Part 2: How to house-train a pug
House-training a pug when living in an apartment building
You know that sweet aroma of brown fresh extract just after waking up, at the brink of dawn. When you’ve barked your servants awake to let them know you need to go pee-pee pronto. Finding that sweet fragrance that wakes you up from your grogginess to a new day. When you taste those brown little pebbles and chew those fresh treats. That’s when you really know it’s going to be a good day. That’s what I call the best of mornings.
That is until mummy freaks out and starts forcing her hand down my throat. Screaming “NO… NO… Leave it… Drop it… MISHTI… Don’t eat that bunny poop!” All the while I was enjoying my finds! But no longer! As much as I cry and resist she makes sure I can’t relish those goodies anymore. Until next time. Until our next walk. My desire for small little delicacies in the grass will never wither. I’m Mishti and my favorite food is bunny poop, forever ❤
Hi I’m the servent/mummy/owner and all I’m about to tell you is based on my own experiences, so take it with a pinch of salt. You can find the table of contents below to jump quickly between parts or skip to the one you find most useful. I do always recommend the whole read for the moral support it will provide and the confidence in knowing that you are not alone in your doggy worries. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop in a line ;)
What this post is all about
In this part, I’ll give you concrete methods that worked for us in potty training. I will tell you about what it takes and how to keep yourself from going insane in the process. Finally, there are free printables so you can copy my process, adapt it where needed, and make it a success.
In part 1, I told you all the mistakes I made, so you won’t make them. Went through the different training tools from pee pads to doggy toilets and beyond. I also revealed some secrets and materials I found useful while in this messy conundrum.
Table of contents:
Crate training
It’s no joke that pugs are notoriously hard to housetrain. Well at least my little one was, but as of writing this, I can finally say we are in the clear! Finally! Time to bring out the bubbly and the carpets. Why I’m only now saying this is because according to most experts “once your dog has made it through at least three months without a housesoiling mishap” you can call it a success (DogTime, 2016). Remember living in an apartment makes house training that much more difficult. She’s now 10 months of age and it’s been exactly 3 months since our last accident! I’m celebrating each turd dropped by Mishti that I’ve picked up from the grass as a very steamy and warm Olympic gold medal 🏅
Don’t be put off, “it typically takes 4–6 months for a puppy to be fully house trained, but some puppies may take up to a year” (Edgar, 2009). In other words, I’m feeling good about my 10-month mark. Even though I can say that my previous dog Daisy was much quicker being fully house-trained in 4 months, I’m proud of Mishti. I shouldn’t be comparing… Daisy was a large golden retriever and Mishti is a small pug. Besides the challenge of living in an apartment “size can be a predictor [too]…, as smaller breeds have smaller bladders and higher metabolisms requir[ing] more frequent trips outside” (Edgar, 2009).
As I said in Part 1 what I got right was crate training Mishti from the start. I placed her into her crate immediately after taking her up to the apartment on day one. I had her crate in a puppy pen that I gradually increased in size. What I loved about the crate was that she came to love it as her own little bedroom going into it to sleep and rest immediately. It was her sanctuary and she never did her business there. This is because dogs by nature don’t like to relieve themselves where they sleep (George, 2016a).
To get your puppy used to a crate introduce it as soon as possible by placing treats into it and letting them get to know it. You can start keeping them there for small amounts of time, 15min or so, multiple times a day. It’s safe to keep your puppy in it for the night and gradually increasing their time in it. But never leave a small puppy in a crate for more than 4 hours and if you’re out of home arrange for someone to come and take them out for potty and play. Also, get a crate that will fit even when they’re fully grown and preferably with a space separator to adjust the size as they grow. Luckily there are lots of instructional videos on youtube on introducing a crate. I personally love Zak Gorge’s videos and this one is perfect for puppies. (George, 2016b)
If you have a dog that has learned to pee in its crate training will take much longer, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. In this case, you require more frequent trips outside to pee straight before going into the crate and after waking up. You also need to make sure you clean the crate very well with an enzyme cleaner to eliminate urine odor after accidents. Dogs will do their business where they’ve gone before, marking their space. (Bovsun, 2020)
Supervision, leash training, and exercise
Where I think I went wrong in the beginning was sufficient supervision. I allowed Mishti too much freedom as a small puppy to go around our living room. I thought what harm could she possibly do as I was always present and working remotely in the same room. But aaa… she always found ways to bark and do her business at the most inconvenient times. Exactly when I was having a meeting with my manager or clients. I now know, I should have confined her into the crate as she felt content in there sleeping and not creating pee-pee accidents.
After realizing my lack in supervising I started having her 100% on the leash attached to me when she wasn’t in her puppy pen or crate. I started leash training and having a harness on her throughout the day. The training belt I used allowed me to have treats on hand whenever needed. It looked funny but it did work. This way she wasn’t able to find her next corner to poop or pee in.
Finally, I started exercising her right before my workday started at 8 am. I used her meal times for training and games. Because she is a toy breed her portion sizes are very small. I wanted to utilize these meals instead of giving too many treats that aren’t healthy and fatten a pug quickly. I taught her all the basic commands, gave her little brain some work, and had her trained in them by week 16 ready for the big world. Before this Mishti was too young to go to the doggy park, so I found ways to teach her to fetch indoors making space in our small living room. I gradually transitioned these games into outdoor activities after her vaccinations. To this day the morning routine has stayed. The exercise makes her behave better and sleep most of the working day until late afternoon making surprises around the house less likely.
