One of the biggest challenges and milestones for all new puppy owners is overcoming potty training! As you are about to embark on this journey, we’ve prepared expert tips to help you succeed!
Puppyhood comes with plenty of accidents and when it comes to potty training, there are bound to be some! If you think you don’t know how to tackle this coming-of-age puppy problem, we’re here to tell you, you can! Every new puppy owner goes through this stage but not many are prepared to handle unexpected accidents. In the next few minutes, you’ll learn the fundamentals of potty training your puppy: which training tools to use to help speed up the process, how to set up a consistent potty schedule for your puppy, and learning to avoid some common potty training mistakes!
Potty Training Tools
Part of the process of potty training your puppy will involve using tools like crates and or puppy pads in the house. Not every owner has the option to take their puppy outdoors depending on their living situation and opt to train their puppy to eliminate on puppy pads and some eventually transition their pups to going outside.
Crate Training
A crate can be an essential part of potty training your puppy as puppies do not like to soil in their sleeping area, so it teaches them to “hold it”. Puppies are den animals and if introduced early enough, you can utilize their natural instinct to see their crate as their safe place.
Keep in mind that you’ll need an appropriately sized crate for your puppy. A general guideline is that your puppy should be able to comfortably lay down, sit, stand up, and turn around. If the crate is too big your puppy may begin to go potty on one side of the crate and begin to associate that it’s okay to do so which will slow down the potty training process.
You can learn more about Why & How to Crate Train Your Puppy in our blog. Plus, learn how to pick the right crate for your puppy!
Puppy Pads
Although training your puppy to potty outside is the ideal situation, that isn’t always an option for all new owners who don’t have access to a yard or live too far (i.e. live in an apartment building) from an outdoor area. In this case, potty training your puppy on puppy pads is an option and you can always transition your puppy to learn to eliminate outside later on.
Pro tip: A great alternative to puppy pads is using a grass patch. Not synthetic -- real grass! There are companies that will deliver grass patches to your door! Opting to use a grass patch will facilitate the transition from going there to outdoors much easier.
Select a designated spot in the home to place the puppy pads. While potty training your puppy, we recommend putting up a barrier like a playpen surrounding the puppy pad and placing your puppy on there at their potty time so they learn to target the pad and not the floor.
Depending on the size of your pup, you can either carry them right to it or guide them with their leash. As you build the habit of taking them to the pad each time to potty, you can begin removing one side of the boundary and guiding your puppy to their spot when it's time for them to go until they recall to do so each time on their own. Change the pad often, but leave a lightly soiled area, especially in the beginning stages. The scent will help your puppy learn that this area is where they should be going!
The downside to potty training your puppy on puppy pads is that you are essentially encouraging them to go potty indoors. Some puppies even mistake doormats, bath mats, or area rugs, for example, as a pad because they can seem like the same thing and this becomes very confusing for a young learning pup.
Transitioning to Your Puppy to go Potty Outside
If your puppy has been using puppy pads and you want to transition them to going outside, there are a few easy steps you can follow to make the transition:
Start using a command like “Go potty” every time your puppy goes potty. Once they do, make sure you give them lots of praise and repeat doing this every time!
Next, begin moving a puppy pad toward the door. Only move it a small distance each day in order to not confuse your puppy, until you get it right by the door leading outside.
Move the puppy pad outside, and continue moving it as you did in step #2 until you get it to the final spot you want your puppy to use going forward. Stay with them and encourage them to go using the command “Go potty”.
Lastly, remove the puppy pad at their final spot, and give them their potty command to go!
It’s important that you remain consistent with your puppy in their potty training process by taking them to their potty area each time and remaining with them until they go. Give them lots of praise when they get the swing of going potty outside! It’s a big deal and a major milestone that will create a lasting and lifelong behavior, so you want to make sure they know they did a good job!
Create a Daily Potty Schedule
In a recent blog, Create a Daily Schedule for Your Puppy, we covered your puppy’s overall day-to-day activities, including scheduled potty breaks. Being able to predict when your puppy needs to go to the bathroom will help immensely in the potty training process and to avoid unexpected accidents in your home!
The best way to start incorporating a potty training schedule is to consistently stick to times throughout the day in order to give your puppy ample opportunities to potty in the right spot! Think about a potty training schedule that flows with their other day-to-day activities in a pattern. It should look like: potty break, activity (play, walk, training, etc.,) food and water, nap and repeat! Your day should be a continuous cycle of this pattern.
During the day, your puppy will need to potty more frequently and typically can go longer overnight. If your puppy eats first, then plays, that’s when most accidents occur because they’re more active and stirring up their bladders and bowels! But if you have your puppy eat and drink at the end of play followed by a nap in their crate, this helps avoid accidents and teaches them how to “hold it”.
