Potty Training a Mini Aussie: Two Approaches & Dealing with Bad Weather

Here are my thoughts and experience with potty training. We are now potty training our second puppy and a lot has changed! We live in a different state (so different weather) and we are more advanced in our careers so we have less time and are more tied to a work schedule. 

With Indie, we worked less and were home more and lived in CA where the weather was always good so we were able to take him out all the time, even throughout the night, so he was potty trained by 4 months old. We never used pee pads and we used a crate system.

With Tulsi, our new girl, I am gone more for work, I am tired from work, and in Arkansas we have the most f*ed up weather ever so there have been floods, tornadoes, and snow/hail/ice to deal with. Sometimes, it was not possible to go outside.  For those reasons, I use a play pen & pee pad system with her which is explained in detail below. 

Basically, using pee pads will slow down the whole process (as opposed to just taking her outside constantly so that she never goes inside), but, it is what it is and that's life. I need the convenience of it right now.

Potty Training in General:
My experience so far is that potty training depends entirely on you, your work schedule, your vigilance, and your house set up. Do you live in a house with an easily accessible yard space? Or an apartment building where you'll have to walk down stairs/ and or have a slightly longer walk to a grassy area? Depending on these factors you will have to make adjustments to how long you can wait before taking them out.

Potty training is an exhausting process of carefully observing your puppy, trying to keep them on a regular feeding schedule, developing a sense of how long after they eat/drink they usually need to go, learning their signs of when they are about to go, and being ready to jump up and bring them outside at a moments notice for about 2-3 months.  I highly recommend having a pair of slide on shoes that are easy to put on and investing in a play pen (pictures below) so you always have a place you can put puppy that will keep them out of trouble and provide them a place to go in case they need to that is easier for you to clean up. It's such a lifesaver! Confinement is the KEY to effective potty training. Puppies should not have free roam of the house unless you are watching them every step of the way.

Potty Training: Week 1-2 (The most intensive weeks)

Typically, during the first and second weeks is when you need to be the most vigilant. They are most taxing, but the most important. Their bladders are so tiny and they need to go all the time. You pretty much want to take them out all the time, like every 30 to 45 minutes and about 5 minutes after they eat of drink, to ensure they always go potty outside and not inside. Sometimes they won't have to go, that's okay. Take them out let them sniff around for 5 minutes, then you can head back in. Sometimes, frustratingly, they will wait until they get back in and then suddenly have to go. So, it's back outside again even though you were just there and/or you got a little messy to clean up. It's a lot of work to just constantly take them ou, but it tips the odds that they will go only outside in your favor and will decrease the chances of accidents in the house. Let me tell you, it happens SO FAST. They will suddenly just pop a squat to pee and then it's too late and you have a messy to clean up. Never ever get mad about this. If they pee or poo in the house (which will probably happen at least once or twice even with extreme vigilance) it is your fault, not theirs, for not taking them out. Punishment or being mad will only worsen things. But hey, if they go in the house it happens, we are only humans, never beat yourself up or worry that they will never be potty trained -it happens to everyone. Puppies are just messy. Invest in some Resolve Pet carpet cleaner and get a big stack of paper towels on hand.

Some of the signs they need go are: they start really sniffing around and walking in circles, or you see them arching their back, you know they are looking for a place to go. They sniff the ground because they are looking for the scent of their pee which triggers them on where to go. Once you see them sniffing, run them outside.

My Potty Training Set up with dog #2: For dealing with Bad Weather & Busy Work Schedule

The set up I use involves: 

1. a cheap blanket (in this case a synthetic walmart quilt $20 -I have two so I can rotate them as I need to wash them), 
2. a cheap play pen I bought off of Amazon.com, 
3. her crate with the door off of it and a towel over the top, 
4. two or three pee pads to create a nice big area, 
5. and her water dish. 

I set it up so that the pee pads are toward the back because if you put them toward the front and they poop on them, they will step in the poop as they excitedly come up to the front of the pen to greet you! Then you have poopy feet to clean -not fun.

I also will move this whole set up into my bedroom at night. With Indie, I simply locked him in his crate at night and every time he whined, I took him out to potty (about every 2-3 hours -like having a newborn!). It was tedious and tiring, but keeping them in a crate is best way to potty train because then they never learn to pee in the house. But, like I said, I need sleep too much right now to keep getting up at all hours to take Tulsi out. Plus, we have had horrendous weather here in Arkansas since I got her and often, it has been raining too hard or it's been too cold to take her out during the night. So we needed to pee pad train her regardless of my energy/time. Puppies just have to go too often and they can't hold it until the weather gets better, they have to go when they have to go. I tried so hard to keep vigilant throughout the night, but it was just too hard for me so I gave up and just try my best now and do it when I can and if she pees on the pee pads sometimes, so be it. I know it is slowing down her potty training, but I am willing to deal with that. With this set up, if I am not able to jump right up and take her out, she is able to go at least on pee pads and then shuffle back to her crate and I can get precious sleep for work.

Indie was pretty much potty trained by 4 months, meaning we could trust him 100% inside the house for the most part, but our lives were different then. We worked less and were home more and we were able to take him out all the time. With Tulsi it has been different. We both are more advanced in our careers now and we work about 50 hours per week, plus have a lit of events to attend for our college.

Indie was not big on eating or drinking a lot so he didn't have to go as often as our new puppy. Tulsi drinks a lot of water because her and Indie are always playing. I never used a single pee pad with Indie. In fact, he would just tear them up! He maybe had two or three pee accidents in the house and those were because I knew he needed to go out, but thought I could wait another 30 seconds; for example, while I did a quick brush on my hair (he wound up popping a squat and peeing on the bathroom mat as I was rushing to get ready -lesson learned there: when then have to go, get them out quickly don't try to look purdy, ha ha).  I began trusting him to be alone in the house completely around 5 months (which is almost unheard of for any puppy, but Indie was not and still is not a big pee-er or pooper and he had learned not to chew on our possessions).

With Tulsi I use this play pen set up a lot and especially while I'm at work so she can go to the bathroom in between when I am able to get home for lunch and then after work.  Most people lock their dogs in a crate so they HAVE to hold it, but I just can't do that to a dog. I am willing to accept a longer potty training period rather than lock a puppy up for 4 hours at a time. Their little bladders just can't handle this.

As you can see below, Indie was such a wild monkey that he would make a mess of the whole play pen. Tulsi is a gentle little soul and such a good girl -she's is a dream and is totally fine to be in her little home. Conversely, I had to get a special water dish for Indie that wouldn't tip or spill and he would shred any pee pad I put in his play pen, so I couldn't even use them with him. I just used the play pen as a place to dump him into on as needed basis and then would put him into the crate with the door shut for his naps and to potty train him.

Every dog is different. Every life and schedule is different -even within one household! Don't beat yourself up. Do your best and for gosh sake, stock up on carpet cleaner! :P