Potty Training a Puppy
In potty training a puppy, there are several things you need to do, but first here is an essential bit of preparation: Arrange a place in your home where your puppy can be confined when you are not watching him or her, whether you are at work or when you are asleep at night. A crate is the very best choice, and I have a page on crate training puppies and dogs you can get to by clicking on the sketch of the puppy in the crate. Other indoor choices are x-pens, laundry rooms, and bathrooms. Depending on the weather, you may should able to do much of the training out of doors. Wherever you go, be sure your pup — with his boundless curiosity, abundant energy, and sharp teeth — will be safe there when you aren’t around. Okay, that’s really another topic, but you do need to have a place to leave your puppy before you begin to potty train him. Leave him crate as little as possible. You will be cleaning up his messes in this space, because chances are he won’t always be able to hold it.
One more point before we get into the process: your puppy’s body will mature at its own rate, and different breeds tend to mature at different times. Nobody would expect a human baby to be potty trained in its earliest months, and it’s the same with your new friend. I had one puppy, an Australian Shepherd, who never once did his business in our house from the day we got him at eight weeks, but that is very rare. All my other puppies took a lot longer to be full housebroken.
Okay, so the name of the game with house training your puppy is to know when he is most likely to need to go potty and to be sure and take him outside then. When is that?
- Anytime he wakes up, be it after a nap or early (often VERY early) in the morning.
- After he has eaten, within just a few minutes.
So watch him like a hawk at those times and go right outside — or at least, be ready to scoop him up or coax him to run outside with you.
Also, plan on taking him out just before you go to bed. This gives you the best chance of a good night’s sleep! It’s your call whether you get up in the middle of the night to take him out or not. I do, because it does seem to make the potty training process go faster if my puppy doesn’t go in his crate in the wee hours, or should I say wee-wee hours?
Once you get outside, it may take a while. Be patient. Do some exercises or pull a few weeds, so long as your attention is on your dog and you see when he does go potty. By the way, if you want him to use a particular part of the yard, go there. If you don’t have a yard and are walking him on leash in your neighborhood, choose some good places and keep your pup off your neighbor’s petunias! I wear a small fanny pack with plastic bags for collecting any poop.
Once your puppy pees and maybe poops, praise him warmly. Play a little more before going inside so he doesn’t associate doing his business with having to stop having fun in the yard.
What if you live in an extreme climate or in an apartment where you can’t just run out the door? Or a place that isn’t all that safe? Paper training is another method that can be used in potty training a puppy. I haven’t ever used this method, as I have always had yards when I started my various puppies, but it’s quite useful in many circumstances. For small dogs, there are devices that you could graduate to where they would do their business most of the time indoors. If you do go that route, just be sure to train them to use the great out of doors as well, in case you are on a car trip or something of the sort!
What about when your puppy does make a mistake in the house? Just quietly clean it up in a matter-of-fact manner. Just about any pet supply store will have enzyme cleaners — there are numerous brands — that will cut the odor and thus reduce the change of the puppy picking the same spot over and over. I like Nature’s Miracle, available at Amazon.com
Do not scold your puppy, as he really won’t understand. But if you happen to catch him in the act, firmly say NO! and take him outside.
Well, in a nutshell, that’s all there is to it. I’ve written about this topic in other articles, most notably at my page on potty training dogs and puppies, which is pretty much the most popular page I’ve written on this site! But it’s such an important topic for the for the future well-being of your new little friend, that I’ll probably keep writing now and then about potty training a puppy. Adult dogs really need to be potty trained, housebroken, or housetrained — whatever you want to call it!– to have a good life.
So be patient and keep at it. One day it will be a memory!
Try the suggestions and be very vigilant and see if they work for this pup. You may have to modify them or they may take longer but hang in there and best wishes!
I would definitely suggest using a crate a lot in a situation like this.
I aquired a 22 week old female Morkie. I am attempting to potty training this little sweet heart but so far I am not having any success. I would like any help that you can provide. I am going to try the suggestions for a new puppy, they seem very logical. But will they work for a puppy that is already 22 weeks old with bad habits in place. Thank you. Heidi
Laura, you are on your way. Since you work full time, I suggest you find a friend, neighbor, family member, or pet sitter/walker to help out, so your Visla pup can both have a little attention — he’s still a baby! — and also help with the potty training.
There are several different projects here:
Getting him to go out into the fenced back yard without a leash. Shouldn’t be hard to go out there yourself, with a ball or yummy treat and call him, at first only being a little ways from inside and gradually increasing the distance till he handles the stairs too. Take it bit by bit and make it a game.
