Successfully Potty Training Your Puppy

The key to successfully potty training your puppy is keeping a consistent schedule! Here is the routine our trainers at Fieldgate Farm use to potty and crate train our Colonial Village Labradoodles!

Wake up!

• Go straight outside! We want to be very calm any time we take our puppies out of the crate, do not be too excited or praise him. 
• Some puppies get distracted outside and forget to potty, so you may try leash walking him around the yard to keep him focused. 
• Give puppy 10 minutes to go potty. If he goes #1 and #2, he can come inside and eat breakfast!
• If after 10 minutes puppy has not done both #1 and #2, bring him inside and put him back in his crate. Leave him in his crate for 10-15 minutes, then try to go potty outside again. Repeat this step until he has gone both #1 and #2. 
• Make sure to give lots of praise when he potties outside! 

Breakfast

• Once puppy has gone potty, he can eat breakfast. 
• Give him ¾ cup of puppy food in a regular bowl in his crate with the door shut. While puppy is eating, you can put down his water for the day outside of the crate. 
• After 15 minutes, pick up any leftover food and put it away. Take puppy back outside to potty. 
• Give puppy 10 minutes to go potty. If he goes #1 and #2, he can come inside and play!
• If after 10 minutes puppy has not done both #1 and #2, bring him inside and put him back in his crate. Leave him in his crate for 10-15 minutes, then try to go potty outside again. Repeat this step until he has gone both #1 and #2. 
• Make sure to give lots of praise when he potties outside! 

Daytime

• If you can closely supervise your puppy, he can be out and about! I recommend families tether puppies to them (leash with carabiner clip to your pants) when they are having potty training issues.
• Giving puppies too much freedom is the #1 reason families struggle with potty training! 
• If you cannot closely supervise puppy, put him in his crate or a play pen. You can give him something to work on, like a bone or a frozen Kong, or a puzzle toy! 
• While puppy is out of his crate and being supervised, take him outside every 30 minutes to potty, or if you notice him sniffing excessively. 
• If puppy has an accident inside, gently correct and move him outside. Make sure to clean any messes super well! 
• Give puppy lots of praise anytime he potties outside! 
• Puppies sleep a LOT during the day, so he may take some naps. 
• We give puppies 2, 1-hour naps in their crates during the day here on the farm. This is a great time for you to run errands!
• Every time your puppy wakes up from being asleep, they will need to go potty! Make sure to take them out ASAP after they’ve woken up. 

Dinner

• At dinner time, feed puppy 3/4c in a regular bowl, in his crate with the door shut. 
• After 15 minutes, pick up any leftover food and put it away. Take puppy back outside to potty. 
• Give puppy 10 minutes to go potty. If he goes #1 and #2, he can come inside and play!
• If after 10 minutes puppy has not done both #1 and #2, bring him inside and put him back in his crate. Leave him in his crate for 10-15 minutes, then try to go potty outside again. Repeat this step until he has gone both #1 and #2. 
• Make sure to give lots of praise when he potties outside! 
• After puppy has gone potty after dinner, allow him to have one last drink and then pick up water for the night. 

Bedtime 

• Take puppy out to potty again right before you put them to sleep. We want to make sure they’re empty before we put them up! 
• Give puppy lots of praise anytime he potties outside! 
• Once he has gone potty for the last time, shut him in his crate. 
• Puppies’ crates should be placed far away from where the rest of the family sleeps. To help puppy sleep better, you can cover their crate with a blanket or play white noise. 
• Ignore any crying right after you put him in his crate! He is just throwing a temper tantrum. 

Overnight

• Give puppy a potty break once in the middle of the night.
• We want to be very calm any time we take our puppies out of the crate, do not be too excited or praise him. 
• Give puppy lots of praise anytime he potties outside! 
• Once he has pottied, calmly crate him and go back to bed! 

Multi-generational Australian Labradoodles are a cross between many different parent breeds. The breed originated in Australia in the 1980s with the intent of creating an allergy-friendly service dog for the blind. Australian Labradoodles are a combination of a Poodle, Labrador Retriever, English Cocker Spaniel, American Cocker Spaniel, and Irish Water dogs. These breeds were hand-selected for specific breed qualities to create the ideal service dog for those with allergies. Since then, the breed has continued on and spread across the world. Australian Labradoodles are now considered their own breed with its own breed clubs (ALAA and WALA).