• • How to House Train Your Puppy • •

Potty Training Your Puppy
by KerokeroCola

^My two puppies sleeping together after a long day of lessons.

Almost every single dog owner knows that it's disgusting when a dog "goes" inside, and that it can be extremely frustrating to teach a dog how to “go” outside. To your illiterate and mute canine companion, the concept of “potty outside!” can be rather foreign. Imagine your parents teaching you to hop on your left foot ten times every time you wanted to sneeze! Rather absurd, indeed! However, aside from the obvious benefits of good hygiene and cleanliness, potty training your puppy (the right way) will build a strong bond between you two, and will almost always make training in other areas easier. Potty training can be baffling at first and nearly impossible if done the wrong ways, but it's surprisingly simple and immensely rewarding if you follow the basic guidelines in this guide.


Part 1: Potty Training Basics

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Just like learning the ABCs, the major goal of potty training is to establish a basis for communication. With this, you can convey your expectations of his excrement schedule. This can be very difficult because, as I already said, you can't just tell a dog to “go outside”. The trick of potty training is to learn the ways dogs communicate; this way, you'll be able to show him your expectations. Dogs are impressively fast learners, so if you establish a strong communication base between you two, chances are he'll learn to potty outside very quickly.

The major concept of dog training is consistency. This is true for potty training as well as feeding, teaching tricks, teaching how to walk, etc. If you want a dog to do something one way, ALWAYS make sure you show him how to do it that way. Reward behaviors that fall into the consistency, and punish (very gently... more on that later) behaviors that stray from it. Additionally, it's always good to be pro-active in training a dog to potty outside. Take him outside extremely often, even if he doesn't have to pee. Letting him “go” outside and rewarding it are the only ways to take steps forward. Letting his bladder uncontrollably piddle inside takes several steps backward, though.

The other major concepts of dog training are respect and sensitivity. The best way to teach anything—be it dog or man—is to maintain a respect between you and the pupil. Don't be overly harsh on a dog, and be careful not to confuse or overwhelm your dog with too many lessons at once. PATIENCE is extremely important; losing your cool can intimidate and scare your puppy. (Ironically, it's a natural reaction for dogs to “apologize” by urinating, so try not to make him feel sorry!) Everybody has to make mistakes to learn, and this goes doubly true for our canine fellows.



Part 2: How to Reward and Punish


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As you saw in the last section, it's extremely important to establish a correct sort of “schooling” for your dog. This schooling consists of two different types: rewarding good behavior, and punishing bad behavior.

Rewarding is by far the most important part of training a dog. Dogs LOVE it when they make you happy. A dog whose master is good at showing “that he is loved” will learn very quickly compared to a dog with a non-responsive master. Whenever a dog does something good—say, he potties outside—the best thing to do is shower him with praise. At least give him 15-20 seconds of attention. A lot of puppies have attention spans not much longer than this anyway.

Also, treats can be helpful for rewarding a dog. I keep a bowl of small dog biscuits by the back door, so when my puppies go potty outside, they are quickly rewarded. However, be careful not to “over-treat” a dog. Dogs can learn patterns fast, so if you always feed them a treat after they pee outside, they might stop if you stop feeding them treats. (Also, feeding treats can mess up a particularly sensitive dog's eating/pooping schedule, so be careful of this... Section 4 for more.) Don't confuse “over-treating” with over-rewarding, though. While you can feed a dog too many treats, there is no such thing as giving a dog too much attention and loving!


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The next part of schooling is punishing. This is relatively simple to understand: if a dog poops inside, he should be punished. However, the only forms of “punishment” you should use on a dog are surprise and shame. If you catch a dog in the act of pooping, shout loudly (“Aaaaaatttt!!!!” or “No! Damn you!” work just fine ) to scare him. Then take him outside, and if he poops, shower him with the most praise he's ever gotten. The confusion of the noise and then all of a sudden “coming to” will very strongly ingrain in his consciousness which behavior is preferred. Shame is also an okay tactic, although some dog owners caution against it because it can lead to abuse. If I find a pile of poop inside, I stare at my dogs until one of them cowers. I let her sulk an apology for a few minutes, and then I give her a “That's okay, I forgive you” round of attention. It's important not to alienate a dog for too long, or she may always feel antisocial and left out.

