Initially, you cannot expect your puppy to be fully trained and reliable before reaching six months of age. Much depends on the size and breed of your puppy, and mostly on the efforts you’ve put into teaching them.

It’s also a reality that your puppy doesn’t have sufficient bladder and bowel control before reaching 16 weeks of age. Simply put, they can’t “hold it” for an extended period, so you need to be particularly vigilant during this time.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t start with the training as soon as your puppy enters your home. It just means you should expect a handful of “accidents” from your puppy. But don’t be upset; this article will provide you with everything you need to handle these little mishaps.

Some people think potty training is as simple as regular eating or drinking. Or they believe that the dog will be fully trained within one or two weeks.

For many precocious puppies, this might be the case; however, many young dogs led by such a lax, abbreviated potty protocol are only partially trained in the household, or they have accidents for months.

These cute little ones understand that going to the bathroom outside is good, but they don’t realize that indoors has boundaries. It’s not uncommon for them to come into the house after extensive play or training and relax on the expensive carpet.

That’s because toilet training is not just about teaching where to go. It’s also about making it clear that other areas are unacceptable until going potty in the right place becomes a habit.

What to Expect

Among the steps leading to the success of home training is predicting when your dog needs to go potty. Your puppy will likely need to relieve itself:

As you can see, your dog needs to go out frequently. This decreases over time; as it gets older, it needs to go outside less often.

How often should my puppy go to the bathroom?

Finally, your puppy will likely want to go potty between one and 30 minutes after eating and within 20 minutes of drinking a significant amount of water.

These are general estimates. If you use the empty schedule, your puppy’s internal clock won’t be a mystery to you.

You have the ability to anticipate when it needs to go, and since dogs learn through repetition, each time it goes in the right place, it reinforces good behavior.

In the first week, the more bathroom trips, the better. Therefore, it’s wise to take time off when you bring your puppy home. If you establish good habits from day one, you can spend your entire life together and enjoy every moment.

If you decide to take a week off, you shouldn’t have the puppy with you all the time, as you won’t always be there when you go back to work. Stick to a normal schedule instead.

Where should the pot be?

There are only two places where your dog can go to the potty: outdoors in its “elimination zone” or indoors at its “toilet station.” The most common mistake new owners make is to believe that paper training is the first step in toilet training. But it actually isn’t!

Signs from the Dog

Most puppies follow a routine before relieving themselves. Your task is to figure out how to “read” your pet. To assist you with this task, the following signs are listed for you to watch out for:

Once you notice any of the above behaviors, stop what you’re doing, put on its leash, and take it outside to the elimination zone or inside to the toilet station.

If it starts to pee, interrupt it by saying “outside” or “toilet” and then take it to its potty.

Is there a difference between puppy and adult toilet training?

The indoor technique is the same for a puppy or an adult dog. The only difference is that an adult dog can hold it much longer than a puppy. So, it may seem easier to train an adult dog, but it can also be challenging since your adult dog has a history, and you may not always know how its previous owner trained it.

Crate training may take a bit longer for an adult dog.

Potty Strategies

Prevention is the key.

The true secret of potty training is to regularly take your young dog out of the house (usually every two hours for an eight-week-old dog) and never give it the chance to have a potty accident. This means at least eight outings per day.

To prevent your dog from peeing elsewhere in the house, it should always be either:

Follow this plan for a month, and it will become a habit for it to go outside and keep it indoors. Then keep an eye on it for another month or two, especially if you take it on trips to other people’s houses, before confirming that it is reliably house-trained.

Expectations for the Puppy Age

Another key to successful dog potty training is understanding your puppy. Below is a guide on what to expect in terms of the puppy’s age.

For a puppy, life revolves around “me”! Take it from your puppy. Basically, its owners are pretty much its servants in this phase.

Its needs mimic the immediate needs of a baby or toddler. Remember that it has absolutely nothing to do with your puppy being chatty—only its immediate needs need to be taken care of. So attend to it immediately.

As this is the affection phase, you will easily fall in love with your puppy. Take countless photos, but be careful not to spoil it too much. This is the most challenging part of raising your dog but crucial for establishing a cooperative, good dog.

