LABRADOR RETRIEVER PUPPY POTTY TRAINING (TIPS FROM REAL DOG TRAINERS)
In this video, I’ll give you 4 tips on how
to potty train your Labrador puppy. These
4 tips are not the standard tips you’ll
find in other YouTube videos like ‘you should
use a dog crate’. Nevertheless using a dog
crate is good advice but I want to give you
something different you’ve never heard before
so you can work on that thing with your Labrador
puppy.
These 4 tips come directly from my book How
to House-Train Your Puppy: The Ultimate Guide,
which I wrote in cooperation with 24 dog trainers
and dog experts.
Hi, my name is Robbin, and I’m the owner of
the website Puppybee.com. I’m here to help
you prepare for your puppy in the best way
possible, so you’ll know what to expect and
what to do when you get a puppy.
Besides my book How to House-Train Your Puppy:
The Ultimate Guide, I have written three other
puppy training books. And I’ve written these
four books in cooperation with over 30 well-known
dog trainers.
Again, these 4 tips I’m going to share with
you in this video come directly from my book
How to House-Train Your Puppy: The Ultimate
Guide.
My first tip for you is to take your Labrador
puppy outside immediately. Also when your
puppy is still 8 to 12 weeks old.
What do I mean with this? Well some vets still
advise not to take your puppy outside until
it has received all its vaccinations. That
would mean your puppy can only pee in the
garden, to prevent it being infected by other
dogs.
This in turn would mean that your pup is not
allowed to leave your home and garden for
up to 12 weeks, resulting in an insecure and
anxious dog.
The second socialization stage of a puppy’s
life covers the period between 8 and 12 weeks
of age. During this crucial period, puppies
need to be socialized to fit in with society.
They need to gain positive experiences with
the things they will encounter later on in
life. If you never let your puppy get familiar
with traffic, for instance, you run a serious
risk of having it respond anxiously to all
traffic later on.
In short, it would be very harmful to restrict
your Labrador puppy’s world to just your
home and garden over the period between 8
and 12 weeks of age.
Besides this is good practise for socializing
your puppy it is also very good for housetraining
your Labrador puppy. You probably prefer that
your pup will pee and poop outside rather
than inside or in your garden. So why not
take it outside immediately instead of letting
it pee and poop in your garden first?
If you’d like to know the 12 steps for making
your puppy pee and poop outdoors as this is
your main end goal in potty training your
Labrador puppy. Please follow the 12 steps
I explain in this YouTube video. I have a
link to that YouTube video in the description
below this video on YouTube. These 12 steps
are perfectly suited for eight week old Labrador
puppies. But before you go over to that video
please let me continue with my second tip.
My second tip for you is to stop using the
confusing rules of thumb
Some people use a rule of thumb in puppy house-training
regimes. An example of such rules of thumb
is the following: “a two-month-old Labrador
pup can retain urine for three hours. For
every month that it ages, add one hour to
this number. This means that when your Labrador
aged three months it can wait for four hours
before having to pee.”
Despite what may be roughly accurate in general,
the best advice is not to use a rule of thumb
when rearing pups, including house-training
regimes. Every single dog is unique, and all
sorts of different factors affect the pace
of the house-training process.
If you do operate by a rule of thumb, you
run the risk of focusing too heavily on that
rule. If your puppy should somehow pee inside
the house, you are likely to think that something
is wrong with it, which will not help the
process of rearing your pup.
On top of this, there are dozens of factors
influencing the length of time that any puppy
can go without a pee. Consider fluid intake,
for instance, or the metabolic rate of its
body, or the level of activity and anxiety
it experiences. It is by no means exceptional
for an eight-week-old puppy to need to pee
after only 20 minutes of intense activity.
On the other hand, puppies may well sleep
the entire night without having to go if they’re
resting peacefully.
So in conclusion, do not use a rule of thumb
when house training your Labrador puppy. Instead
just focus your attention on your puppy and
look at his behavior and previous activities.
Have you just had a play session with your
puppy? Take it outside first before putting
him back in its dog crate. Running, walking
and playing will result in your puppy having
to pee much sooner than expected according
to the rule of thumb.
My third tip for you is to find the dullest
place close to your home for your Labrador
puppy to pee and poop during his first week.
Why dull, you wonder? Well many people ask
me all the time how can a pup that’s just
been walked pee indoors only five minutes
later?
