Potty Training

The principles of potty training are easy to understand, but require good supervision, consistency, and patience for your dog to become reliable.

Prevent your dog from making mistakes:

• When you are out of the house or unable to supervise your dog, put him into a crate, pen, or small room (such as a bathroom or laundry room). This keeps him from roaming the house and eliminating where you don't want him to. Your dog is also likely to hold his bladder and bowels while he is in a confined space, since he wants to keep his area clean.

• When you are home, keep your dog close, so that he doesn't sneak off and have an accident.

  • Use a leash to tether him to you or to a nearby object.

  • Use baby gates or x-pens to keep him from leaving the room.

Take your dog to the proper potty area frequently:

• For puppies, take them out every hour, on the hour. (Some young puppies need even more frequent trips out.)

• Also take your dog (adult or puppy) out after:

  • mealtimes

  • breaks in playtime

  • waking up from a nap

• While you're outside, stand still and be boring, so your dog learns that this isn't playtime.

• If your pup is busy exploring, use a leash or pen to keep him in a boring area.

• Wait up to 2 minutes for him to do his business.

• If you think he needs to pee or poop but hasn't yet, take him back inside, but restrict his freedom and supervise him to prevent any accidents. Take him back outside after 5-10 minutes.

Reward your dog for peeing and pooping outside:

• Praise your dog as he eliminates.

• Give special, extra-yummy treats as soon as he's done. (Not when he comes back to the house - you should be outside with your dog so that you can reward him promptly!)

• If he's empty, he can have extra freedom of movement inside until he's likely to be full again. (Generally 30 minutes to 1 hour for puppies, a few hours for adult dogs.)

Watch for signs that your dog is uncomfortable and looking for a place to eliminate:

• sneaking off

• circling

• pacing

• sniffing

• trying to get your attention

If your dog has an accident:

• If you catch him in the act, you can communicate your displeasure by giving a quick yell in an unhappy tone (“Ah, not there!!”).

• If you find the mess after your dog is done, it is TOO LATE - your dog cannot make the connection between the act of eliminating in the house and you being unhappy.

• Do NOT punish or scare your dog! This is likely to a) make your dog more determined to sneak off and eliminate in a different room, and b) be nervous about peeing or pooping in front of you at all, even outside.

• Clean with a product that is specifically formulated for cleaning up pet messes, such as Nature's Miracle. All purpose cleaners may not break down the proteins in the pee/poop properly, and your dog will still be able to smell them - which is a big sign saying “do your business here.”

Developing reliability:

• When your dog is successfully going outside and you have the training plan in place, you can slowly start to extend the time between trips outside.

• You can let your dog have more freedom of movement / less supervision in the house during times that you're home and you’re sure he's empty.

• Start leaving him alone outside of the crate/pen for short periods (less than 1 hour) when you're sure he's empty. (This should be in a puppy-proofed area, so that he’s not chewing things up, either.)

• The better you are at picking up your dog's signs that he needs to go out, the easier it will be. In fact, as your dog learns that you WILL take him out when he needs it, he will try HARDER to communicate to you when he wants to go.

• Some people have success teaching their dog to ring a bell or other noisemaker to communicate.

  • Teach them to ring the bell as a trick, separate from potty training.

  • Ask your dog to ring the bell right before you take him outside.

  • At some point your dog will try ringing the bell without prompting, to see if you will take him outside. Praise and do so. You can't rush this part - your dog has to figure it out on his own.

  • Here is a video tutorial on teaching your pup to use a bell:

Troubleshooting:

• My dog pees outside, then comes in the house and pees again: If he does this regularly, either spend more time outside so he can pee twice, or just assume that he will soon need a second potty trip, and restrict/supervise in the meantime.

• According to his age, my dog is supposed to be able to hold his bladder for X hours, but he has accidents sooner than that: The bladder is a muscle, and just like other muscles, it's weak if it hasn't been exercised. If your dog is young, or if he has grown up in a back yard and peeing whenever he wants, he may simply not able to hold it as long as he “should.” Take him out more frequently, and slowly extend the time between trips.

• My dog is able to hold it all night, so why does he pee so much during the day? Your body's metabolism slows down when you're asleep or resting - you simply can't compare the two.

• My dog pees in his crate/pen/small room: More trips outside! You may also need to remove absorbent bedding, as some dogs will consider their area “clean enough” if a fluffy blanket wicks the urine away.

• My dog marks indoors: You will need to restrict/supervise even more carefully. You may want to have your boy wear a belly band, so that if he does mark, it won't actually land on your walls or furniture. This helps with the potential problem of not seeing that your dog has marked and not knowing where to clean.

• My dog just wants to play when we go outside: Put him on leash or in a pen when you go out so that he can't run around or play with toys. Stand still and don't make eye contact while you wait, so that you're not any fun.

• My dog pees when greeting people: This is not a potty training issue per se. Some dogs will pee because they're nervous when greeting people or because they want to present as “submissive” a picture as possible. Young dogs may simply lose control over their bladder when excited.

  • Keep greetings as low-key as possible. Speak only in a calm, quiet voice. Sit or squat down so that you are less threatening.

  • Have guests greet the dog outside (and also be low-key).

  • Teach confidence-building tricks for your dog to perform while greeting people, such as hand targeting or fetching a toy.