How do you potty train a rat terrier? A Complete Guide

How to Potty Train a Rat Terrier

Experts suggest that you should start potty training a rat terrier dog when they’re between 12 to 16 weeks old – right around this time is when they start having enough bladder and bowel control to learn how to hold it in. If your puppy is past a year and a half in age, then the potty training process can take a bit longer. It is all dependent on how dedicated you are to helping your rat terrier learn how to potty properly.

The dog experts out there also say that confining rat terrier puppies to defined spaces – like crates – helps with potty training too. As the dog learns that they must go outside to do their dirty business, you can gradually start allowing your rat terrier the freedom to roam the house without too much supervision. When it comes to training a rat terrier puppy to go outside, you should begin by following the below tips:

Establish a regular feeding schedule that your rat terrier can get used to. Remove the leftover food between meals.

Make sure to take your puppy out as soon as you wake up early in the morning and then again throughout the day every hour or so. You should also take him outside when he wakes up from napping, after wholesome meals, make it the last thing before going to bed at night, as well as right before leaving him/her alone.

Another very important tip is to take your rat terrier puppy to the same exact spot every single time. This way he’ll be able to smell his own scent. This will prompt him to go again.

Stay with him when he’s outside. Micromanagement is super important at this young age.

When your pooch is done going outside, make sure to praise him and give him a treat for a job well done. Another great reward is a short walk through the neighborhood.

These rat terrier puppy training tips can be used for virtually all obedience training: always make sure to reward your pal for good behavior. On the other side of the coin is bad behavior. Never, ever reward or give treats to your rat tarrier after bad behavior.

According to the Humane Society for Dogs and Animals, the first step in a rat terrier’s crate training life is selecting the right crate. It is advised that the crate itself should be large enough for your rat terrier to stand up in and comfortably turn around, but not much larger. However, keep in mind that it’s just fine to choose a crate for your rat terrier puppy that will accommodate their adult size. This way you won’t have to spend additional cash to purchase a larger one down the road.

If you do decide to get a full adult sized crate, make sure to block off the extra space. The whole goal of crate training is to ensure that they can’t potty in one end of the crate and then simply retreat to the other side. Another thing to consider is that some local animal shelters may even rent crates, this would allow you to choose the right size now and then upgrade when the puppy outgrows the starter crate.

Up the difficulty of the trick by asking him to sit in more and more distracting areas. Try it with other people in the house, out on a walk, and even at a dog park. Each time he listens to you, give him lots of praise and treats.

Watch your dog closely and each time he sits, click the clicker the second his butt hits the floor and give him a treat.

Mark good behavior using a clicker for better accuracy. Start by loading it. Click the button and immediately give your dog a treat. Do this 10 times so he associates the click with a treat.

Rat Terriers are not like many other small dogs. They love to run and hike outside and have the stamina to keep up for miles. They also love to play, so make training a fun exercise for him. If you start early and are consistent, training your Rat terrier to sit will be one of the best investments in his training. When he sits on command, you can teach him more tricks, keep him safe, and make sure hes paying attention to you.

Below youll find three methods to teach your Rat Terrier to sit. Read through each one and determine which one will work best for you. With some commitment, your dog will know how to sit on command and will be ready for the next trick.

I shared a number of potty training tips with the guardians and recorded them. You can learn how to use a positive reinforcement to potty train an adult dog by watching below.

To help the guardians remember all the things we covered in this in home Omaha dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video.

In case the problem is dog marking, we spent a good portion of the session going over ways to create a healthy leader follower dynamic. Dixie showed some signs of insecurity as well as possessive or protective behavior around the family’s teen girls. Adding rules, structure and increasing exercise should help reduce that protective behavior.

Stopping a dog from urinating in the house is all about rewarding them for successful elimination in the proper place. This kind of remedial potty training is usually pretty easy if you are consistent and observant. Im confident the humans can stop the potty problems within a few weeks if they follow the instructions outlined in the above free dog training video.

For this Omaha dog training session we work with Dixie a 3 year-old Rat Terrier mix to stop her from having accidents in the house.

Rat Terrier Potty Training from World-Famous Dog Trainer Zak George – Potty Train Rat Terrier Puppy

Take your Rat Terrier for walks at the time that he usually does his potty. Take him out to the yard and then to the same place there every time he needs to answer nature’s call.