While you can find basic skills to develop in the puppy age, you are in a kind of “waiting loop.” Your puppy is simply too young for proper obedience training. Your task now is to stop mistakes, convey concepts, and protect your dog until it has learned its obedience skills.

Puppies act on intuition. Puppies are equipped only with their dog instinct and strictly act based on what they genetically know. They are not responsible for their emotions, nor do they plan actions ahead. They only act on instinct until the owners teach them to resist the urge. Do not punish, but redirect and remain patient!

Attempting to “break” your puppy for instinctive behaviors (such as mouthing) doesn’t work. You can teach your dog not to communicate with its mouth by introducing a different communication approach.

Until then, trying to curb these behaviors using “quick fixes” will only serve to diminish your puppy’s trust in you as a leader.

Puppies have a limited attention span and can only “behave” or, in other words, avoid trouble for a limited period.

As they grow and owners train them, they develop a timeframe. It’s crucial for you to know that they can only focus for short periods at this stage.

Once your puppy’s mental battery is charged, and repetitive incorrect behaviors occur, any attempt at redirection becomes futile. Let your puppy rest in its familiar crate.

Your puppy can learn the training, but its body cannot “hold” all its bodily functions, regardless of how much it wants to. Around four and a half to five months, your puppy’s body catches up in development and begins controlling its urine flow. Frequent potty breaks can help with this.

Be realistic. Keep expectations reasonable. The puppy age is the stage where owners must take full responsibility for their puppies. Don’t expect your puppy to behave like an adult dog. Understand its limits and work with them in the next learning phase.

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Outdoor or Indoor Training?

Depending on your situation, you need to determine whether you want to potty train your puppy outside or inside your home. It’s highly recommended to train the dog to go outside if you have a yard or direct access to a park or street.

If you currently live in a high-rise apartment or have a disability, it may be challenging to train your dog to pee or go on a potty pad. Therefore, indoor training in a specific part of the house is recommended.

Owners of toy breeds living in a region or place where it gets cold in winter might also choose to train their dogs indoors only.

Preparation is Key

It’s always better to prepare everything before your puppy arrives. But don’t worry, if you already have a dog, this chapter will help you immediately. Throughout the training process, there are two types of confinement:

Use its crate to confine your dog for a short period.

If you’re leaving your puppy alone for more than a few hours, you need to apply long-term confinement. As a result, you must block off a portion of a room in your house that your puppy should not have access to. You can use a baby gate to successfully accomplish this.

Ensure your dog is engaged in a specific area (like its crate or its own little den) with chew toys. It’s a good idea to place plastic sheeting under the pad to protect the floor even more.

This place is your puppy’s domain, so everyone in the household must recognize and respect it.

According to experts, the best part of the house to place its den/crate is near the kitchen. This location is usually the best choice as it’s often the busiest place in the house.

Dogs really need to feel like a part of the family, and being in the midst of the action is very motivating for them. In general, a kitchen floor is easy to clean, which is a good thing during house training.

To block off a portion of the room, as mentioned above, you can use door dividers, like those used for babies. They are easy to install and open when it’s time to take your puppy outside.

A small playpen also works well to “contain” your dog.

Choosing Your Puppy’s Toilet Spot

You need to decide where you want your puppy to go potty. For those of you training your puppy outdoors, choose a location that is easily accessible, relatively quiet, and doesn’t get too muddy.

Pick a corner in the backyard, not too close to the roads, so your dog won’t get distracted when doing its business.

Regardless of the spot you choose, it’s important to train your dog to feel comfortable there. This is actually not hard to achieve since four-legged friends have an extremely strong sense of smell.

After that, your puppy just needs to urinate and defecate once to recognize the spot. The scent of urine and feces triggers your dog’s desire to potty and speeds up the entire process.

Moreover, a dog has the intuition to want to refresh its spot just to mark it and prevent other dogs from claiming the spot. In this regard, dogs are very territorial.

Potty training starts with understanding how to love and sleep in a crate (or another small, enclosed area):

The purpose of crate training is for your puppy to love resting in its crate.