However, do not assume “punishing” means actually punishing a dog. Surprise and temporary shame seem like weak tools to human parenting, but they are the best for dogs. One thing to never do is hit your dog. Many, many, many dog experts warn against using physical punishment. Lots of dogs are very skittish, and can become “hand shy” if they are swatted as pups. Other dogs are very aggressive, and might develop a defensive paranoia against humans, which can result in attacks when the dog matures. Even if your dog is in between, hitting a dog shows very little signs of success in teaching. They have a very hard time understanding that the physical punishment is a result of their mistake.


Part 3: Timing

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This part is one of the most simple parts of dog training, but it's probably the most important, so I am writing it in its own section. The timing of your praise and punishments are crucial in getting your dog to understand what your expectations are.

Dogs have very limited short-term memory! If a 12-week old puppy piddles on the floor, and you find the spot a minute later, it's likely that he forgot he did it. Punishing him after-the-fact will probably do no good at all—it'll likely just cause him to become confused and resent you. Likewise, catching a dog [i[in the act[/i] of pottying inside is extremely beneficial. Dogs are only focused on now, so disrupting now by a sharp word and picking up your dog will confuse him terribly. Once you pick him up and bring him outside, let him “come to his senses” again and then potty, then ready your praises. The reward means twice as much as it normally would if the dog was just confused after being caught peeing. He will quickly understand that peeing inside means a lot of confusion and commotion, whereas peeing outside means the confusion is cleared up and he gets rewarded.

Older dogs have a little better memory. I've taught my 15-week old puppy well enough that whenever she has an accident, she feels ashamed for a long time afterward until I find it. In fact, I can usually tell when she has an accident because she comes and apologizes before the smell even reaches me. However, not much can be done if you're more than a few seconds late, even for the most learned of dogs. Sometimes, they simply cannot hold it. Accept their apologies and give them loving, but not until after you clean up the mess!

Part 4: Routine

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Okay, so you know how and when to teach the dog, but how do you help yourself out in the process? It's important to know that dogs are suckers for schedules. Getting a dog on a routine will help you learn when he needs to poop and allow you to give him opportunities to succeed and limit his opportunities to fail.

The most important part of this is feeding your dog on time. Until a dog is at least 3 months old, he should eat three times a day. Three month-old dogs should eat two meals a day until they are 2 years old, at which point the mealtimes vary from dog to dog (some eat twice; some eat once). Especially for smaller puppies, you'll do yourself a huge favor by feeding your pup at the exact same time every day. This way, you'll know exactly when your dog has to poop because it should stay roughly the same every day. However, a dog's “pee schedule” is more unpredictable, so you'll have to be ever-vigilant against piddling inside. Just try not to give it water later in the evening. I take up the water dish at 8 PM every night.


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One of the worst parts of dog training is the nighttime routine. Puppies' bladders can really only go 3-4 hours before they have to pee. This means that you'll probably have to wake up at least once every night to take your dog outside. You can do this on your time (with an alarm) or on your dog's time (if you sleep in the same room and he whines for you), just be careful never to let him have an accident. This can become really annoying, but at 15 weeks of age or so, most puppies should be able to hold it all night. “Bed-wetting” can always happen until he is 2+, so be careful if you like to sleep with your pooch.

During the daytime, try and shadow your dog all the time for accidents. It only takes about 5-10 seconds for a small dog or a puppy to finish peeing, at which point you've just taken several steps backwards in your training curriculum. If you can't catch your dog in the act of peeing, your potty training lessons can take months to finally have an effect, no matter how well you reward your dog.

Part 5 – Helpful Hints

There are many other aspects of potty training that you should know about. One particular thing is the breed of a dog. Some breeds can learn to potty train almost instantly, as if it were natural. Other breeds might struggle with it. (For example, my first dog was a Labrador. It took him until he was about 6 months old to finally learn to go outside with good consistency. My second dog was a Husky, and she was always peeing outside at about 3 months.) Do a little research on your breed, if you can, before you buy one just to see how long you can expect to potty train him or her.


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Another helpful hint is the kennel/crate. Many dog owners feel that putting a dog in a small training crate is inhumane and punishing the dog. However, it's just the opposite: Most dogs love their crates! Since dogs are “den” animals, having such a large house is odd—in fact, your house doesn't really seem like “home” to your dog. Also, dogs do possess the instinct “do not pee where you sleep.” If you get a crate that's small enough that he can't pee in the corner and still lay comfortably, then he'll only pee there if he absolutely has to. This is especially helpful at night or when you can't be home. Just make sure it's not too small, or he'll feel cramped and insecure. You can get an adult dog a more spacious kennel, but until a dog is fully trained, make sure his crate is just big enough.

