Picking up your puppy is probably the most exciting part about puppy raising, but as soon as all the cuteness has warn off (actually some of the cuteness will wear off the first time he piddles in the house) one of the first things you will think about is How To Potty Train A Puppy.
When we first started raising guide dog puppies over five years ago we received a guide dog puppy manual on how to train a puppy. As guide dog puppy raisers we follow all the rules and puppy training guidelines outlined in our puppy manual and when it comes to potty training our puppy we simply turn to page XX in our manual and follow the instructions on how to potty train a puppy.
So today we’re going to discuss how we go about potty training puppies.
How To House Train A Puppy
Here are some of the basics we are given on how to potty train a puppy from our guide dog puppy training manual:
Reggie A Golden Retriever Guide Dog Puppy In Training
House training is obviously one of the first things you’ll want to teach your puppy. If done properly, house training is not difficult. The key is to be consistent. Never allow the puppy to be unattended or out of your sight. If you are unable to do this remember to use confinement as a means of prevention. Keep your puppy on a schedule. Feed him at regular times and always give him a chance to relieve himself right after being fed. Using a designated area in your yard, let your pup have plenty of time (fifteen minutes) to relieve itself. Encourage the puppy to go by using words such as “Get Busy”. (That is the command used at GDA). When the puppy has done his business, praise him lavishly. A good rule of thumb to follow is to give your puppy a chance to relieve himself at a minimum of these times:
- First thing in the morning.
- After each meal.
- After a nap.
- After playtime.
- Right before you and your pup retire for the night.
Remember your puppy should always relieve on leash. It is important to train the puppies to relieve on leash in a variety of surfaces (grass, gravel, cement etc…)
Using these potty training tips Derby was quickly potty trained
The moral of the story? It’s important to train your pup to pee on a variety of surfaces and all of our guide dog puppies have learned to pee and poop on cement, grass, gravel, rocks, wood chips, dirt, and any other place you might imagine.
How To Potty Train A Puppy
More Potty Training Tips One of the great things about being a guide dog puppy raiser is the incredible network of knowledgeable puppy raisers and guide dog trainers we have at our disposal. Some of the members in our Orange County group have been guide dog puppy raisers for 20+ years and have raised a dozen or more puppies. I guess we’re relative neophytes as Dublin is only our third puppy in training and this is only our fifth year as guide dog puppy raisers. As guide dog puppy raisers we are required to enroll our puppies in a minimum of one Puppy Kindergarten and one basic Dog Obedience Training class. One of the first questions we are asked at Puppy Kindergarten is how are you doing with potty training your puppy? Even our most experienced puppy raisers will still sometimes have questions on how to potty train a puppy. Here are some of the puppy training tips and hints I’ve learned over the years when working on potty training with my own puppies: 
- Keep an eye on your puppy – We learned pretty fast that it’s important to keep a constant eye on your puppy. Use puppy gates (same as baby gates), tie downs, and leashes to make sure you can always see your puppy. If you see him start to sniff around, circle, whimper, or squat then quickly scoop him up and take him out to his designated potty place in the yard. Give him a ton of praise when he potty’s in his spot. It’s important to keep your puppy under constant supervision not only for potty training purposes, but to keep him out of trouble in general. We’ve found many a chewed up shoe, cell phone, remote control because we didn’t keep a close eye on our puppies. This can be both costly and dangerous for your puppy.
- Keep a puppy potty schedule- If you keep a puppy potty schedule you’ll notice your pup can be fairly predictable with his potty times. We just use a sheet of paper and write down every time our puppy potty’s (you’ll start to notice trends on your puppy’s potty schedule). Here are a few potty times that should automatically be on your schedule.
- Your puppy will always need to go potty shortly before and after eating or drinking water. We feed our pups twice a day at specific times which helps control the times they go poop.
- As soon as your puppy wakes up. Puppies almost always go potty right after waking up.
- As Linus’s dog trainer used to say: “Play makes pee!” It seems as though every 10 minutes or so your puppy will pee when playing.
- Be Consistent – stay free from variation. Stay consistent so your puppy knows what you want him to do. Be consistent by taking him out the same door to the same potty spot. Be consistent with your puppy potty schedule. Be consistent with your puppy’s feeding schedule. Be consistent and make sure everyone in your household abides by the same puppy potty training rules. If you do not stay consistent then it will take longer to potty train your puppy.
- Be Persistent - continue firmly with your potty training your puppy in spite of any difficulty. At times it may seem like your puppy just does not get it, but don’t waver and be persistent. It took our Aussie mix, Linus less than 2 weeks before he was potty trained. It took about 6 months to fully trust Stetson with his potty training. Stay persistent!
- Be Patient – defined as the ability to suppress annoyance…puppies are adorable, but they will also test your patience. Try to remain calm and don’t get upset with your puppy. It takes time to potty train a puppy. Be patient and you will be rewarded
- Praise Your Puppy – The most important thing when we raise our guide dog puppies is to give them tons of praise every time they do something right. Don’t forget to give your puppy a ton of praise every time he goes potty in his designated potty area. This will help reinforce the behavior with your puppy.
- Crate Training Puppies – we crate train all of our guide dog puppies in training. Many people feel like crate training is like imprisoning your puppy. However, crate trained puppies enjoy the safety and security they feel when in their crate as they will find it much like their den had they lived in the wild. In fact, many of our puppies in training have grown so accustomed to their crates that they will often go to their crates and sleep any time they are tired. Crate training is great for potty training as it’s your puppy’s natural instinct not to potty where he sleeps. For more information on crate training check out our page on crate training puppies. For starters here are a few basics on crate training:
- Place the crate in your bedroom where the puppy can still see and hear what is going on.
- Put a blanket or towels in the crate for bedding. A pup will rarely soil the crate, however, if he does, try removing the bedding.
- A crate should not be too big, but large enough for the puppy to stand, stretch and turn around.
- When placing the puppy in the crate, use word “kennel” or “kennel up”.
- If he should happen to fall asleep somewhere else, pick him up and place him inside and quietly shut the door.
- Don’t use the crate for punishment.
- Take your puppy outside to potty before putting him in the crate.
- Take your puppy outside to potty as soon as you take him out of the crate.
Puppy In Training TVEpisode 2 reviewed several puppy training basics including a short clip on taking your puppy to his potty spot (approximate 2:15 in the clip below).
Check out our other Puppy In Training TV episodes. If you’re interested in sponsoring an episode please let us know by sending us an email through our contact form.
DO NOT RUB YOUR PUPPY’S NOSE IN HIS ACCIDENTS!
We need to reiterate…Do not Rub Your Puppy’s Nose In His Accidents! Do not hit your puppy for an accident! Do not punish your puppy if you find an accident! Never punish your puppy after the fact. Your puppy will think you are punishing him for whatever is happening at the time of the correction. Your puppy will not make the connection that this is an area that he previously soiled and that is why you are punishing.
