5 Tips to Potty Train Your Puppy

Bringing a new puppy into your home can be exciting— and daunting! There’s so much to do to prepare for your puppy’s arrival and so many things to teach them. One of the first things you can do to make dog ownership so much easier is to potty train your puppy.

Housebreaking your dog requires creating a consistent routine and constant supervision. The more consistent you are with your puppy, the faster and more reliably your puppy will become potty trained.

The biggest reason families fail when housebreaking their pup is due to too much freedom. If you give your puppy too much freedom, the unsupervised puppy is bound to make some mistakes.

Create a Schedule

First, create a routine for your puppy. You’ll want to include blocks of time for food and water, as well as for potty breaks. If you need help figuring out an appropriate schedule for your dog, check in with your veterinarian or a professional dog trainer. You can also ask your breeder or rescue organization if the puppy already has a schedule you can stick to.

If you feel like your family needs help keeping on track, you can even write the schedule down and place it in a common area everyone will see.

Take Your Puppy Out Regularly

Take your puppy out to use the bathroom regularly— every two to three hours is a good rule of thumb throughout the day. To help get through the night, your first and last action of the day should be to take your puppy outside.

After meals, don’t let more than 20 minutes pass by before going outside. The more consistent and diligent you are about going outside, the faster your dog will begin to understand potty training.

Find Your Command

While your dog is using the bathroom, begin to give them a command. Most people use “go potty” as the bathroom command, but you can decide what works for your family.

The ultimate goal is to train your puppy to use the bathroom on command, meaning you need to start linking your command with the act of elimination.

Praise Your Puppy

After your puppy has used the bathroom, use plenty of praise!

Go Out With Your Puppy

For your puppy to associate your praise with using the bathroom, you have to give the praise during the act of elimination— not after. If you stay inside and give the treat after the fact, your puppy will begin to associate getting their treat for coming back into the house.

If training begins early, typically by around 6 months of age you can depend on your puppy to use the bathroom outside the majority of the time. However, if you feel like you’re not making any progress during potty training, you may need to consult with your veterinarian. There could be an underlying medical issue causing problems with house training.