One thing to remember about young puppies is that they have small bladders, small colons, and a speedy metabolism. They also have no bladder control initially. They usually need to go potty about 15 minutes after they drink water and eat their meals.
Also, puppies and adult dogs instinctually do not intentionally eliminate all of their urine. They save some in their bladder to mark territories such as grass, bushes, and trees. They can also mark things inside the house, especially if another dog is present.
Setting up potty breaks around the feeding schedule is necessary for structure and to help the puppy learn potty training. I highlighted the potty breaks in the chart, Creating a Puppy Schedule.
Monitoring Water Intake
Check with your veterinarian about how much water your puppy needs for its age, weight, and breed. Based on these recommendations, monitor its water intake and provide small amounts throughout the day. Schedule your potty breaks around the puppy's water intake.
Avoid allowing the puppy to drink large amounts of water at once because this will make potty training very hard, and you will have to provide more unscheduled potty breaks for your puppy. It’s best if they drink small amounts of water, go outside for a potty break, and empty their bladder until the next water intake and potty break. Avoid giving too much water at night to prevent your puppy from going potty in the crate or bed.
For example, if your veterinarian says your puppy needs 2 cups of water daily, you would want to put about 1/4 cup in the bowl and refill it when it's empty. This way, you know exactly how much water your puppy has had and when they drank it. Finally, you would schedule your potty breaks around the puppy's water intake.
TIP: Generally, your puppy needs one ounce of water for each pound of body weight. However, be sure to check with your vet to ensure this recommendation is correct.
Monitoring Food Intake
Most puppies eat 2-4 times daily, depending on their breed, weight, and age. It is ideal to schedule potty breaks immediately after they eat. Free-feeding (leaving food out all day) is unsuitable for potty training because you will never know when the puppy will eat or when to go outside for a potty break.
If your puppy does not eat all of its food within 5 minutes, do not leave it out for it to finish later. Pick it up and give it to it for its next meal. If your puppy learns to graze all day, you will have a much harder time potty training because there is no structure for feeding and eliminating. You want to remove all guesswork regarding potty training and stick to a plan like the one in this book.
Using Meals to Teach Patience
An excellent puppy discipline exercise involves getting the food ready and having the puppy patiently wait for it. This will also teach your puppy impulse control, which is a necessary behavior for all puppies to learn.
Step #1: Prepare your puppy's meal in its bowl, preferably on a counter or high up where the puppy can’t reach it. Hold the food bowl up and ask your puppy to sit and wait.
Step #2: Begin setting the food bowl down. If your puppy moves toward it, bring it back up and ask it to wait again. DON’T REPEAT COMMANDS. Say them once.
Step #3 Once you can set the food bowl down while the puppy waits patiently, release them with the word “OK” and allow them to eat.
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