Puppy Clean Up
If your puppy pees or poops on the floor or carpet make sure you clean it up immediately (I’m sure I really didn’t have to say that). However, if your puppy smells the pee or poop on the floor then he will return to this spot to pee again. In order to remove all the stain and order we like to use an enzyme-based remover like Nature’s Miracle. Nature’s Miracle claims to permanently eliminate all stains and odors even urine odors other products fail to remove. We’ve used Nature’s Miracle with all of our puppies and have found it to be very effective.
One final note…always remember to bring some dog poop bags when you’re out on your walks. One of our biggest pet peeves is the person who does not pickup after their puppy. It’s bad for the environment and for some reason the bottom of my shoe seems to always find the dog poop that was left behind. I hope this little guide helps you with your puppy potty training basics.
If you have any questions about how to potty train your puppy then please feel free to leave us a comment in the comments section below. If you want to read more great puppy training tips then please subscribe to our blog at any one of our channels(or if you’re slightly more daring all or our channels): Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, RSS, Newsletter.
very helpful
Some great tips and links, thanks
I normally do not do this because I hate giving out my email but I had to this time. I am so happy I stumbled across this website!!!! I am ready and even more excited to train Sophee! I have been doing most thing you said here except for keeping her on a schedule. So I will have a paper ready. I want to write so much but I am not I and just going to say thank you thank you thank you!!!!
@Tisha, thank you for leaving a comment. Hopefully our experiences as puppy raisers will help you train Sophee. If you have any questions please let us know. Best of luck with your Puppy Training!
Yes thank you for posting all this information – love the puppy tv! We are presently in the process of adopting a non-qualifying guide dog here in Canada. I know I will be back to this site for more information in the future. Can you post updates on how Dublin is doing with his training? My kids and I have been talking about him since watching all the episodes this weekend!
@Diane, I’m glad you and your kids enjoyed Dublin’s videos. We actually have a few more episodes to post and will get those up on the site in the next couple weeks. We recently returned Dublin to the Guide Dog school for his formal training. This will last about six months. Over the next six months Dublin will send us post cards updating us on his progress. I haven’t received my first post card yet, but when I do I’ll share it here on the blog. Until then I’ll make sure I get working on his last few Puppy In Training TV videos. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me through our contact form at http://PuppyInTraining.com/contact/ or just leave us another comment in the comment section of this post. Take care and keep us updated on how things go with your guide dog puppy in training.
Hi Colby,
I have a question about potty training my guide dog puppy in training. He’s 3.5 months old and I just got him this Sunday. They forgot to include the handbook and I’m waiting to receive it in the mail. Until then I’m hoping you can help me out. I live on the third floor of my apartment and as you can imagine it’s very hard to make it down to the first floor in time. I also feel like the scoop and sprint down three flights of stairs method has a great potential to become an accident much worse than potty on the carpet. Plus he usually forgets he needs to go by the time we reach the bottom of the steps or he’s gone somewhere along the way down. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!
@Paulina, what school are you raising for? You should call your schools puppy training department to get advice on exactly how they want you to handle this situation. I think depending on the guide dog school they may want you to handle getting your pup down the stairs in different ways. By the way, has he had any potty training up to this point?
One thing I’d recommend you try is keeping a potty log and be strict about the times you are feeding your puppy. This should give you a good idea of your pups potty habits. Hopefully over time you’ll be able to predict approximately when your puppy is going to potty. When you get him down to his potty spot I’d wait at least 5-10 minutes for him to potty. If he forgot he should remember after 5-10 minutes. Also, we always use the command “Get Busy” with our pups when it’s time for them to potty. All of my pups have learned this command and will always potty even if it’s just a little bit. This makes me feel better before entering a public place like a shopping mall or restaurant.
As I mentioned the best thing would be to contact your guide dog school as I believe each school handles things a little bit differently. Good luck!
By the way, are you attending University of Arizona? That’s my alma mater!
Thanks for the fast reply!
I’m working with Guide Dogs of the Desert International. I don’t think GDDI worked with him much before I got him. They use the “get busy” command as well. All they told me was to take him out on a leash, praise him when he goes saying get busy, and go right back in. He usually goes potty about 10 minutes after drinking, but sometimes he’ll go right after drinking. This morning he started going potty and poopoo before he even finished his meal. Which makes no sense since he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink and was taken out about an hour before. We went on a walk right after this and he stopped to go number 1 and 2 again in the middle of the walk: just stopped in the sidewalk and went. It’s kind of hard to time his poop schedule because he just goes whenever he feels like: sometimes it’ll be right after he eats and sometimes he won’t go for hours. He’s doing pretty good with everything else. He’s crate trained now and doesn’t cry unless he needs to go to the bathroom. He walks by my side and sits or lays quietly whenever I stop or sit down. Overall he’s great. I have high hopes for him!
Yes, I’m currently attending U of A. Go Wildcats!!
It sounds like things are going pretty well. When the pups are real young they do go potty at unpredictable times. I’ve experienced pups going pee outside then coming right back into the house and peeing again. It can get frustrating. Try to stay consistent with your training. Puppy raising definitely tests your patience. As I mentioned try to keep a potty journal and eventually you’ll notice trends of when he goes. It will become more predictable as he becomes older.
I haven’t been back to Tucson in a while. I hope you’re having fun at school. Best of luck with your puppy!
My puppy does not potty after he have a meal…if he did it in the morning, and he doesnt eat in the morning but potty every day….than he will go again later in the evening
he still in training….and the patio helps….he pee there couple of times on emergency..so all dogs are very different
Great point! Every dog and puppy is different. Your current puppy will most likely be totally different from your last pup.
Thanks for stopping by!
Colby
Every puppy is different, so any idea how it is, trying to get 4 puppy’s trained?
I sold one puppy, they were all papertrained when she left, she came back, because the new owner “could not get her housetrained” (she never tried) and because the puppy couldn’t be alone, she would leave the puppy (for several hours) in the bench, while the other dog was running loose, anyway, she sold the puppy back to me, and trouble came along, because she has abused the puppy, she is terrified when i raise my voice, not to the dogs, in general, whenever i make a moove she’ll get flat on her belly, and she is using my whole house as a toilet, (even my bed) and now the rest of the puppy´s start doing the same, it is driving me nuts, i´m cleaning up after my dogs all day, whenever i `catch`them doing it, i´ll just say `NO`and then put them on paper or outside, they just keep doing it.
They are a little over six months old now, how can i train 4 puppy´s?
Does anyone know, how tõ? please let me know, i´m at the end of the rope!!!
Thank you!
Hi Sysock,
This sounds like quite a challenge. I’d recommend talking to a local professional dog trainer so they can come over for an in-home evaluation of your puppies.
One thing I’d recommend is thoroughly cleaning your entire home with and enzymatic cleaner like Nature’s Miracle. If a puppy can smell urine they will tend to pee in the the same spot and remember a dogs nose is 100′s of times stronger than a humans.
Some of my friends have litter box trained their puppies or you might also try something like the Urban Potty: http://puppyintraining.com/urban-potty-review-first-look-at-a-dog-potty-box-for-your-puppy/.
I myself have not tried to potty train 4 pups at the same time so as I mentioned it’s probably best to consult your local professional dog trainer.
Sorry I’m not of much help. Good luck with your training.
