My Princess Daisy *dot* com

Potty Training

Lucky for me, potty training came almost natural for Daisy. Like I said in my other journal entry, it is a must to take your beagle puppy out to go potty about every hour. It's that simple. That's how this gets accomplished. Don't be lazy, just do it. More more accidents your puppy has in the house, the longer it will take for your puppy to get house trained.

Even though I lost a lot of sleep the first couple weeks because I had to take Daisy out so much, it was worth it. Now that she is a little older, she knows when and where to go potty. I read that a puppy cannot control its bladder until it is about 6 months old. So don't be surprised if your puppy still has accidents up to this age. Daisy is kind of weird though when it comes to going potty outside. Daisy has no problem doing her "thing" in my yard. She can go almost on command. It's great! How about outside of my yard? Well, this is where Daisy can be difficult. Daisy refuses to go potty anywhere other than her yard. I mean, she'll hold it as long as she can before she can't control it anymore and she has to go wherever she is.

I went on a camping trip to Cottonwood Cove along the Colorado River this past memorial weekend. We drive about 4 hours to get there on a late Thursday night. Daisy refused to go potty the whole road trip. I figured she would go when we got there. Nope! Wrong again. She didn't do #1 until about 12 noon the next day and she didn't go #2 until late Saturday night. I don't know how she held it that long. That was kind of frustrating, especially when we had to do the drive home. Again, Daisy wouldn't go potty at all the whole road trip. We finally arrived home on Sunday late afternoon. Daisy ran straight for the lawn and did her "thing". Well, both "things". I found it really interesting that she wouldn't go anywhere else than her own lawn. The same goes for when I take her on walks. She won't go, even on walks or even when I take her to my girlfriends house. She won't go at all. I guess Daisy feels most comfortable doing her thing on her own lawn. I am hoping this is something that she will grow out of. When she does, I will be sure to write an entry about it.

At least she knows where to go. Not in the House! It took Daisy about 3 months of Potty Training to get her to understand that outside is the place to go. Now that she is a little older, I think she can hold her bladder until she is let outside. When puppies are really small, so is their bladder. That's why they have to be taken out almost every hour, just to make sure there aren't any accidents in the house. One thing to remember is that you can't get mad at your puppy for pooping or peeing in the house. 99% of the time, it's the owners fault. Maybe you didn't take out your puppy when you should have. Or maybe you should have taken your puppy out to go potty, rather than make that quick phone call. I'm sure you get what I mean. The easiest is to make taking out your puppy the #1 priority. Especially when they are young.

For more information on Potty Training read the chapter on it in The Complete Idiot's Guide To Beagles.