Positive reinforcement
Even though I admit I’ve not always been a perfect puppy parent I’ve tried to strive for positive reinforcement training. I don’t believe punishing works as it wouldn’t work very well with human children either. Punishing for an unwanted behavior makes a puppy scared and no longer willing to trust or focus on you. This of course leads down a path of no communication for both and an untrained dog.
When positive reinforcement is applied to potty training there should never be punishment towards to puppy for pees and poos around the house. I mean you wouldn’t spank a baby for peeing and pooping in their diaper either would you? The same goes for a puppy. You promptly clean it up so that there are no longer any odors left behind, preferably with an enzyme cleaner, and continue. Now don’t get me wrong, during these past 10 months I’ve gotten frustrated to the point of tears. I’ve had many sleepless nights thinking about what am I doing wrong. Am I good enough and why did I take a puppy in the first place? And this is completely normal. Owning a puppy is about ups and downs, struggles, and all the trouble. But it all passes. Trust me just hang in there.
The point of positive reinforcement training is praising for good behavior and ignoring unwanted behavior. With my training belt and treats right at my fingertips 100% of the time, I was quickly able to react to the things I liked and treat for those. I also placed treat boxes all around the house to make it easier when someone else was training or I just happened to not be wearing the belt. This made potty training also easier as I treated for when Mishti showed signs that she wanted to go out.
Potty scheduling and trigger word
But something was still missing after doing all of the above. We’d get through a month and then a yellow big puddle of smelly pee by the door. At least it was consistently by the door, I thought, but nevertheless, my spirits were down for a few days after each accident. I kept thinking what is the missing piece? Why hasn’t she learned by now?
And that’s when I started logging her every pee and poo event. I wanted to see when was she feeling like going. I wanted to analyze it. Quantify it. Make it apparent where I was going wrong. And answer the question, what time did she need to go? I logged every accident and success. I went back to old records and tried to improve on my timings. And after all this analysis I created a potty schedule. I also based my schedule on the formula on how long a puppy can hold their pee never allowing for long between potty breaks. I started with 10 breaks a day gradually reducing as she grew and could hold her pee longer. And even with the accidents, the number of mishaps started to diminish.
Next, I started using a trigger word. Every time Mishti did her business outside I’d say the trigger word (go potty), treat, and again say the trigger word (go potty). Eventually, she started to associate these words with going. It made our tiring trips down 2 flights of stairs to the back garden so much more efficient during my working day. And my work colleagues less annoyed with my many breaks as they didn’t take longer than 10 min.
Side note: Mishti loves bunny poop and every trip we make she looks for her favorite treats that beat chicken breast 0 to 1. I didn’t know this nasty obsession was prevailing in some dogs until I googled it. “There’s a scientific name for this habit — coprophagia (kop-ruh-fey-jee-uh)…[and interestingly] poop eating is a relatively common phenomenon” (Staff, 2020). In research from Hart et al. (2018, p. 113) the study found that one in six dogs are “serious” stool eaters (caught in the act six times or more) and 23% were observed eating feces at least once. I’m currently in the process of training her out of this horrible pattern and will keep you posted.
Free printables for perfect house-training
As mentioned my success came from analyzing Mishti’s potty wants. I recommend you do the same if you’re having trouble understanding your puppy, correcting the timings and issues.
Everything mentioned applies also to full-grown dogs that are still doing it inside the house. Be patient it will take longer than for a puppy because the habit is set in. You need to set a schedule and find out when and where they are peeing and pooping. Start as if they are a puppy with full supervision and crate training, if not already there, and cut their access to most parts of the house. Remember positive re-enforcement and those treats. From this, you can start working yourself up to 3 months.
I’ve provided three printables for you to use. One and two are for logging the place and times of your pooches goings. There’s an old-fashioned printable and an excel sheet for tech-savvies to do more analysis if wished. The third is for creating your own unique potty schedule. By sticking to the times and learning from the past you’ll be able to make the most efficient schedule that will bring structure to both your and your puppy's everyday life. Good luck comrade, don’t give up, I know you’ll win the war against the stinky pee!
Excel logging
Logging printable
Schedule printable
References
Bovsun, M. (2020, June 29). How To Potty Train Puppies: A Comprehensive Guide for Success. American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-potty-train-a-puppy/
DogTime. (2016, August 19). How to know it’s time to stop housetraining. https://dogtime.com/puppies/722-housetraining-when-to-stop-dunbar
Edgar, J. (2009, December 16). House Training Your Puppy. WebMD. https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/house-training-your-puppy#1
George, Z. (2016a, February 21). How to Potty Train your Puppy EASILY! Everything you need to know! Youtube https://youtu.be/7vOXWCewEYM
George, Z. (2016b, November 12). How to Crate Train a Puppy. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hesi8WxLWVE&feature=youtu.be
Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A., Thigpen, A. P., Tran, A., & Bain, M. J. (2018). The paradox of canine conspecific coprophagy. Veterinary medicine and science, 4(2), 106–114.
Staff, A. (2020, May 13). Why Dogs Eat Poop and How to Stop It. American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/why-dogs-eat-poop/