Take care,
Colby
I have a few questions about potty trainning my puppy. Well she is 12 weeks old and she still has not know where the pee pad is. We have a big play pen for her that has her bed toys food and pee pad in it. I find when she is in this play pen she goes on her own but when we let her out she goes on the floor and carpet. I am wondering why this it? Why is it that she goes where she has to when she is in the play pen but when she is out of the play pen she forgets where she has to go so she goes on the floor. I am hoping to remove the play pen and just have her pee pad there so when she has to go she knows where to go. But I don’t know when that will happen cause she is still having accents.
Serena
@Serena, the best thing to do is to consult your local dog trainer or veterinarian to see first hand the exact problems you are having with your puppy. However, here are a few things we’ve done with our puppies…
Your puppy is pretty young and probably doesn’t know where to go when she’s outside of her play pen. One thing we do whenever our pups have accidents in the house is make sure to thoroughly clean the spot with an enzyme cleaner like Nature’s Miracle. If your puppy can smell the urine or poop she’ll want to go back and potty in the same spot.
If your puppy knows to go on the pee pads in her play pen then that’s a good start. However, since she does not know what to do outside of her play pen you have to show her what to do. Make sure you constantly supervise her outside of her play pen and take her to her potty spot (the pee pads) after every meal, any time she wakes up, right before you put her to bed, during and after playtime, and if she’s showing signs that she has to potty (sniffing around, circling). Make sure you give her tons of praise any time she goes potty on her pee pads so she knows that’s the right place to go. If you catch her in the act of going pee/poop in the house then try clapping your handles to startle her then immediately take her to her potty spot. Give her tons of praise if/when she goes on her pee pads. If you ever find she had an accident in the house, but you didn’t catch her in the act never do anything to punish her because she will not understand (this will just weaken the bond between you and your pup).
The fewer accidents she has in the house the quicker she’ll learn not to go in the inappropriate places in the house.
Hey Serena,
In addition to what Colby said, Petco has been having these free potty training seminars (and other free seminars and events such as puppy socialization) lately. Maybe you can call your local petco and ask when they might be having one or where the next seminar will be held. You could also always ask the trainers there and they’ll answer any of your questions. I just went to one on Saturday and it was pretty informational.
-
I am getting a new puppy this up coming weekend and I was reading your articles, very helpful, and I now have a question. My husband and I both work 8-5 jobs. I can come home at my lunch break at 1 but Is 5 hours to long for her to be in her crate? She will be about 8 weeks when we get her. Also, we want to crate train her so do but we don’t want her to have to sleep in it. So, while training do we keep her in it and when she’s potty trained she can sleep with us? Any advice?
@Nicole, thanks for visiting our site. You should try consulting a local dog trainer to see what is best for your specific puppy.
We do not leave our 8 week old guide dog puppies alone in the crate for more than 2 hours (except at night for bedtime). When our puppies get older (6 months+) we do not leave them in the crate for more than 4 hours at a time (again except at night for bedtime). All of our guide dog puppies sleep in their crate at night. If it were me I would not allow an 8 week old puppy on the bed until she was crate trained/house trained and new the rules and boundaries of my home.
Hopefully that helps. Best of luck with your new pup!
I love your website and have read through most of the housetraining and crate training posts, I think! We have a 10-12 week old poodle/terrier mix who we just adopted yesterday from a shelter. He is probably missing his brother, with whom he has been kenneled since they were rescued when he was just 3 weeks old, but as a result he doesn’t want to sleep unless he is lying next to us or on someone’s lap. And he is not used to doing his business outdoors; he has not peed or pooped outside! We take him out every hour, but he has not gotten busy so there’s nothing to praise. Last night he was really good, slept on a blanket next to the bed and stopped whining after just a few minutes; tonight he’s going in his crate next to our bed. He also is not eating much.
Hopefully we can get into a schedule over the next few days! I wonder if you could recommend any dog blogs that are as good as yours, that deal specifically with shelter animals?
@Lynne, one of the blogs I like to follow is called ThatMutt.com. Lindsay from ThatMutt.com talks a lot about working with her own dog Ace who comes from a shelter. There might be some good advice for you on her blog. Also, I created a list of some of my favorite blogs here: Top Dog Blogs. I know there’s more great advice amongst those blogs, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any others that deal specifically with shelter animals.
Best of luck with your new puppy!
We adopted LuLu yesterday she is a 16 week old puppy. We let her sleep in her crate and she does fine in there. During the day we let her play in the backyard as well as play with us inside. The problem is she knows to poo poo outside and will even pee outside, but no matter how long she is outside and if she pees or not she will come inside and pee on the carpet right in front of us. What do I do?
@Justin, she’s a very young puppy and probably doesn’t know that she’s not supposed to potty inside the house. You need to keep a constant eye on your puppy when she’s in the house. She will usually give you signs that she needs to potty like sniffing around, circling, etc. I make it a point to always take my puppy outside to potty (I walk with them on leash to their potty spot) every time after they:
First thing in the morning.
After each meal.
After a nap.
After playtime.
Right before you and your pup retire for the night.
If you keep a close eye on your puppy throughout the day you can minimize and eventually eliminate any accidents in the house. Good luck with your puppy training!
Hi,
Colby is great at this! Definitely follow his tip on setting a schedule and taking the puppy out on a regular basis. You’ll be able to figure out her bathroom habits and the timing pretty quick. I know it’s hard to stick to a schedule but it works wonders with potty training. I just wanted to add something I learned from attending a potty training seminar with a trainer when I was working with my puppy. The trainer said the reason puppies tend to go outside and then go again when they come back in is because of the way their bladder system works. When dogs get older they have a separate compartment where they store some urine and hormones for marking, this “sac” is voluntarily controlled. However puppies have not learned to control their bladders and even though they already went outside, some of the urine may have been in this other compartment and they didn’t actually finish urinating so they’ll go again. The trainer’s explanation seems to make sense. Don’t scold her, just make some loud noise to distract her, pick her up and move her to where you want her to go, praise her when she does, and clean the spot with something that has enzymes to break down the urine and completely removes the scent. Nature’s Miracle works great! Puppies will usually return to pee in the same spot so rubbing their faces in it only reinforces the area as a “pee spot”. Also training her to go on command helps a lot! Good luck!
@Paulina, that is some great advice. I had never heard the reasoning for the pee once outside then pee again as soon as they get back in the house, but the way you explained it with the puppy bladder system and separate compartment makes a lot of sense.
Thank you for your very thorough explanation!
@Colby, I’m not sure if that’s true, but I that’s what the trainer said. I had never heard of that before, but I figured if the trainer at the seminar was preaching it, he couldn’t possibly be lying to everyone. That’s his job on the line. It makes a lot of sense to me, but I’ll ask my professor and my adviser (he used to be a vet) for confirmation and get back to you!
@Paulina, great thanks for looking into it.
Hey Colby
I asked my animal anatomy and physiology teacher about the “sac” theory and she said as far as she knew, dogs don’t have an extra bladder sac. I didn’t get a chance to ask my vet adviser since he was never in when I stopped by. I’ll ask the trainer where he learned this the next time I go back.
