3 proven methods to wean your dog off diapers

Here, behavior correction is carried out according to the following algorithm:

We remove diuretic products from the dog menu.
We increase the walking time by 30 minutes.
We take a diaper and water with us when going outside.
We give the animal a drink and show him where the diaper is.
We praise you for accidentally relieving yourself on the grass or soil.
We forget to take a diaper with us for 3-4 walks.

In difficult cases, a dog psychologist will help the owner and the dull pet. The average time it takes to train a puppy or dog to use the “outdoor toilet” is 2 months. If the process is delayed, it is better to contact specialists.

Training process

The stages of litter box training coincide with diaper training. And if you plan to train your dog to use the litter box on an ongoing basis, start doing this right away. However, small breed puppies may have difficulty getting into the tray if its walls are too high, in which case you will first be trained to a regular diaper and only then purchase a litter box.

At first, you will need to place the usual bedding in the tray; it can be removed only when the dog begins to confidently use the tray.

The dog toilet should be located according to the same principles as indicated above.

We advise you to read: Can puppies be given cheese?

How to train an adult dog?

To teach an adult dog to use the toilet outside, you need to understand the reason why he does it at home.

Possible problems and their solutions

Despite the fact that in theory everything seems simple, in practice the owner may encounter a number of problems. But there are solutions for everything:

The puppy goes to the diaper every other time.

Perhaps he is still too small and simply does not have time to run, so he pees past the diaper. This is due to the fact that they cannot restrain themselves for up to four months. This is equivalent to trying to teach a six-month-old child to ask for a potty without fail. In later life, the problem may be due to the fact that the diaper is dirty, has an unusual smell, or is distracting.

The puppy stopped wearing a diaper.

The reasons are the same as for periodic errors. You shouldn’t get angry at the puppy and think that he is doing this out of spite. Dogs have no such concept as “specifically, to take revenge.” For them, defecation and urination are completely normal physiological processes that do not cause disgust. Remember, a dog can happily eat his own or someone else’s poop and not wince. People are disgusted by this.

How to stop a dog from peeing at home?

Sometimes adult dogs pee at home even after a walk. It is not normal. Again, having ruled out possible diseases, you should patiently and consistently begin to eradicate this evil by doing the following.

Remove diuretic products from the dog’s diet – buckwheat porridge, kefir and others.
Find your pet a walking buddy. While walking outside, dogs will frolic, which will make you feel the urge to go to the toilet. Also, another dog can become an example, and your pet will begin to repeat after it and mark its territory.
Take water with you. When the dog runs around enough, give it a drink. The abundance of fluid will cause her to pee outside.
Increase your walking time. The dog cannot endure it for long and if there is every opportunity, it will definitely go to the toilet.

During the “re-education” process, do not yell at your pet during or after the “crime”! The dog may interpret that it is forbidden to shit in front of you and will hide, but do it in its own way. Important! Never hit your dog or poke his nose into the pile.

Causes

Do you scold your dog for peeing at home?
Yes

69.93%

Not always

20.51%

9.56%

A dog does not always crap at home because of its harmful character or desire to annoy its owner. This happens due to the following reasons:

psychological - pets can urinate and poop in the apartment due to lack of attention, fear, stress. First you need to eliminate the source of discomfort, and then wean your dog from peeing in the wrong place at home;
physiological - the pet is not able to control urination if the functioning of the internal organs is disrupted. Then you need to take him to the veterinarian - a specialist will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. When the dog recovers, he will stop peeing indoors.

Therefore, before weaning a dog from shitting in the wrong place, it is important to establish its motivation. And take action only based on the information received.

When can you start learning to walk outside?

Accustoming a puppy to walking outside can theoretically begin after completing the full course of vaccination - that is, after 3.5 months. Some owners begin walking their pets as early as 2 months, 10–14 days after the first vaccine, but in neither the first nor the second case the animal is not yet ready to endure most of the day to go to the toilet outside. The physiological characteristics of the development of a small dog do not allow it to fully control urination, so it is not worth removing the diaper from the house before the age of five months. Until the pet has fully mastered walking outside, they are left in those places where he is used to defecating in the apartment, gradually reducing the amount: for example, to be on the safe side, you can lay out a temporary toilet at night and clean it for the day.

Some dog trainers advise not to return the diaper to the house after it has already been taken outside, so that the puppy understands where his toilet is now located. However, if the animal has not yet reached the appropriate age and still cannot tolerate it, the puddles will not go away and without a diaper the house owner will only have more work to do.

Important! It is advisable to begin the process of training a dog during vacation or at least on weekends, when the owner can be at home all day and will be able to constantly take the puppy outside. Once you start training, you cannot leave this process unfinished, otherwise the animal will never understand what exactly was required of it.