Note: One way to get a dog to love his kennel even more is to feed him in the kennel. At mealtimes, scoop out his food into a bowl, then say “Kennel!” (a command), and tap the top of the crate. If he walks inside, give him the food.


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In addition to the kennel, some owners like to use puppy pads. I've never used one of these, and I hear mixed reviews. Some say it sends a confusing message to a dog (“You can't pee inside, except sometimes, then it's okay.”); others say it limits the chances of mistakes and punishments because it gives the dog flexibility. If your dog is simply having troubles holding it (and it's not your fault—meaning, you take him out often enough), then teach him to “go” on a pad can be helpful. Do this in a similiar way as outside—reward him for peeing on it, and stop him from peeing off of it. However, if you do catch a dog peeing inside, you might as well rush him outside.... (That's why I choose not to use them.)

Another thing to look out for—in any dog, not just a puppy—are diseases. Many diseases make a dog unable to control his bladder or bowels, and he could be making “accidents” simply because he cannot help it. A bladder infection can make it incredibly painful to have urine in the bladder. A dog getting into the garbage can make his stomach upset, and he could have diarrhea. Just like with a human being sick, you should support your dog. Especially if he's already potty trained, a dog will feel extremely embarrassed and ashamed for “going” inside when he is sick—so give him lovings and let you know you forgive him!

One last thing that can help immensely in potty training: cues saying, “I gotta go, master!” You can teach a dog even if he's not yet house trained to tell you when he's gotta pee. For example, I have a bell hanging on my back doorknob; I expect my dogs to nudge it with their nose when they want out. I taught them this by first tapping it myself at “outside time!”, and slowly getting the dogs to do it (“Hit the bell, Apollo!&#8221 on their own. Sooner than later, they were doing it with me not even in the room. If you don't want to use a bell, you can also just pay attention to your pup's body language—almost all dogs will tell his master in some way that he's uncomfortable and has to pee. Not every dog will come up to you and whine, though, so get to know his particular way of communication.


Part 6 – Wrapping Up and the TL;DR version


^ My youngest puppy, Sasha.

In case you forgot some of what I've written (or skimmed over it!), I'll wrap up the basic concept of potty training here.

Firstly, know how to communicate with your dog. Rewarding a dog involves giving him attention and/or treats; punishing a dog should only be done if you caught him in the act and never with physical harm. It's pointless to punish a dog for something he did a minute ago; he'll just get confused, because he thinks he is being punished for just sitting there. Stay consistent in your behavior; do not change your behavior or teaching methods halfway through, unless you want to spend an extra week or so playing “catch up”.

Secondly, get your dog on a good feeding and “outside” routine. For younger puppies, feed your dog and take him outside frequently; you can do these less often as he ages. Also, when he's under 4 months, he'll probably have to be taken potty at least once every night. Expect to lose some sleep. For night time, a kennel can really help, since it causes your dog to hold his bladder until he absolutely cannot anymore.

Thirdly, expect a lot of work. Potty training consists of a lot of “shadowing” your dog—waiting until the moment that he pees and then shouting the "Aaaaaattttt!" and rushing him outside. It also consists of a lot of scrubbing up messes off of the floor. Additionally, you might have to expect a lot of a lot of “faked happiness” at him finally peeing outside once after having ten!! consecutive accidents. Don't get too frustrated—it'll all be over sooner than later, and then you can enjoy the next 15 years with your house-trained companion. If you need a break, see if a friend or family member will watch your dog for the evening. (Although “time-outs” are almost useless for the dog's learning, sometimes you might have to lock him in his kennel just to avoid you from tearing off his ears. This is okay; just don't alienate him for too long, and remember to remind him that you still love him after he comes out.) Wearing yourself out is not the intended outcome of house training lessons!



Hopefully you've learned something in reading my methods of house training puppies. I've house trained two of my own puppies, as well as several dogs while I lived with my family. I've also done a lot of research, and cleaned up hundreds of messes. I hope that my experience and my mistakes have been able to teach you something. Maybe you'll finally decide to get a dog, now that you understand how to potty train him? If so, let me know! I'd be more than delighted to help out and get to know a little bit of your new lifelong friend.​