@Paulina, thanks for getting back to me. By the way on a side note, I’m going to Tucson on Memorial day weekend and hopefully I’ll get to see my recent guide dog graduate, Dublin when we pass through Chandler, AZ.
My 8 month old lab mix puppy will only pee and poop on grass. How do I train her to relieve herself on a variety of surfaces? We just built a 68 foot by 9 foot dog run for her, made of cement patio slabs surrounded by chainlink fence. She will not pee or poop in there and keeps wanting out on to the grass. Any help would be greatly appreciated or advice on how to get her eliminating on other surfaces besides grass. Thank you.
@Andrea, I start training my puppies from an early age to go potty on all different kinds of surfaces: cement, grass, dirt, rocks, etc. It’s fairly easy with young puppies. When I know they are ready to potty I take them on leash to the cement/dirt/rock area to go potty then I just stand their holding their leash to keep them in the area. I usually does not take long for the puppy to “get busy” This is something I work on with all my guide dog puppies.
I had a similar situation when I brought home my rescue puppy, Linus. I didn’t know at the time, but I accidentally trained him to only potty on the grass. When he was 9 months old I took him camping where it was all dirt and no grass. He seriously didn’t pee for nearly 2 days. I almost drove back down the mountain to find some grass. Eventually he just pee’d on the dirt (for about 2 minutes). I eventually got him to start pottying on the rocks and cement areas by doing something similar to the puppy training mentioned above.
I’d also try contacting a local dog trainer for other suggestions and speak to your veterinarian because you don’t want your dog to end up with a bladder infection.
Good luck training your puppy!
Hi,
Maybe if you tried teaching her to go on command. Like Colby mentioned above, “get busy”, is great. When I was potty training my guide dog puppy, Jasper, I actually only let him go on grass because he liked to eat rocks and also because I didn’t want him to think it’s ok to “get busy” on sidewalks and foot traffic areas. He used to live in a kennel area with his brothers and sister and they all went on the cement floor. Once he understood the “get busy” command and I started to trust him more around rocks, I started to bring him into dirt areas with some grass. We eventually moved onto rocks. I think the best thing would be A LOT of verbal praise and rewards when you see her doing it. Once they understand that it’s OK and a GOOD thing for them to go where ever it is you want them to, they’ll be more comfortable doing it on their own. It also helps to train them to go to the bathroom in the same area so you don’t have to be constantly on the lookout for little bombs all over the place. It makes it easier for clean up and it’s a lot more enjoyable for the both of you. Good luck!
@Paulina, thanks for the great advice!
Thanks for the good advice. I will try it. In the morning when I take Lulu out for a pee and poo, I will only give her the option of going on the cement dog run. We got her when she was 8 weeks and have always taken her to grassy areas to do her business, so up until now, I don’t think she knows that is it is ok to go on a hard surface. In the dog kennel, I say “go potty”, and she circles and sniffs and I can tell she really wants to go but then begs to go out to the grass, and of course, I give in and take her on the grass. But I will wait it out this time. The reason for building a large dog run area is because she loves to dig and has dug up my whole back lawn. It looks like a mine field, so I had to build her a cement dog run so she can play and not dig. I love wintertime because everything is covered in snow and frozen and maybe she will do her business in her new dog run then. lol
I got a 5 week old pitbull about a week ago and it’s my first time ever having puppy/dog. Zeus is really good about being in his crate and always wants to be in there. We take him out every 2 hours or so to play and potty. When he comes out the crate we immediately have to pick him up to go outside or he will pee on the floor. What is a good training method to have him go outside? Should I been leash training him at this age?
@Maria, congratulations on the new puppy. We don’t bring home our guide dog puppies until they are 7 weeks old and yes, we immediately start them on leash training. At 5 weeks your puppy probably does not have full control of his bladder so you may have to do things differently such as you already mentioned immediately pick him up and bring him outside.
What a brilliant website, very informative. I have just got a 8 week old ‘old tyme british bulldog’ and I was looking for tips on first nights in the home as I thought having her in my bedroom was not a good idea, therefore i’m glad that is ok. I don’t have her in a crate but she is in a confined area next to the bed and when she whines we are just putting a hand over to let her know we are here, patience has never been my strong point but im persevering. Also the potty training tips are brilliant again, i have not been putting Saffy on a lead to go but I shall try this from tomorrow as I think it may help, it doesnt really help that we live in Wales and Saffy doesn’t seem to like the rain.
Hi Saffy’s Mum,
Congratulations on the new puppy! My Guide Dog puppy, Dublin’s kennelmate’s name was Saffie. It rained non-stop the first 2 weeks I had Linus. It was difficult getting him outside to go potty. I sometimes had to carry him out. However, using the lead has worked best for me and my pups. Best of luck with your puppy training!
Colby
Alright… We’ve had Koda home for just over a week. She is awesome, even when peeing in the house. Peteince is coming easy for us because 9.5 times out of 10 she goes outside. She pood once in the house. On the day we brought her home… From then on she has been 100% outside!
I need encouragement with peeing or “been there, done that” advice or something. I’ve read this article about 10 times now and we are following as closely as humanly possible. I think it’s going really well.
She pees every twenty minutes or so while outside (great weather this weekend so we were outside the whole time). She starts to pee inside about once a day, from what we can tell, we’ve caught her every time. We have arranged our schedules for at least two weeks so she isn’t home alone at all… Starting next week though I’d like to start leaving her for half days if at all possible. Will it be ok? Is she doing alright? The puppy class we chose doesn’t start until the end of the month so we’re winging it… I raised Kira 5 years ago and I don’t know that I did it right… She is a free roaming pee’er. She won’t pee on a leash to save her life, she’ll hold it for 24 hr plus. I don’t remember how I potty trained her, only that she came home with me in August and we just left the slider open, she really potty trained herself in a matter of a couple weeks…
Hi Jess,
I’m glad everything is going well with Koda. We crate train all of our puppies and don’t leave them in their crates for more than 2-3 hours during the day when they are young. If you’re leaving your puppy at home for more than 2-3 hours you might look into hiring a pet sitter to let her out and exercise her.
After raising several guide dog puppies I’ve found that every puppy is very different. Potty training for Koda will probably be much different from you experience with Kira.
Congrats on the new puppy!
Colby
I need help! a little puppy was dropped off near my apartment complex and I fell in love with her. I’ve taken her in and taken her to the vet and stuff, but potty training poses a problem. I work a lot and sometimes I’m gone for hours at a time. I don’t know what I should do when I’m not around to make sure potty training progresses
Hi Jessica,
Congratulations on your new puppy. If you’re working long hours you should try having a friend or family member stay with your puppy during the day to work on his training. You could also try hiring a pet sitter while you’re away.
Good luck with your training,
Colby
I felt like this article was written specifically for me and my new puppy my wife brought home two weeks ago. I have been doing all of the right things for my puppy, I purchased an all natural dog food recommended by the petsmart sales person. I even started caring for her teeth with the oral care products from Vitahound. The one thing I couldn’t conquer was the potty training issue until I started applying some of the techniques in this article. All of a sudden I am seeing great results from her Potty Training!