What to pay attention to first?

Don’t think that as soon as your pet goes outside, he will immediately follow the call of nature and appreciate the convenience of soft grass. On the contrary, during the first hikes the puppy will be very scared, because even in a quiet yard he will be surrounded by a huge number of unknown things, there will be a strange surface under his feet, and all sorts of noises around him.

All this ends with the fact that, having had a walk, he goes to the toilet with great pleasure in his favorite soft and comfortable diaper. Until he gets used to being in the open air and feels free, it should not be removed.

In addition, puppies feel the need quite often - approximately every 4-5 hours depending on age, so not every owner will be happy to go outside with such frequency.

What is important to know before teaching your puppy to go to the toilet in a diaper?

In addition to buying food and care items, you need to take care of the toilet issue. Find out from the breeder whether the puppy diaper trained or not. If yes, then everything is quite simple, you need to purchase the same ones. If the baby is not yet familiar with the features of the toilet, then all the responsible work will fall on your shoulders.

You need to choose disposable absorbent diapers or reusable ones that can be washed. There is no big difference for the dog, it is about the convenience of the owner. If you have a pet of a miniature breed and in the future you do not plan to walk it outside to relieve itself, then, for example, you can immediately accustom a Yorkie puppy to a special tray for dogs.

Using the solution is simple: you need to spray a small amount onto a diaper twice a day and let your puppy sniff. Treat the diaper regularly; this will help in the future when accustoming him to the street. It will be enough to spray the product in the right place, and the puppy’s reflex to the familiar smell will work.

It is important to note that at different ages the bladder filling rate of dogs differs:

At 3-4 weeks in 45 minutes.
At 2 months for 1 hour 15 minutes.
At 3 months 1.5 hours.
At 4-5 months 2 hours.
After 6 months the interval becomes even longer.

If you urinate more often than once every 45 minutes, then this is a reason to visit a veterinarian to rule out cystitis.

How to wean a puppy off diapers?

A grown puppy gets accustomed to walking much easier and faster if its physiological characteristics are used. Owners of puppies should remember that they must go to the toilet immediately after sleep. You can use this. You need to have time to pick up the awakened puppy and take him outside. When he relieves himself, he gets a treat.

30-40 minutes after drinking water, the puppy will also want to go to the toilet. Unlike cats, for whom these processes take longer, the baby will run to the diaper as soon as the water in his body is absorbed. You can give the puppy a special drink and then go for a walk with him. So the diaper will soon become an unnecessary attribute.

The physiology of animals is such that after active play they want to go to the toilet again. Many pets make puddles of joy at the sight of their owner. These points should be taken into account when weaning from a diaper. You can simply play smart on the dog’s physiology, and teaching him to relieve himself on the street will be easy and simple.

How to train a puppy to toilet in an apartment in a tray or on a diaper?

You cannot demand from a puppy who is 1-2 months old the abilities and obedience of an adult dog - you will have to come to terms with the fact that for now he relieves his natural needs at home. In addition, such babies are not recommended to be outside until quarantine is completed after the last vaccination, that is, until 2.5 - 3 months.

Important! From the very beginning of your puppy's stay in the house, you should train him to use the toilet.

How to potty train a puppy at home at 2 months? First, you need to remove carpets from the area accessible to the puppy. Then determine a place for sleeping, eating and toileting.

What not to do while studying

Despite the possible length of the process of training a dog to walk outside, you should not show your irritation to the animal. Fear and disruption of the usual routine will not help the dog understand what is required of it, so it is better to avoid certain actions. First of all, this concerns:

physical punishment for household misfires, regardless of the form in which it is expressed (you cannot hit the dog, ruffle its scruff, or poke its nose into an abandoned puddle, reinforcing your actions with a scream);
feeding your pet at different times with very frequent changes in the schedule (this will make it difficult for his body to get used to any one option, which means urinating at the same time will be impossible);
ignoring health problems and the animal’s needs for moderate physical activity or rest;
using only negative reinforcement and no reward for small successes.

Regardless of age, all dogs react acutely to punishment from their owner. If you hit or shout at the animal when you discover another puddle, this will most likely lead to the opposite reaction: instead of enduring it, the pet will simply look for the most inconspicuous place for the toilet, perhaps starting to urinate every time the owner’s voice raises. To avoid having to re-tame your dog, try to teach it new rules of behavior as gently as possible.

It is quite possible to wean your puppy off the diaper and train him to walk outside. All that is required from the owner is systematicity and persistence in all actions, always while maintaining maximum calm. This is the only way to achieve good results from the work done while maintaining the trust of your dog.

Was this article helpful? Yes No Already helped 119 times