Potty Training Challenges

Whether it’s the toddler or puppy running around your house, potty training often receives a groan of exasperation. It can be frustrating and feel like a long process, to potty train your new English Bulldog puppy. With discipline and dedication, a new bulldog puppy should master the potty training process in a few weeks. 

As English Bulldog breeders focused on the health and wellbeing of our bulldogs, we encourage our adopters to implement potty training methods focusing on the instinctual patterns of your bulldog puppy. Old methods such as verbal and physical abuse aren’t effective or desirable training methods. Instead, focus on what your bulldog puppy can and cannot do at this point in their life. 

Timing Potty Breaks

A ten-week-old bulldog puppy can hold its bladder for about 3-hour intervals.  A potty training regiment should be built off of this constraint.  Adopters should create a schedule that allows for their new puppy to have outdoor access about every 2.5 to 3 hours early on in its life.  As their bulldog puppy grows, so too does their bladder capacity and needed potty intervals.  The more consistent and dedicated each adopter is to a potty interval, the more quickly a bulldog puppy will successfully become potty trained.

Using Crates

The second tool that should be utilized is a crate.  When an adopter is away or sleeping the crate serves as a natural teaching tool for your bulldog puppy.  It is natural for your puppy to want to go to the bathroom away from its sleeping area. Using a crate creates a natural negative reinforcement by forcing the puppy to sit a little too close to their waste than desirable.  It will naturally want to avoid this dilemma and seek to hold off potty time until the designated interval.  We recommend using a crate with a removable tray to help this process along.

By combining consistent intervals and tools like a crate, potty training is an attainable goal.  For more English Bulldog care tips, check out these articles, covering puppy daycare, social skills, and toys to buy.