THANK YOU!!!
Hi Todd!
Thanks so much for letting me know that the article helped. I’m glad the puppy potty training techniques are working with your pup.
Thanks again!
Colby
Hi I’m Tony, I just bought a 9 month old blue healer from a farm that was never leash trained. I tried to leash her the first time and she would lay down and not budge. I tried giving her time and treats. But won’t budge. Any ideas?
Hi Tony,
Congratulations on the new puppy. The best thing to do is to contact a professional dog trainer so they can see first hand exactly what your puppy is doing. However, here are some of the experiences and things I’ve done with my pups:
I usually recommend first trying to lure your puppy with a treat. If that’s not working you might try to get higher reward treats (something that he really enjoys) and only use them on his leash training. My dog Linus really likes these super stinky salmon flake treats (I can’t remember the brand name). If that’s still not working is there anything else that motivates him? Try a squeaky dog toy, tennis ball, tapping your leg, use a real high pitched voice when you ask him to heel.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
What if i cant keep a schedule because im gone in the morning and come back at night?also my puppy usually bites my leg or my hand and etc how can i stop that??
my westi is 9 weeks, she toilets outside fantastic all day, because i watch her like a hawk, but at night she poops in her crete, in her crete is a small bed & a puppy pad but she gets covered in it, the breeder told me to feed her 4 times a day the last one at 10pm, what shall i do ??
Hi Lisa,
Congratulations on your new puppy! It sounds like your crate is too big. When a crate is too large puppies tend to potty in them. It should just be big enough for your puppy to stand up and turn around. You also should thoroughly clean it with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature’s Miracle to remove all traces of smell.
Good luck with your puppy training!
Colby
One thing that might help with the smell — and keep the puppy from coming back to the same spot to do its business — is to try a CritterZone air purifier. Its a little plug-in unit you can put next to the spot. You can also use a cord and set it next to any spots in the carpet. It will pull the odors out for good.
I haven’t seen or tried the critterzone air purifier, but so far I know enzymatic cleaners like Nature’s Miracle work well for cleaning up pet accidents.
To prevent your puppy always having to use the pads you should let him out for regular and scheduled potty breaks – every 2-3 hours is a good idea (although this is not set in stone and varies with particular breeds and sizes.) The idea of the pads is to use them as a house training tool so that eventually your puppy will learn to potty outside.
puppy training pads
A good idea when house training is to train your puppy to use a crate. When you are out you should put him in the crate – allow enough room to stand up and turn around easily. If your puppy is in his crate he won’t be running around the House having accidents that you can’t find.
Hi, we just rescued a 4 month old golden retriever. He asks to go out and never has an accident in the house unless we leave him. We always take him out before we go and are never gone very long. He sleeps eight hours at night without wakeing to go potty. We also have a ferret that we are still training the puppy to be gentle with so when the ferret comes out to play (no more then an hour at a time) sometimes we put the puppy in a seperate room (always taken him out to potty first) but every time we let him out of the room we find that he had peed in the room. He was neglected by his first owner and was rescued by golden rescue where he was put in a foster home. The foster mom would crate him and he would only pee in his crate. We don’t crate at all. We take him with us everywhere possible because we love to have him along and he Loves to come along but certain places he can’t come like grocery shopping so thoses are the times we leave him. Does this seem like more of a rebellion behavior because he doesn’t want to be alone? And what can I do to stop him from going when we leave the house? Thank You So Much!!
Hi Tanya,
It’s probably a good idea to bring in a professional dog trainer for an in home evaluation. We crate train our puppies, but when we first start leaving them alone in the house outside the crate we start by only leaving them for short periods of time. We first start by leaving for only a couple minutes and building up from there. Good luck with your puppy training.
Take care,
Colby
Thanks Colby,
We’ll start working with shorter times.
No problem Tanya! Good luck!
Hello. Me and my husband we rescued two puppies. They are German Shepard mixed with lab, mostly German Shepard. They should be about 9 weeks old now. I do pretty much everything that is said in the article, the only problem is that they pee on carpet between the play with each other. And sometimes you can see that they need to go, but one of the pup just sits down and goes. Sometimes it happen twice within 5 mins of playing. We do live on the 3rd floor of the apartment complex and they do not have problems to go on the cement by the door (which i always clean), but they got bigger so it is hard to carry 2 pups up and down the stairs. They do have bowl of water until 7pm available, sometimes later, depends on time i am going to bed. We even bought the grass potty trainer for them which they love to chew and sleep on but not go party on. What can you advice me? They rarely have poo accidents mostly pee accidents between the play as i said. And it is upsetting me because i heard every accident pushes you back with potty training. Should i give them water when they need it (they already know where the bowl is and sometimes after 7 pm will lay there and wait on it) or what should i do. Obviously i need to take both…and they literally can pee twice and 3 times in about 10 mins. They were at the vet and everything is fine with their urine…
Thank you.
Hi Anastasia,
Congratulations on your new puppies! There behavior sounds very normal for 9 week old pups. I would work on teaching your pups to potty on the grass potty. I wouldn’t let them play, sleep, or chew on the grass potty. Only use it when it’s time for them to go potty. Every time you think it’s time for you puppy to go potty you should take them directly to the grass potty. Wait until you pup goes potty then take them directly back into the house. When you and your husband are both home I would have each of you work with one of the puppies on their potty training that way it should be easier and quicker to get them totally trained.
9 weeks old is very young. Your pups probably don’t have full control over their bladders yet. It can take several weeks to months before a puppy is totally potty trained.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
Hi Colby my puppy roman did really well with potty training all thanks to you! tonight and tomorrow are crate training and when he’s not in the crate i will do name training. wanted to ask if i should do these at the same time or wait?
Hi Colby,
Love your website (which I just stumbled across) with the wonderful advice & tips! We, my husband and I, have a new family almost-10 week old puppy (dachshund) called Jenny, whom we picked up exactly a week ago. We have just put down our over-15 year old family golden retriever, Sandy, this June. Sandy was put down on June 25 and that’s the same day that Jenny is born – we are destined to have her! In a way, we are “new-puppy-parents” again and of course after 15 years, a puppy’s potty habits seem very foreign to us.
I am at home and look after the puppy – unfortunately the breeder has not been consequent with potty-training and Jenny relieves herself in our 3rd floor apartment since she was allowed to do so in her past 9 weeks of her puppyhood with the breeder; she was kept outdoors during the day with the mother dog and its siblings and in the nights, they slept in the basement (it has been converted into a puppy-room) – this is where they relieved themselves in the mornings, especially on Sundays when the breeder and her family slept in a little longer. The breeder has honestly admitted about the “accidents” and we had taken this into account when we picked up Jenny.
This is also the first time we are raising a puppy in an apartment – all our previous dogs were raised in a house with a garden, which made potty-training in the past relatively painless.
I started keeping a log on her activities four days ago which includes her sleep-, meal- and potty-times since I wanted to know when she needs to potty. I try to feed her according to fixed schedules but being so young, she sleeps pretty long and doesn’t necessarily wake up at the “correct” meal-times. So it’s a little juggled at the moment with her feeding, we are looking at +/- one hour as I do not want or like to wake her up from her sleep/nap unnecessarily.
