot and that it’s okay to urinate and poop in the house. It’s very difficult to re-train a dog to NOT go in the house if you eventually want your dog to use the outside. A dog does not understand ‘right’ from ‘wrong’ and after months or years of going in the house (again, they don’t comprehend the paper is what is making it okay to use the house as a toilet) it can cause a lot of undue stress on your pet and yourself in the attempt to retrain it. Suddenly something the dog was praised and told it was okay to do is suddenly not.
Not to mention the fact that it’s very important to take your dog out multiple times a day. Going out to potty gives your dog exercise and it’s great bonding time. If you don’t have time to do this, then perhaps you shouldn’t have a dog. An adult dog is more than capable of holding it’s bladder for an 8 hour or so work day. With proper exercise and taking the dog out before leaving for work and right when you get home, you will not have accidents. There is no reason to ‘paper train’ a dog other than laziness or lack of time. Both of those things point to not being ready for a dog in your life.
I’ve been a vet tech for 10 years and every vet I’ve worked for has recommended against this as well as the trainers that work in our offices.
July 7th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Also, “…it’s great when you don’t have a yard to leave your dog in when you are gone” is absolutely HORRIBLE advice. You should never leave a pet outside unattended for long periods of time under ANY circumstances. Dogs can dig under the fence, they can be stolen by a stranger, they can bark and cause noise complaints by neighbors, the weather can suddenly change (especially in Portland) and above all it’s unsafe both physically and mentally. Dogs don’t just go outside and play by themselves. They become just as bored and destructive with no other contact. This article is basically advocating that it’s okay to not give your pet proper stimulation and exercise (walks for potty breaks and other wise) as well as advocating it’s okay to leave your pet in an unsafe manner that can cause it physical harm (even death if it gets to hot) and neighbors great annoyance. Watch how fast a bored, under stimulated and exercised animal can destroy a back yard, get out of a fence or bark to the point of losing it’s voice.
It’s quite obvious that the person who wrote this article has absolutely no clue on proper care of a pet and did no consulting with an expert of any kind. There is not a vet, trainer, animal behaviorist or other professional that would advocate paper training or leaving a pet outside. This website should really think twice before allowing uneducated and untrained people write articles that can put living creatures at risk.