Getting him to pee in the back yard. I would take some of those pads out there before doing the step above. Think I would start w one or two he had already used.
Getting him to accept the leash. Don’t try combining that with going out yet. First put his collar on, unless it’s one you keep on him all the time. Let him get used to the collar if he isn’t yet. Then just attach a short (up to 6 feet) leash to the collar and let him wander around the house with it trailing. Gradually, and with food rewards and praise, reach the point where you can hold the other end. Find good info in a dog training book or online on this, and don’t leave him alone w the trailing leash as it could get stuck.
Getting him to be house trained will come along. Chances are his body isn’t mature enough yet.
Best,
Rosana
i live in Cleveland. We took home our new puppy two weeks ago, with two feet of snow on the ground. Our puppy is now 8 weeks old. The snow has melted and our puppy is used to peeing on pee pee pads that i bought and thought i was being smart by saving my carpet. He actually is very good at searching one out to pee on. I have 5 differnt pads scattered throughtout the house. My concern is that, now that the snow is gone i need to start potty training NOW. Our house is set up with the back sliding glass door onto the deck and then a set of stairs to the fenced back yard. The front door is down two steps and then a winding front walk to the front yard. My question is when do you think i can expect my puppy to be able to go down the steps to relieve himself and/or make it, after a nap, all the way through the house, out the front door and down the walkway to the grass. I realize both of my exits pose a challenge to any dog, let alone an 8 week old. Other pertinent facts; I work full time. He is used to peeing on the pee pee pads already. He is afraid of outside, we have started to take him out for little bits on a leash. He hates it and fights it and has yet to relevie himself at all outside. His area is the laundry room, not a kennel. He still pees 20 times a day or more, very litte bits. How do i get him to hold it longer than 1/2 hour or hour at a time. Is there a magic way to get him to go outside or am i one of the people that it will take extra time to get him to do the right thing. It almost seems that he is too little to figure it out. He is Vsla dog. Looks like a lab. Very smart, but obviously not as smart as me. HElP!
Janet, I have never done that so maybe someone else can comment if they have.
I’m not surprised that she doesn’t go downstairs because young puppies generally want to be with you or others in your home. Your description makes it sound like that is the case with your puppy. While you are upstairs with her, watch her for clues that she may need to go out, and encourage her to lead you down the stairs when you go down together, so that gradually she’ll get the idea. Be open to her developing a signal that is her own, whether it’s going downstairs or barking once or standing at the top of the stairs and looking at you, or something else.
People have asked me this before and I’ve never quite understood what good it would do for the dog to go to a door if no humans happen to be in that room!
When I call my 13-wk old puppy to follow me downstairs and outside, she immediately squats to pee. But, when we are inside, she sometimes has accidents even if I had just taken her out. She never goes downstairs by herself unless someone is already down there and she is searching for him/her. How do I train her to go downstairs to let me know she has to pee/poop?
Mimi, you have a good challenge on your hands but you can work with your puppy in several ways. The most impt thing is to keep an eye on him EVERY MINUTE (or as close as you humanly can) while he is indoors. Also keep a log of what times of day he poops and maybe where in the house if it varies, so you have an idea of when and where you should watch him the most intensely. If you catch him beginning to sniff around the house, that is ideal, just pick him up or if he is too large, just scootch him outside fast. He may go into play mode but eventually, after several incidents perhaps, he will get the point.
Also, use a crate in the house if you aren’t already.
Best wishes,
Rosana
Forgot to mention that you can more easily keep an eye on your pup if you keep him on a leash which is attached to your body. Yes, it can be a nuisance but it works as a method.
My puppy associates going out the door as play time and staying in doors as poop time. I’ll walk him to all his favorite, regular spots, he does nothing and then when I come back in I see that he already pooped in the corner. I find out because he brings his poop to me no matter where I am . He likes to eat poop so I think he’s got this whole thing backward. Any ideas>
There is an Australian dog potty that is available to help make life easier for all dog owners – it’s called The Pet Loo. The Pet Loo is basically a backyard in a box. It has perforated synthetic grass to create a urine drainage system and therefore prevents the grass from becoming saturated with urine. The urine then flows through a slightly slanted tray and through a small hole and into a catch bucket. The tray is slightly slanted to create a force of gravity that prevents excess urine from accumulating and forces it into the bucket. The bucket is then removed with the handle and the waste is then flushed down the toilet. For more information, please visit: http://www.dogservicenetwork.com/thepetloo/components.html.