I also set the kitchen alarm to go off about 30 minutes after we come in from a potty (pee) break, basically to remind me to bring her down as long as she is awake and active. Of course, I don’t set the alarm when she naps/sleeps. After each meal, I bring her down for her “big” potty session. I carry her out of the apartment and down the stairs, only when I am at where the grass or gravel begins, do I let her down and say, “pee-pee”. She does her business on both grass and gravel. Sorry, I know this is getting long but I’d like your advice and I thought I ought to lay down my info beforehand.
Basically we have a little problem with Jenny’s potty habits, even with the kitchen alarm set. She sometimes pees when she comes back in, about 10-15 minutes after she plays intensively (as in she chases her toys around the apartment – we don’t have to even throw the toy for her to chase after, she plays on her own occasionally). We pick her up when we catch her in the act, say “no” firmly, leash her and carry her down to potty again.
What is the reason for her mishaps? Is her “intense” playing/running around make her go potty more often because she is excited from the playing and “forget” to hold the pee and/or there is more urine “generated” from the excited playing? Lately I can tell when she wants to pee in between her playing, she goes off without her toy into another room (actually it’s the corridor she runs to get to the mud room where she would pee) and I try to pick her up before she does do so. Sometimes, even with her short stubby little legs she is a whole lot quicker than I am! By the way, we do “rope off” her playing area so that I have her under my eye as much as I can. She has full access in the kitchen, corridor and mudroom – there is a adhered carpet (can’t be removed at all) in the mudroom and that’s her favorite pee spot (although she has also used the kitchen too). I just read about Nature’s Miracle and living in Germany, we do not have this brand here though we have other similar products which I shall be buying today. I do know the carpet’s the main reason why she loves heading back there to pee and till I get the enzyme spray, I will rope that mudroom off too.
I’d appreciate any comments you have regarding Jenny’s little mishaps!
Hi Dora,
Congratulations on your new puppy! A very thorough explanation indeed! However, it’s very helpful when trying to help people as I often times get emails that just say: “Why does my puppy have accidents in the house?”
It sounds like you’re doing everything right. As our old dog trainer used to say “Play makes pee!” It’s very common for a puppy as young as yours to pee about every 10-15 minutes (sometimes every 5 minutes or less) while playing. At 10 weeks old puppies often times don’t have full control of their bladder so even after you bring them outside they may not empty it all the way. I’ve had pups pee at their spot then come back in the house and pee about 5 minutes later. Very frustrating, but normal.
By the way, we’ve been testing out this dog potty box called the Urban Potty which might work well for you if you have a balcony. Here’s the first review we put together: http://puppyintraining.com/urban-potty-review-first-look-at-a-dog-potty-box-for-your-puppy/ We’re going to publish a second review next week.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
Thank you very much for your fast reply, Colby! Knowing that makes the accidents “understandable”.
Hi Colby,
Firstly thanks for the great website and useful information. I hope you can advise me on my situation, I have a 6 1/2 month old puppy called Braxten. Now up until a few weeks ago, he would not soil his crate by peeing in it. He used to come to work with me so that i could take him out every few hours depending on his age i used the formula age plus one hour to guage when he needed to go and he would also let me know and he never soiled his crate. But now that he stays at home he doesnt even wait 3-4 hours, the first week at home he was fine, but now every luchtime i get home ot find he has peed in his crate, he goes out first thing in the morning 6.30 am then again after breakfast; 7.30 am then i ask him to go in his crate and leave for work. When i get home at noon to take him out he already peed in his crate. Apart from this he is fine in the house when i am home, please help i’m at a loss apart from startign to take him in to work again which i really dont want to do, having got him used to being on his own for a few hours.
Hi Kamal,
I would look into first having him checked by a vet. It’s possible that he may have developed a bladder infection or may have some other type of medical condition. Second, I’d have a local professional dog trainer conduct an in-home evaluation of your situation.
Are you crating your puppy for 3-4 hours letting him out then putting him back in for another 3-4 hours. If so, then you’re probably crating him too much during the day. You might see if a friend of family member can help watch your puppy during the day or you could try getting a pet sitter or dog walker to help out. You will also want to make sure and thoroughly clean your crate with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature’s Miracle. Remember a dog’s nose is 100′s of times stronger than a human nose and dog’s tend to like peeing where they can smell urine.
Good luck with your training.
Take care,
Colby
Please Help I have a 6 month old lab/retri she knows to go to the door to go potty
and she does most of the time but if i dont see her she will go at the door she will not come
to me or bark. shes in a craet at night inour bedroom and she will make a quite noise to let me
know.durning the day while at work shes in the mud room and she doesnt go.And she will do real good and then she will go any where in the house and she knows she did something wrong
because she tells on her self ears go back and we know its somewhere. Shes smart she has leared tricks really fast. But this potty stuff i dont know what else to do we have hardwood floors with big area rugs.My husband is getting very upset about this and it took me years to get him to agree on a dog in the house. PLEASE HELP
Hi Lisa,
Does she know to go to the door every time she has to potty? If not, then you may need to work harder on her potty training.
You can also try teaching your dog to ring a bell when she has to go outside. Here’s an article that will help you get started: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1171
Good luck,
Colby
Hey Colby,
It’s been about two weeks since I asked you about bladder control, etc. Just to let you know that we now walk our puppy, Jenny (she turns 12 weeks old tomorrow), on leash out of the apartment instead carrying her outdoors for her potty sessions. She also can hold her pee for an hour when she is chewing her toys or bully stick and of course, when playing intensely, she still needs to go every 15-20min (I still set the kitchen timer especially when we horse around). I agree, “playing makes pee”! It’s been definitely helpful to keep a log book on Jenny’s activities, to keep track of when the last potty was, etc as well as her physical and mental development.
Hi Dora,
Good job with Jenny’s training! It sounds like it’s going well. She should continue to get better as she gets older.
Colby
Hi i am doing all the above for toilet training with my 10 week old puppy, which i have had for over 2 weeks now, but she is having accidents that i can not understand why she does it example this morning she was outside while i was washing the pots i saw her have a wee, she came indoors sat next to me in the kitchen for a few minutes then she got up and walked into the dining room, as i saw her walk a way i followed and as i got round the dining room door she had just finished weeing, also i take her out for 15 mins before i go to bed at night, but we have to get up at about 1.30/2am for a wee and poo, then my husband gets up with her at 5am as he goes to work at 5.30am so he takes her in to garden for 15 mins she has a wee and sometimes a poo, i get up with her at 7.30am take her out then give her breakfast, by this time my son is up he takes her outside while i am doing his breakfast, then we are fine in the day as i am home and take her out regulary, but she is still having accidents in the night, so how long will it be till she will be able to hold her bowels and bladder till the morning, i am hoping that when she has her next injections and the week after she will be allowed to go out for walks we may have less of the accidents. Thank you. x
Congratulations on your new puppy! Your puppy is still very young and probably doesn’t have full control of her bladder yet. It’s common for a puppy to go outside, do her business then come back inside and potty again. I’ve had this happen plenty of times with my puppies. They just don’t have full control of their bladders yet. My pups are usually doing pretty well with their potty training by the time they are about 16 weeks old. Some take a little bit longer and some figure it out sooner. Also, we have experienced some pups with bladder infections that effects their potty schedule. If we suspect a bladder infection we always take our pups to our vet. Good luck with your training!
