If your puppy is eating too many treats, you must know when to stop giving puppy treats for potty training. Don’t panic! We have the solution.
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Potty training your puppy can be challenging but do not be disheartened when using treats to reward good behavior. But, one thing to keep in mind is you cannot always give treats to your puppy.
Pup parents need to understand when to stop giving treats to their puppy for potty training. Your puppy is just like a small kid. To make him do his daily chores, you will have to cuddle him, pamper him, and make him feel special. But this has to stop after a time.
Let us discuss further when to stop giving puppy treats for potty training.
When To Stop Giving Puppy Treats To Your Puppy?
Regular Habit
Puppies can get into the habit of getting treats for every small good deed. After some time, they stop responding to commands and instructions if no treats are given to them.
When you notice this behavior, t is a signal for you to stop giving treats. Always remember you are yourself making your puppy greedy.
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Treats Replacing Meals
Some puppies get into the habit of eating only treats instead of regular meals. This will not only affect their appetite but also reduce their nutrition levels.
Puppy treats need to stop when you notice that the puppy is not eating its food and is waiting for you to give a treat. This is wrong because treats cannot provide the right nutrition needed for your growing pup to become stronger.
Upset Stomach
Many times regular treats can make your puppy’s stomach upset. When you notice the color of the potty changing from brown to black or some other color, it is an indication that it is time to stop giving puppy treats to your puppy.
One behavioral change that you will notice is that your puppy will become stubborn. It is you who is spoiling your own pup. They know well that they are being rewarded for not following instructions by a treat, so they tend to repeat such behavior and end up hurting their own stomach.
Training Completed
Finally, if you have succeeded in potty training your puppy and it can do potty without any treats, then it’s time you stop giving treats.
Initially, this may be challenging for you as well as for your puppy. But gradually, things will come back to normal, and you will make it pee and poop without any treats.
When should I start weaning my puppy off treats?
If your puppy is really small, treats can make him happy and less mischievous. For small pups, you can stretch up to seven to eight weeks. But if your puppy is older, you can start weaning your puppy off treats after four weeks.
Why Are Puppy Treats Important?
Puppy treats are an invaluable part of puppy training. Puppy treats help your puppy understand what is right and what is wrong, what it needs to do, and help form the right habits. Treats are beneficial to make your puppy understand your instructions and introduce a set of dos and don’ts.
You can also use puppy treats to inculcate food chewing in puppies so that they stop chewing household items.
You can also use puppy treats to keep them busy at home while you are out running errands. It adds extra nutrients to your puppy’s daily nutrients.
In the end, puppies love treats, and we love giving them. However, if you are feeding treats, reduce the number of meals you give your puppy so it sticks to its energy intake for the day.
How To Potty Train A Puppy Without Treats?
Puppy treats need not only be food but also different behavioral actions that will help them to become better and learn good behavior. If your puppy starts understanding when to go out for potty and peeing, it is essential to reward him.
- Pat him on the back and open the door for him to understand that you are happy with its behavior.
- Tie a loose leash so that he can wonder about it here and there with ease. Even this can be a treat for your puppy.
- Treat him with colorful toys and play with him to understand your instructions. This can also be a good treat rather than giving food treats and spoiling your puppy.
- Teaching the puppy to follow verbal commands if the puppy starts to follow your actions and commands, there will be no need to give the puppy treats.
- Teaching the puppy to understand hand signals as to when to go out for potty. This will help them forget about treats soon.
If all the owners start incorporating these small tricks from the very beginning of potty training, then it will become easy to let go of giving puppy treats to your puppy.
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How To Stop Giving Puppy Treats?
I have heard many pup owners spend hours explaining what all they did to stop giving their pups treats. But honestly, the process is not so complicated.
First, puppy owners must schedule a routine when to give treats and when not to. It is essential to schedule a routine to give treats to their puppy.
This will not make your puppy get into a regular habit of treats. Remember the first few days, and you will have to incorporate treats in your routine till the puppy understands that he needs to go out for potty training.
After a few days, reduce the number of treats and then slowly stop giving the treats. Instead, praise him for going out alone for potty.
Kiss him for keeping himself clean and pamper him with toys that he loves. Take out time and play with your puppy when he does something good that will help gain confidence.
The puppy will slowly understand that its parent is happy with its disciplined behavior.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should you give treats when potty training a puppy?
Yes, giving treats to your puppy when potty training is required, but it is not always necessary. Making your puppy get into the habit of going potty outside can be attached to a few treats so that he understands that the master is happy and satisfied with its activity.
Further, you can incorporate treats into the routine to make the puppy feel special when he becomes obedient and shows good behavioral patterns.
Can you give your puppy too many treats when training?
Giving too many treats to your puppy can make him stubborn. He will not want to obey you until and unless you give him a treat.
Further, too many treats regularly will make your puppy a spoiled brat. He will not listen to your instruction, and it can also happen that he becomes fussy while having its food. He can also stop eating until he gets treats to eat and finish his food.
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How to make your puppy feel motivated after reducing the treats?
You initially treat your puppy to motivate him for potty training, and when he becomes sufficiently proficient in his training, you may consider discontinuing the treat.
But if you suddenly stop giving treats to your puppy for potty training, this may change the puppy’s behavior. You should not completely stop your puppy’s treats.
Yes, you can reduce the number of giving treats. You don’t necessarily need to give treats to your puppy many times a day. You can only give a treat once a day.
The puppy’s habit of getting treats in this way will also gradually decrease. After that, you can give it alternately. But always praise him for his good deeds so that he can always stay motivated about his work.
How do you phase out puppy training treats?
We all very well know it is essential to add treats for potty training and teach your different puppy instructions to sit, stand, go, come, and so on. But if we keep adding treats to every instruction, there will be too many treats that will spoil your puppy.
Multiple treats are not at all good for the health and will spoil your puppy too. Reduce the number of treats, and then slowly, stop giving treats instead when the puppy obeys you and understands your instructions. As mentioned above, replace treats with other rewards and play.
When To Stop Giving Puppy Treats For Potty Training?
Remember, potty training your puppy is essential to make it fun. When your goal is to make your puppy understand when to go out for potty, it can be attached with a few treats but only until the time he is learning to potty train.
After he has learned, it is essential to reinforce other ways of rewarding your puppy, like praising him, playing with him, and more. It is essential to understand when to stop giving puppy treats for potty training.
For smaller pups, using treats for training can go on till the 8th week, but if you have a healthy pup who is larger in size, four weeks is enough time to start weaning them off from treats.