How to Determine When Your Puppy Needs to Potty
If you are trying to determine your potty training schedule, as a general guideline, take your puppy’s age in months and then divide it in half to determine how many hours they can go in between potty breaks. For example, a 4-month-old puppy can usually go two hours before needing another potty break. So when setting a schedule, let’s say for the morning before work, if you get up at 6 am you can take them out first thing, then let your puppy out again at 8 am.
No surprise here but a huge part of predicting when your puppy needs to go potty stems from a consistent feeding schedule! Since puppies’ stomachs are still small and sensitive, their feedings should be split up throughout the day for a minimum of three meals per day. This means if you are feeding your puppy in the morning, afternoon, and evening, you can anticipate that your puppy will need to go soon after each meal.
For the most part, puppies will need to relieve themselves within 30 minutes from eating, while others can go longer or shorter, depending on the level of their activity.
Don’t leave your puppy’s food or a large bowl of water out for them to consume as they wish, as this can completely throw off their potty training schedule.
Check out our sample pup’s daily schedule to help you determine the best schedule for you, and help you potty train your puppy!
Common “Accidents” New Owners Make
We have new students come into The Puppy Academy with a variety of training needs, potty training being one of them! Some new owners simply aren’t aware that they may be doing something that’s slowing down the potty training process. But hey, it’s a journey and there are bound to be accidents! Don’t sweat it if you made a couple of these mistakes and if you haven’t but are about to start potty training your puppy, take note of these common mistakes new owners make!
Lack of supervision
Giving your puppy too much room to roam around and not monitoring them is a guaranteed potty accident waiting to happen! If you can’t keep an eye on your puppy, put your puppy in their crate!
Expecting too much from your puppy
Your puppy most likely isn’t going to let you know when they need to go potty and neither will they go out on their own if you leave the door open if they haven’t learned to yet. (Also, both of these situations don't teach your puppy how to "hold it" for longer periods but instead go anytime they wish to.) It’s up to you to bring them outside to potty in the right spot and follow the potty training schedule to create the habit and speed up the potty training process!
24/7 access to food and/or water
You're significantly slowing the potty training process by leaving free access to food and water all day. It makes the ability to predict when your puppy will need to go next much more difficult and you will most likely experience more accidents and a puppy who eliminates much more frequently.
Letting your puppy go in their crate
If you start putting a puppy pad in the crate, you will encourage your puppy to go potty in their sleeping area. Keep pee pads of their crate!
Getting emotional
Letting yourself get upset just makes you upset. It doesn’t do anything to help your puppy learn where they should or shouldn’t go. Maintain your patience and calm when dealing with your puppy’s little accidents. Always praise them when they get it right (throw a little potty party!) and instead ignore the mistakes and simply clean them up.
Not being consistent or reading the signals
If your puppy has an accident, you may be accidentally messing up the potty training schedule or missing their signals! Did they just eat or drink and weren't taken out soon enough? Were they whining trying to tell you something and you missed the signal? Did you let them outside and thought they went, only to have them come back inside and go? All these things give us feedback on how we can do better for the next time -- which is often just being more consistent with our schedules and watching them more closely!
Do You Need More In-Depth Help Potty Training Your Puppy?
When it comes to potty training, encountering some accidents along the way is a given, but you can drastically reduce these and get your puppy potty trained quickly with the right guidance tailored for your individual pup!
In The Puppy Academy Online School, we developed our super popular Potty Training Bootcamp course for new puppy owners struggling to potty train their puppies, and those who want to get their pup on the right track from day one!
Our trainers go through how to create your own personal potty schedule that fits your lifestyle, troubleshoots common potty training issues owners face, and give you a gameplan to follow that grows with your pup as they continue to do better, to ensure you’re living an accident-free life in no time. Plus, you’ll be able to update our trainers with how your pup is doing and get their advice on any tweaks to make to create potty perfection!
For more information, visit the Online School to get started today!
Keys to Puppy Potty Training Success
Consistency, patience, a schedule, and lots of praise are the key factors to remember in order to successfully potty train your puppy. Using tools like a crate can significantly help you in the potty training process, additionally maintaining a schedule will benefit your puppy in developing a lasting behavior. But your overall disposition plays a huge part in your puppy’s development. Be their biggest fan when they get it right and don’t sweat the accidents -- you’re the most valuable asset to potty training your puppy!
Our trainers are available to answer questions live every Wednesday at 1 pm PT on @thepuppyacademy Instagram!
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