I will be getting a puppy soon that I am planning on training to be my animal assistant via therapy certification. I am an occupational therapist and have the goal of using my dog companion in ot sessions with my pediatric patients. I have 2 questions: is it okay to have 2 crates for my puppy, one in kitchen by the door for day time naps and for when I leave for short times and one in my bedroom for night time? Also how can I go about exposing my puppy to various settings, schools, hospitals etc? I am currently not working so I can devote my time to this project (and be here for my 3 school aged kids). Therefore I can not take the puppy to work. Should I just cold call various places and ask permission? Thank you for any advice you have to offer!
Hi Kathy,
Early congratulations on your new puppy. We recommend using just one crate at one location (next to the bed) with your puppy. The main reason I’d recommend this is because it will help your puppy adjust to his crate more quickly. Although I don’t think having two crates would be that big of a problem for must puppies.
Are you already working with a therapy dog organization like Therapy Dogs International or Delta Society? If not, you might want to join one of their groups as they usually have programs already setup with hospitals and schools. Otherwise I think you would have to make some phone calls to places you’d like to visit and ask for permission.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. I have had two chihuahuas for two months now. they are both four months old it is difficult…Potty trianing them takes a lot of imagination. they have small bladders.I praise everytime I see them relieve them selves. I also tell them go potty not get busy. they are mostly paper trained. I live in motels mostly…. I do try to keep a costant eye on them when the are not in there kennel or potty area usually the shower with pads. when out side at a park they are not leashed. I try to leash them but all they do is bite the leash. what suggestion do you have for me. they are great at following me all aroun the park. but I dont leash them? help?
Hi Rosie,
It sounds like your doing things right with your potty training. Two months is very young for a puppy so it might still be a little while before they get the hang of it.
Most of our puppies have loved biting and chewing on the leash. Luckily they haven’t chewed through any of our nice leather leashes yet. One thing we used to deter chewing on the leash is spray it down with bitter apple spray. Most puppies find the taste repulsive and after a while will learn to stop putting their mouth on the least.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
hi
my puppy is 2 and a half month old and he makes designs of potty anywhere and any time randomly. one ful day i take eyes on it even in night. but next day the shedule is fully changed. it is so imbarising, pls help what i do. he eliminate any time. .. . . .
2 and a half months is very young. Your puppy may not have full control of his bladder yet. I would follow the potty training tips in the article and make sure you stay consistent, persistent and patient with your puppy.
We just brought home 2 puppies 6 weeks old. Since they are so young we have been paper training and they are starting to do really good, but i want to start training them to go outside. My question is are they too young and also how do train two at one time???
Thanks,
John & Rochelle
Hi John and Rochelle,
Congratulations on your new puppies! We let our puppies potty outside at 7 weeks of age, but only in our yard or patio where other dogs haven’t been. We don’t take our pups out to public common areas until after our pups have received all of their vaccinations.
We usually don’t have 2 puppies at one time, but basically when we have more than one pup we take both of our pups to their potty spot at the same time.
Good luck with your pups!
Colby
Thank you for the info.. Also if while your training them and they have an accident in the house and you clap your hands to get them to stop, but they don’t. What would be the best way to punish them without rubbing they’re noses in it and then in the grass, if you catch them doing it. Knowing that after the fact is pointless cause i know they don’t know what they are being punished for.
You don’t want to punish your puppy for having an accident in the house. Try to get them to stop and bring them out to their regular potty spot. Give them tons of praise if they potty at their potty spot.
Since my pups are still quite young i have been using paper for them to potty on, but recently have been taking them outside to use the bathroom. Now one of my pups still uses the paper but the other is going on the bedding around their food area but not on the paper as the other. What could be some reasons why he is doing that now I don’t understand why???
I would remove the bedding from the area. If you’re pups are not potty trained yet they are likely to potty just about anywhere and usually prefer going on a plush are like bedding, carpet, rug, etc.
Hi my puppy will sleep in her cage at night and not make a sound, she has not pood once in the cage and always poops outside but she will wee in we cage in the night yet doesn’t make a noise so we do not know when to get up! Help please?!
Will she just grow to hold it or will she pee in it forever?!thanks
I’m so happy I found this website. I brought my new baby home today, a little mix breed named Star. She’s done pretty good for her first day and has pottied each time I’ve taken her out to do so, so I am very proud of her but I wasn’t quite sure if what I was doing was right. I think what I’m most worried about is at night… we live in an area where there are wild animals so going outside at night, even with flood lights, is not a good idea is it alright to have her use paper instead of taking her outside if I continue to use the “potty” phrase and praise?
Congratulations on your new puppy! We train all of our guide dog pups to go potty outside and we have them potty in the same place every time. I think it helps them learn the proper place to potty more quickly. However, I don’t think it should be a problem if you teach your puppy to potty on paper instead of outside I know lots of people who use this method to train their pups. Good luck with your training!
I am getting a puppy tomorrow that was rescued from a puppy mill. Not sure how to potty train him. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Hes 9 mths old and has never really saw the outside of the cage.
Thank u.
Hi Tamara,
Congratulations on your new puppy and thank you for rescuing from the puppy mills. This article should be a good starting point for potty training your puppy. However, you may run into some other problems because of your puppy’s previous living conditions especially if you plan on crate training. In this case I would advise seeking a local professional dog trainer for an in-home consultation.
Good luck training your new puppy!
Take care,
Colby
Ok. Thank u very much and for answering my question.
We have been crate training our new puppy, Bubba, who is 12 weeks today, since we picked him up from the breeder a week ago. Night sleeping is going GREAT…7 hours at night without a peep…our breeder started crate training (for sleeping purposes) at 7 weeks old, so we are lucky. However, we are now using the crate training method for potty training. Bubba is doing pretty well…only a handful of accidents so far in just over a week. I am doing everything by the book and have been VERY consistent. I am willing to make that investment now. I guess my question is, what am I working towards?? Will there be some point at which Bubba will go to the door and bark and, poof, magically he is potty trained? I get the whole process and schedule, but not sure how to move us towards that gold at the end of the rainbow?!
Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. Happy New Year!
Hi Anne,
It sounds like things are going well with you new puppy. I always take my pups out the same door to the same potty spot when working on their potty training. You’ll notice your puppy will start to walk to the door when he has to potty and just stand and wait until you let him outside. You can put a bell on the door and teach your puppy to ring the bell when he has to go outside. You can also teach your puppy to scratch the door when he has to go outside, but you’ll end up with scratch marks on the door.
I hope that helps. Good luck with your training.
Colby
Thanks, Colby. And you think this will actually just automatically happen? I did order a bell for the door and should receive it tomorrow. At this point I guess I am incredulous that Bubba will EVER naturally get to this point, but I am so limited in my understanding of canine behavior and learning. I’ll cross my fingers and let you know what happens. Thanks for all your great advice!
