5 Tips to Potty Train Your Pup

So you've brought home a new puppy, and quickly learned — wow, these little things sure go potty a lot! Potty training begins right away, and it's really important to set your puppy up for success so that they create good habits instead of needing to change bad ones! Here are a few tips:

1. Be aware of how long your pup can hold it.

Knowing how long your little one can physically hold their bladder and bowels will ensure that you don't set unrealistic expectations! A good rule of thumb is an hour per month. So if you have a three month old puppy, they will have to go potty about once every three hours!

2. Limit their access to your home.

One common mistake I often see is a family that brings home their puppy and let's it have free roam of the house right away. Soon they are discovering piddle spots all over and they didn't even see the little guy go! If you aren't supervising your puppy, set up a puppy area — a crate, an x-pen, or a blocked off area that is specifically for them. Most dogs will not go in close proximity to their food, water, and bed (unless they absolutely have to.) Giving your dog a smaller area to hang out in is a good way of avoiding accidents.

3. Keep them on leash.

Being off leash is lot's of fun, so it can be hard for a pup to concentrate on going potty. For this reason, I recommend bringing your dog outside on leash to potty. Once they've gone, you can make a big fuss and treat them and THEN take off the leash. Doubly reinforcing! Going potty outside means earning a treat AND exploration time!  The last thing we want them to learn is that going potty means fun outside time is over, so if you take them indoors immediately after, they may intentionally hold it longer! Instead, keep them on leash until they do go, and then you can praise, give treats, and let them play and explore off leash for a bit as a reward.

4. Don't punish.

Mistakes happen! If your pup has an accident, and you catch them in the act, you can pick them up and set them in the appropriate potty area to finish - then reward them for doing so. If you don't catch them going, just remove them from the area and clean up the mess. Punishing will just be scary and confusing and can often cause puppies to hide to go to the bathroom.

5. Clean accidents well.

Using the right product is super important! Dogs can smell way more than we can, so using a plain ol' carpet cleaner isn't going to fool them, and if they smell that spot, they are much more likely to go there again. Use a potty-specific cleanser like Nature's Miracle that deep cleans the subtle smells that will lead your dog back to the spot.


Bonus tip: Your pup will probably have to potty after eating, drinking, playing, or napping, so be sure to take them to their potty spot immediately after these activities!