The thing to keep in mind is a puppy’s endless
curiosity. As you take it for a walk, it is
usually so focused on its surroundings that
if you don’t give it a clear opportunity
to pee or to poop, you run the risk of allowing
it to forget all about nature’s call. Once
you get home, it calms down, suddenly realizing
why you went for that walk in the first place.
Try to imagine yourself in its situation.
You wouldn’t be able to take a whizz with
everyone around you watching because you would
be too tense. You’d be much more relaxed
if you went to the toilet and focused on the
task at hand all by yourself.
This is the reason you want your pup to get
bored and relax, making it realize that it
needs to pee and poop. Any place in your immediate
surroundings that provides minimum distraction
will do.
During the first week, use the same boring
spot as often as you can, to teach the pup
where it can and should answer nature’s
call. Repeatedly visiting the same spot makes
it even more boring for your puppy, causing
it to switch attention to peeing sooner.
If you notice that it’s working out nicely,
you can start looking for a second airing
space. Try to find more and more different
airing spots, to teach your Labrador pup to
relieve itself in different places. On the
grass, in the sand, on the gravel, and even
on the pavement if you’re living in an urban
area without a spot of green nearby.
My fourth tip for you is to to not leave a
puppy of 8 weeks home alone for longer than
2 hours on end because you’ll you run the
risk of having it pee or poop indoors.
Many people wonder how long they can leave
a puppy home alone because they need to get
back to their full-time jobs a few weeks or
even a few days after taking a puppy into
their home.
It’s best to take a vacation of a minimum
of 3 weeks to cover the initial arrival of
your new puppy. When you need to get back
to your job after you could also consider
a dog walking service, or you could ask a
friend, neighbor, or a family member to walk
your puppy when you are not around. You need
to remember that puppies have small bladders
and because of that they need to pee very
often. That is why it’s so important to
consistently stick to the walking schedule.
You can download my walking, sleep and eating
schedule for free I specifically created for
you and your Labrador. My puppy schedule has
been downloaded thousands of times already
by my Dutch audience as I have a similar YouTube
channel in The Netherlands where I also help
new puppy owners. You can find a link to the
free Labrador walking schedule in the link
in the description below or you can go to
my website puppybee.com.
My bonus tip for you is to check out all my
other YouTube videos I recently published
about potty training your puppy. In these
other videos I talk about potty training your
puppy in the winter, in an apartment, whether
or not you can housetrain your puppy in 5
days, my advice on potty training at night
and more! You can find a link the complete
potty training playlist on YouTube in the
description below this video.
Well, there you have it. My 4 tips + 1 bonus
tip on potty training your Labrador puppy.
To quickly summarize the 4 tips:
Tip 1: take your Labrador puppy outside immediately.
Also when your puppy is still 8 to 12 weeks
old. And we do this because it is very important
to socialize your puppy immediately with traffic
and such.
Tip 2: stop using the confusing rules of thumb.
Every dog is unique and each day is different.
Instead of using a rule of thumb focus on
your dog and act accordingly.
Tip 3: find the dullest place close to your
home for your Labrador puppy to pee and poop
during his first week. This will prevent it
to pee inside after your walk 5 minutes later.
And the last tip. Tip 4. do not leave a puppy
of 8 weeks home alone for longer than 2 hours
on end because you’ll you run the risk of
having it pee or poop indoors. You walk your
Labrador puppy four times a day, but you could
be taking it for a pee and poop for as many
as fourteen times a day (walks included).
And also, my last bonus tip. Check out my
7 other videos on potty training your puppy
with lots of different tips. You’ll find
all the links to these videos in description
below.
If you have any questions related to potty
training your Labrador puppy please leave
a comment below. As I just started this YouTube
channel and only have 7 subscribers you will
have my 100 attention. So please leave a comment
below and hit me up with all of your questions.
I promise to answer all them.
If you don’t have any questions you can
still leave a comment below. It never hurts
to say hi.
Also, please click the like button if you
find this video of any value to you. If you
didn’t find any value in this video then
please let me know as well. I would like to
know whether or not I’m doing a good job
here.
Lastly, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube
channel by clicking the big red subscribe
button so you won’t miss my next video,
next Thursday. Every Thursday there’s a
new video related to puppy training.
Also, please visit my website, puppybee.com
for more information about puppy training.
I wish you all the best with your Labrador
puppy. Make sure you enjoy every moment!
Thanks for watching my video, and I’ll see
you next time!