Hi Anne, every puppy I’ve trained starts to walk to the door and wait. It’s sometimes hard to tell when their just starting out, but it will become obvious as they get older. As far as ringing the bell you’ll have to teach him to do that. The things I always preach when working on puppy training…stay consistent, persistent, and patient with your pup. Good luck with your training!
Hi. I have a 9 week old puppy that im trying to potty train, i will take him out often and when he starts sniffing around i take him and he pees in the grass but soon as i bring him inside he pees on the carpet, and for someone reason he wont poop outside its always in the kitchen on behind the couch, any advice?
Hi Erica,
Congratulations on your new puppy! Your puppy is very young and probably doesn’t have full control of his bladder yet. After you let him pee make sure to stay around the grass area for another 5 minutes or so to make sure there’s nothing left in his bladder. When he gets older he shouldn’t have a problem with this.
It sounds like you might be giving your puppy a little too much freedom at such a young age. You should keep an eye on your puppy any time he is out and about. I actually keep my pups on leash when their as young as yours.
Also, you should try keeping a puppy potty schedule and record every time your puppy eats, plays, sleeps, poops, and pees. If you keep him on a schedule you’ll notice that he will potty around the same times every day.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
Hi again,
My 3 month old Lab/Retriever is basically potty trained. He knows to scratch at the balcony door when he needs to go out.
The other day however, he went out, did his business (#1 and #2) came back inside and 45 minutes later, peed on the floor. Is this just puppy mistake? How do we deal with this?
Your puppy is pretty young so he may got excited when he was outside and just not gotten it all out. Next time you might just wait outside a little while longer after your puppy does his business to make sure he gets it all out. This is common with very young puppies because they often don’t have full control of their bladders.
Hi. Your videos and blogs are very helpful, thank you! My family and I are deciding to get a puppy. I need some advice please. What are some ideas to do with our puppy when the family is off to work/school which could be around 7 hours maybe?
Our Guide Dog puppies come to work with us every day so we don’t leave them alone for much more than an hour or two when they are very young. If you leave your puppy at home alone for that long a period of time there’s a good chance that your puppy will end up with behavioral problems like inappropriate chewing, digging, barking, etc. If you have to leave your puppy at home for that long a period of time I’d recommend having a friend, family member, or pet sitter come by to at least give your puppy a little bit of play time during the middle of the day. There are also doggy day cares. However, I think you’d have to wait until after your puppy had all of his vaccinations.
Good luck with your new puppy!
Colby
Hi there!! Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this website. It’s very insightful.
I just got a puppy who flew in from another state. He’s a two and a half month old Siberian Husky. He’s very nippy (which I credit to teething and/or nerves from being on an airplane) and he doesn’t like his crate, even though he just slept in it for three and a half hours. He started howling, so I took him out and he didn’t want to go, he wanted to play. I’ve read elsewhere that this will happen sometimes, so I put him back in the crate and he’s back to howling. I also did what you said, praising him for quiet and ignoring him for howling, but I basically just wanted to inquire about him not wanting to potty when I took him and the constant nipping. There’s a towel in the crate with him, as well as a tiny rawhide bone my dad gave him. Is there anything else I can do to make him more comfortable? Or is patience really my only option (like with you and Stetson)?
Hi Chessy,
If you haven’t had the chance take a look at this article: http://puppyintraining.com/crate-training-puppies/. There are a number of things mentioned that might help make your puppy more comfortable in his crate. As for the mouthy behavior try getting lots of different textured dog toys to chew on. If he starts chewing on something inappropriate like your hand slowly pull away your hand and replace with a toy. Then just leave him alone to chew on his toy. Also, you could try using bitter apple spray on anything inappropriate he is chewing on. Good luck with your training!
Colby
Hi again,
Thanks for getting back to me! The second night with the puppy wasn’t that painful at all. He barely made a peep after his usual half hour of noise. I put some toys in there for him, as well as a bone he probably found in the middle of the night, and he was perfectly fine. He still doesn’t want to potty during the night, though. I also replaced the towel with the blanket I wrapped him in when I got him… It also has my scent on it. I read all of your training tips, including the crate training (and I now realize that I posted in the wrong one, haha). It helped quite a lot, as I made changes later in the day I posted my inquiries here.
He’s fond of nipping anything he can get in his mouth. My pants, my hands, my dads hands, my hair, my nose, you get the picture. I ‘ouch,’ say ‘no’ and put a toy in front of his mouth, but he does it again. He’s also fond of charging at my half blind sixteen year old German Shepard Mix to either nip her or knock her over. She growls at him, but gets mad and walks away. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to stop that?
Thank you,
Chessy
When our pups are young we keep them on leash most of the time so we can keep them out of trouble. You could do the same to keep your pup from bothering your German Shepherd. You could also try keeping your pup on a long line of Flexi to control his activity around the house. Hopefully that helps. Good luck with your training.
I recently obtained a Beagle mix. the little guy seems to think potty (outside) time is adventure time and will not go- no matter how long i stay out there. Once we enter the apartment. I find him starting to pee. I am going to begin a strict Schedule. However, will being in a city area and the cold cause him to not want to go outside. I keep thinking he likes peeing inside because there are no distractions and its warmer.
Hi Richie,
I think sticking to a strict schedule will definitely help. I live in a moderate climate so I don’t usually have to deal with extreme cold weather. When I know my pups have to potty (after meals, when they wake up, after playtime, etc) I will take them outside wait for about 10 minutes and 99% of the time they will potty. If they do not potty I take them back to their crate for a short period then try again.
Good luck with your training!
Colby
I wonder if I can use the same tips to potty train my cat
Despite, I am sure to share this article to one of my friend who is not struggling with his potty training mission. Knowing the right steps and technique is really important indeed.
Thanks for sharing! Hopefully our potty training tips helps your friend with his puppy.
This was really helpful, I had a two month old Pomapoo. I like the advice u gave on how to teach it to release itself on all terrains. That will play a very important role in training my puppy. He only likes to pee in carpet, funny thing is, we have tile floor. And he ONLY pees on our rug, we tried to take him outside. But thanks to u, I learned some commands. And my sister, puts his nose in his “accident” and spanks him. I gotta tell to quit. But thanks to ur great tips, my dog will be potty-trained in no time!
Hi Lamar,
I’m glad you found our article on potty training your puppy. I’d definitely let your sister know that spanking and rubbing his nose in accidents doesn’t teach your puppy not to potty in the house. Best of luck with your training!
Take care,
Colby
Hey! I just got a border collie puppy last weekend. He got used to us and the house pretty fast, but I have some questions.
My puppy is 50 days old only…is it too early to potty train him?
Aside from it, I have problems with my puppy. You see, I own a 8 year old cat. We itnroduced them for the first time today, but the cat wasnt happy. I will tryto make more meeting between them, but because I cant afford a cradle (they are awfully expensive in Argentina) and the cat sleeps with me, I have to leave my puppy sleeping alone in the kitchen. As well as I can’t keep an eye on him most of the day.
What do you recomend?