Your dog should sleep in its crate at night and be allowed to take naps throughout the day. To train it to love its crate, help it get comfortable with a blanket and place treats inside at random times.

Then, give it its toys and pet it before closing the door. The ultimate goal of crate training is for it to go into the crate on its own or respond to a verbal cue instead of being pushed or persuaded. And once inside, it remains relaxed, comfortable, and calm.

Crate Size

The crate must be large enough for the puppy to lie down and turn around. You can shrink the crate by placing a smaller crate inside and, as the dog grows, simply expand it with a smaller crate.

Most puppies whine when placed in a crate for the first time. They are not accustomed to restricted access to their family. It’s important for puppies to learn that it’s okay to be separated or confined.

If you’re diligent about crate training early on, the whining should stop within a week.

Rewarding your dog by letting it out when it whines can lead to serious anxiety or frustration, preventing you from leaving your pet alone in another room or home.

Regular Schedule and Quick Trip of the Puppy to Its Potty

First Thing in the Morning:

When you let your puppy out of its crate, hurry it to its potty before it has the chance to squat and pee. If you’re unsure it can hold it long enough to make it outside, lead it out.

Take it to its potty

If taking it out without a leash, walk quickly or run down the hall so it doesn’t have a chance to stop. It might need to be on a leash so it doesn’t have the chance to stop.

Even a second’s pause gives it the opportunity to squat and pee. That means if you have stairs, it’s advisable to carry it since its hesitation just before the first step is enough for it to squat and urinate.

Stay with it until it “can”

Once outside, lead it on a leash so it doesn’t get distracted. Otherwise, place it in a small area outside the building.

If it does it, compliment it, pet it, or give it a reward when it’s finished. But don’t distract it before it’s done.

If it doesn’t potty after five minutes, put it in its crate for 15 minutes and repeat the process.

This might be tedious initially. Consider listening to music or an audiobook while waiting for it to do its business and have a timer so you don’t become impatient during the five minutes outside.

How Often Should the Puppy Go to the Toilet?

Start with every two hours for an eight-week-old puppy. Generally, puppies can stay in a crate during the day for as many hours as they are months old.

For example, a three-month-old puppy can be placed in a crate for 3 hours at a time.

Take it out after a nap:

Always take the dog out, following the two-hour rule, when it wakes up from sleep or comes out of its crate or playpen for the first time.

Take him to the potty after a play session:

If he doesn’t go potty, you can put him in his crate for 15 to 30 minutes and then take him out again.

Take him out when his body language indicates he’s looking for a place to pee:

Signs that the puppy is about to go potty can be subtle. They usually sniff the ground, circle around, or wander away.

After a drink:

Within 10 to 20 minutes of drinking water, he should go. Take away his water about an hour before the last outing so he can make it through the night without having to go to the toilet. He needs to learn to hold it for seven to eight hours.

Learn from your mistakes:

Puppies seem to need to go potty a hundred times a day. Find out how to anticipate when your puppy needs to wait and what accidents to expect.

Every time he has an accident, you need to learn from the experience and prevent the same mistakes from happening again.

Potty training is about developing the habit of going to a potty when the puppy needs to and never giving him the chance to have an accident indoors.

Constant supervision:

Until he is reliable, the puppy must be directly supervised or attached to you with a hands-free leash or resting near you on a leash or in a playpen.

On the other hand, he can be outdoors in a puppy-safe area. This might help him go potty when you’re not outside to watch over him.

But don’t leave him unsupervised outside for hours. Also, understand that young puppies are less able to withstand warm and cold conditions.

Training your dog or dogs requires more than a few stacks of old newspapers – it requires caution, patience, a good amount of commitment, and, most importantly, consistency.

With the described procedures, you can minimize house-soiling accidents. Virtually every dog, especially puppies, will have an accident in the house, and probably quite a few. Expect it – it’s part of life with a puppy.

The more consistently you apply the basic methods of house training, the faster your dog will learn appropriate behavior. It may take a few weeks for your puppy to be house-trained, and in some smaller breeds, it may take longer.

