Welcoming a new puppy into the family is always an exciting event. They are cute and nice to snuggle. Moreover, everyone will be very eager to bring them out to play and for walks.
What isn’t as fun is potty training them. Just like any young puppies, it’s common for your pit bull puppy to have accidents in the house.
On average, it takes 4 to 8 weeks to potty train a puppy. Of course, with a correct and great technique, and a smart pup, it can be done much sooner.
Despite knowing this fact, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. In addition, not everyone knows the right methods on how to potty train a pitbull puppy.
In this article, we will outline some of our best potty training tips for your pitbull puppy.
Hopefully with these tips, you can quickly get through this phase and enjoy a stress free life with your new family member.
7 Tips On How To Potty Train A Pitbull Puppy
1. Choose The Right Crate
You’re at the pet store, looking for a crate for your new puppy. You browse through shelves, looking at all the options and think “Should I get a bigger crate instead, that my puppy can grow into?”.
Well, drop that idea because the answer is absolutely NO.It can be tempting to want to save money by choosing a crate your puppy can grow into. However, doing so actually wastes more time and creates more frustration when giving a potty train to your pitbull puppy.
The thing is, when puppies are young, they don’t understand that the only acceptable place to go potty is outside. Hence, when the crate is too big, they tend to use one corner for eating, playing, and sleeping; and another corner for potty.
With that being said, you’re creating a bad habit for your pit bull, and it will be very hard to break. Instead of urinating and pooping outside, your puppy now learned that it’s acceptable to use its crate as a bathroom.
The best size of crate for your puppy is one that is tall enough for them to stand upright without struggle.
The crate’s width and length should be big enough for the puppy to comfortably circle inside before laying down. Additionally, the crate should also have some room for their arms and legs to extend when lying down, but not more than that.
All in all, if your dog’s crate looks like a puppy penthouse, then you know it is too big.
2. Delegating Responsibility
Raising a puppy is a huge responsibility. Everyone in the family should take it seriously. If you haven’t, it’s a good idea to gather everyone and discuss who takes care of tasks like feeding, walking, showering etc.
After delegating the responsibility, next, make sure everyone in the family commits to it. Remember, your end goal is to create a routine for your puppy.
With a daily static routine that follows the same schedule every day, you create predictability for your puppy, and fewer accidents for you. Ultimately, you can ensure your pit bull’s potty training mission to be a success.
So when to bring your pit bull puppy out for urination and defecation? Well, the general rule of thumb is every 2 hours. Lead your puppy to their designated potty area, then praise them heavily when they use it.
Mind you, a young pit bull usually has smaller bladders. In fact, any puppy younger than 12 weeks old needs to be taken outside every 2 hours for potty.
Only when they get older, they can hold their bladder longer. Still, when in doubt, take your puppy out right away! After all, that’s the golden rule of every puppy potty training.
3. Routine And Schedules
The better your puppy can predict how their day will go, the more compliant they will be. Which means fewer piles of poo or urine you’ll see on your floor each day.
It’s alright to also train your pit bull to walk on loose leash when they’re out for potty, but never let them walk without one.
This is to prevent their active brain getting distracted by all the enticing smells around, or floating butterflies. In other words, everything that is happening around him.
When a puppy gets distracted, they won’t focus on relieving themselves. Consequently, they will do it inside the house instead since they didn’t do it outside in the first place.
During nighttime, your puppy should be sleeping in the crate. This is to keep your puppy safe while everyone else is asleep. In addition, it teaches them to have a positive association with the crate, while reducing those pesky early morning accidents.
Another thing to take note of is your pit bull puppy diet. Always feed and give water to your puppy at the same time each day. Doing this allows you to predict when they’ll need to go outside to relieve.
Also, pull up their food and water at least 4 hours before bedtime. If they go to sleep with a full stomach, chances are they will have an accident in the middle of the night or in early morning.
4. Giving Praises And Rewards
Whenever your pit bull puppy successfully uses the bathroom outside, don’t forget to give lots of praise. Of course, you can also use treats, although we don’t really recommend it.
This is because many puppies will learn that simply going outside means getting treats. In other words, it actually distracts them from doing the more important task — relieving themselves.
A better way to reward them is to have some playtime with your pup after their potty training. With this method, they will learn that potty is equal to play, and all puppies love some playtime.
In cases your pit bull pup refuses to use the bathroom while outside, bring them back in and put them in their crate with a toy. This toy will keep the puppy occupied; while you can keep an eye on the sign of them ready for potty break again.
Additionally, this method also teaches your puppy that no pee/poo equals no play. They will pick up this signal in no time. Soon after, your pit bull puppy will do their potty right away whenever they’re outside.
5. Disciplinary Action For Accidents
Never HIT, YELL or RUB your puppy’s nose on their filth as a punishment for relieving inside the house.
Remember, your pit bull puppy is still a baby that is in need of constant supervision. Hence, their accidents are your accidents.
Instead, what can you do is to have your puppy drag their leash around the house, or create a designated spot where they are tethered to a leash during free time.
Do not think this is cruel, it’s not. What you’re doing is to give your puppy the structure they need to thrive in your family as they grow. If anything, you’re actually house training your pit bull puppy, teach them the boundaries of where they can wander while inside the house.
Besides, tethering keeps you from losing track of your pit bull pup, as well as lets you catch him in the middle of accidents. Plus, it also prevents your puppy from chewing or playing with things they shouldn’t.
In the event you catch your pit bull pup getting ready to pee, distract them by clapping your hands while saying “No, no, no, no” in a stern voice.
Continue doing this until the command reaches your puppy. Then, with their leash still attaching to them, lead them outside.
However, if you did not catch your puppy in the act and found a surprise on the floor, the best is to just clean it up without punishing your dog.
6. Reviewing Training Method
It’s important to constantly review your training method or behavior portrayed when you give potty train to your pitbull puppy.
This is especially if you still found surprises around the house despite you have trained them for a while now.
Instead of getting frustrated and punishing them, take the accident as an opportunity for you to establish the weak areas of your training.
You can start by asking yourself questions like:
“How was he able to have an accident without me knowing?”
“Does he have too much free reign in the house?”
“Am I not restricting him to an area where I can see him at all times?”
It’s crucial to ask yourself to know where you’re going wrong. Be honest with yourself and answer the questions to help you determine what additional steps you need to take.
Remember, your puppy is not naughty, they are just doing what puppies do.
7. The Secret To Potty Training Any Pitbull Puppy
The secret to successfully potty train a pitbull puppy is really no secret. Just like achieving other things in life, you need commitment, discipline, time and effort, and lastly, patience.
For starters, before your puppy learns about boundaries and starts their potty training, it’s best to avoid them to soil in the house at all cost. Granted, there will be accidents here and there.
Once you start their potty training, be sure to let your puppy out often enough. Needless to say, it should be done routinely, followed by a fixed schedule.
Next, whenever you let them be free inside the house, teach them to only roam in a designated area so as to be able to keep an eye on them. In the case you’re unable to supervise, keep them in their crate.
All in all, these are the main 3 components you need to accomplish quickly when you train a pit bull pup. Along with a hawk-like supervision, your pup for sure can be potty trained with a flying color in no time.
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