Housetraining Your Labradoodle Puppy

One of the most vital things to teach your labradoodle puppy once you get her home is to go to the bathroom outside. Dogs who aren’t taught this early on will be harder to train and may have accidents in the home for years to come. Labradoodles are generally bright and intelligent pooches, so, with the correct training, your pup should have learned to eliminate outdoors by the time she’s between 4 and 6 months of age. However, you shouldn’t worry if this takes a little longer, as all dogs learn at their own pace, and – barring medical issues – there’s no good reason she won’t get there in the end as long as you’re patient and gentle with her.

Watching Like a Hawk

Keep a good eye on your pup and you should be able to tell when she needs to go. She knows that you want her to do the right thing by going to the bathroom outdoors and she wants to please you, but she just hasn’t figured out how to get you to let her into the yard. There will generally be some signs that she needs to eliminate. These include circling around, pacing back and forth, sniffing at the floor, going into another room and making whining noises. If you notice her doing any of these things, quickly put her on the leash and take her outdoors.

Regular Breaks

Your labradoodle puppy is only small, so she doesn’t have the same ability to control her bowels and bladder that a healthy adult dog does. For this reason, you need to be prepared to take her outside regularly. Your pup generally won’t be able to hold on for much longer than her age in months – so if she’s 4 months old, she’ll need to go every four hours. You should take her out at least this regularly, if not more often, to help prevent any little accidents. The exception is at night, when she will be able to hold it in for longer since she’s not active. You should also take your pup outside to eliminate after a vigorous play session, quite soon after eating, and once she wakes up from a nap.

Doing Their Business

You should always take your puppy into the yard on the leash to help her concentrate on the task at hand. If you let her out to run free, the likelihood is that she’ll start romping about, since it’s much more exciting than doing her business. Take her to the same spot in the garden each time. Puppies are habitual creatures and they like to eliminate in a regular area. If you leave a few of her poops in this area, she may be more likely to go. Once she’s urinated or defecated, you can let her off the lead for a play, as long as your backyard is secure.

Keep it Positive

Puppies learn best through positive reinforcement, so you should always let her know when she’s done the right thing. When she goes to the bathroom in the right place, praise her, give her a treat or play with her – or a combination of the three – so that she knows she has acted in the right way. Never punish her for going in the wrong place, especially after the fact, as she won’t understand why she’s being told off and will only get confused. Some people may advise you to do things like rubbing your puppy’s nose in her excretions when she has an accident, but this is a very bad idea. Physically punishing your dog is cruel and won’t achieve anything other than frightening her. Fearful dogs are more likely to have behavior problems, so you’ll only be escalating the issue.

If you keep to a good routine and make sure you reward your labradoodle when she eliminates in the correct place, she’ll be toilet trained before you know it. If you do everything right but she still has frequent accidents, it might not be anyone’s fault. Be sure to consult your vet to check there’s no underlying medical issue.

Photo credit: Darren Teagles/Flickr

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