Establish a routine:

The routine teaches your puppy that there is time for eating, playing, and going potty.

Mostly, a puppy can control its bladder for an hour. So, if your puppy is two months old, it can hold it for about two hours. Don’t go longer than these bathroom breaks.

If you don’t work from home, you’ll need to ask your roommate (or a family member) or, in some cases, hire a dog sitter to give your puppy the breaks.

Take your puppy outside often – at least every two hours – and shortly after waking up, during, and after playing, and after eating or drinking.

Choose an outdoor spot and always bring your puppy there on a leash. Use a word or phrase, like “go potty,” while your dog is eliminating.

Reward your puppy every time it goes outside. Compliment or give it a treat – but do it immediately after it finishes relieving itself.

This step is crucial as it only knows what is expected when you reward your dog for relieving itself outside. Before rewarding him, make sure he is done. Puppies are easily distracted.

Set your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. Puppies usually need to be fed three to four times a day depending on age. Feeding your puppy at the same time every day is more likely to make him go potty at consistent times, making training easier for both of you.

Take away your puppy’s water bowl about two and a half hours before bedtime to reduce the likelihood of him needing to go potty overnight.

If your puppy wakes you up at night, don’t make a big fuss. Keep the light as low as possible, don’t talk to your puppy. Take him outside to do his business and bring him back to his bed.

Potty Accidents :

Puppies need to be trained to understand that it is not okay to go anywhere. Potty training is a straightforward process but must be conducted positively (without punishment that scares the puppy) and consistently according to two main rules:

Soiling can occur in any part of your home, but sometimes pet parents notice that their puppy soils more in selected areas, such as rarely used rooms or on a specific type of surface.

Very young puppies (under 12 weeks) don’t have complete bladder control and may not be able to hold it for long. Older puppies that have had accidents may not have been fully trained.

Why is my dog peeing where he shouldn’t?

Urine Marking:

If your puppy is older than three months and pees on vertical surfaces in small amounts, it may be due to urine marking. Young dogs that engage in this behavior often lift their hind legs while peeing.

Separation Anxiety:

If your puppy only soils when left alone at home, he may have separation anxiety. In this case, you may notice that he is anxious or distressed before you leave.

Submissive/Excitement Urination:

Your puppy may be submissive/excited if he only pees during greetings, play, and physical contact. In this case, you may observe your puppy displaying submissive body postures during interactions.

He may cower or roll onto his back, tuck or lower his tail, lower his head, avert his eyes, flatten his ears, or anything that is up.

Medical Reasons for Potty Accidents

It’s usually a good idea to consult your puppy’s veterinarian to rule out medical causes for excessive urination in the wrong place. Some common medical reasons for inappropriate urination and defecation are:

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

Puppies with a urinary tract infection usually pee frequently and in small amounts. They may also lick their genital areas more than usual.

Gastrointestinal Upset

If your puppy was house-trained but is now passing loose stool or diarrhea at home, he may have gastrointestinal upset.

Diet Change

If you recently changed the amount or type of food you’re giving your puppy, it can lead to unusual bathroom habits at home. After a diet change, a puppy may get loose stool or diarrhea.

Discipline and teaching your dog “to go potty” requires far more than a few stacks of old newspapers. This training demands caution, patience, a good deal of commitment, and, most importantly, consistency.

The more consistently you adhere to the basic techniques of training, the quicker your dog will become familiar with appropriate behavior. It may take a few weeks for your pet to be house-trained, and in some smaller breeds, it may take much longer, but if successful, you and your dog will benefit for years to come.

When training, it’s crucial to establish a routine. Like babies, puppies work best in a regular daily schedule. The schedule instructs him that there are times for everything: eating, playing, sleeping, and even going potty.

In most cases, a puppy can manage its bladder for one hour for each month of its age.

Attention and supervision are another key to successful training. Don’t give your dog the chance to soil inappropriate places.

Don’t expect your dog to be perfect. There will undoubtedly be some “accidents” at home, even if he is fully trained. When accidents happen, avoid punishing him.

Instead, teach him and remind him of what is right when he needs to relieve himself.