Potty Habits We Recommend

Teach your dog to potty on command!

Recently we've been asked many questions about teaching potty habits to adult dogs and puppies alike. Whether or not your dog is fully potty trained, we recommend implementing these nine potty habits to help your dog be successful even when their routine changes!

Teach a Potty Cue

A cue, such as "go potty" is fundamental in teaching your dog to potty wherever and whenever you need them to, even in a distracting environment.

When first teaching a potty cue, wait until you're fairly confident your dog needs to potty. Bring your dog to the edge of your designated potty area. Right before letting them enter the potty area, say your potty cue and then wait quietly. Stay in the potty area until your dog potties. If they don't potty within a few minutes, put them in the crate for a while, depending on how long they can handle not pottying; anywhere from a few minutes to a couple hours. Then bring them out and try again.

The reason we recommend putting them in the crate between potty attempts is so that they learn to go shortly after you say the potty cue. This also helps prevent accidents while you are training the potty cue, and starts the process of teaching your dog to potty in the area you designate (instead of anywhere they feel like going). Know your dog: do not keep them in the crate for very long if they are prone to having accidents.

If you do not have a crate, keep your dog on-leash with you in a place where they are unlikely to potty until you take them out again.

Once your dog successfully goes in the potty area, we do not recommend giving them a treat or praising them excitedly. If you reward or praise them after they potty, they may stop relieving themselves early so they can return to you for the reward.

Practice the potty cue for several days in the same area. Try to learn the 'signs' your dog gives when they're about to potty. Recognizing these signs will help you with all of the following potty habits!

Potty while Leashed

Dogs view the world differently when they are leashed. If you do not teach your dog how to potty while leashed, they may refuse to do so when asked. Some dogs would rather have an accident indoors when they are off-leash than potty outdoors while on-leash.

This can be especially problematic if you plan on traveling with your dog, visiting a friend's house that doesn't have a fenced yard, or if your dog is injured and needs to remain leashed while outdoors.

At home, practice having your dog potty on-leash first before you release them to go "be a dog" in the yard or house. Use your potty cue! Once they realize their freedom requires leashed pottying, they will be quick to potty when asked.

If your dog refuses to potty while leashed within 5-10 minutes of being given an opportunity, use your crate as described when teaching a potty cue. Then bring them out on-leash and try again. When they decide to potty, let them be loose in the yard (if safe) or roam around the house as reward!

Don't Follow Your Dog

You might want to follow your dog around so they can find that "perfect potty place" but this practice often increases the time it takes for your dog to potty. It essentially functions as a mini-sniffari, and some dogs will choose not to potty right away so that they can keep sniffing the area. Your dog may learn to be picky about where they potty, which decreases the chance that they will be willing to potty on a new surface, in a new location, on cue or when distracted.

Instead of following your dog, stand in one place and let your dog explore only the radius around you that they can reach on-leash. When they potty, you can then walk with them to let them explore the area a little if you want. Eventually they will expect to potty first, explore later!

Potty Before & After a Walk - NOT During

Your walks should be a time for you and your dog to explore together - not potty and mark. Plus, it's not fun to carry a bag of your dog's excrement around. Instead, teach your dog to potty before and after the walk. Once your dog has successfully pottied, the walk begins!

Keep an eye on your dog during the walk. If they look like they're going to mark or go potty try to pull them along and walk faster to prevent them from immediately pottying. At first, just try to get them to walk 10 more steps, and then stop and give them a potty cue. Over time, try to increase the distance you go when interrupting them from pottying, until they can wait the entire walk and potty afterwards. You may also want to go for shorter walks in the meantime so they are less likely to feel the urge to potty while out on the walk.

Another benefit of this is that your dog learns to control their bladder even when they are moving around, which helps reduce the frequency of accidents.

Walk Nicely to the Potty Area

If your dog is fairly well potty trained (not a young puppy), practice leash manners on the way to the potty area. Some dogs will pull to the place they want to potty, especially if there are interesting smells in that area. If you follow them when they pull, you are reinforcing the act of pulling towards distractions.

Instead, have your dog walk nicely by your side to the potty area, then give a potty command and let them have most of the leash. Even while they choose a place to potty, they should not be pulling you around the designated potty area. If they struggle with loose leash walking, make sure to practice when they don't necessarily need to potty so it's not as difficult for them to succeed when they really do need to potty.

Potty in Aversive Weather

Some dogs are very sensitive about precipitation (mist, rain, snow, etc) or strong winds. But on a rainy day, your dog has to go at some point - and hopefully not in the house. Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate and it rains all day, or even all day for multiple days! We hear so many clients complain that their dogs have accidents in the house when this happens. Teach your dog that pottying while it's raining can be rewarding and is necessary in order to get out of the rain.

If you haven't made your dog potty outside in aversive weather, start when it's just barely raining (or snowing). Make sure you bring them out at a time when they are likely to need to potty. If they do, bring them inside right away as a reward! If they don't potty and you need to go in, put them back in the crate for a while and then try again.

Potty Before Exciting Things

This is one of the best ways to ensure your dog understands how to potty on command, and is also one of the most difficult skills to teach. For the best chance at success, make sure your dog knows their potty cue before teaching this!

When your dog is predicting an exciting activity (such as going for a walk, playing fetch, etc.), potty them on-leash before anything exciting happens. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time before the exciting activity, as it may take your dog quite a while to potty. If they refuse to potty, put them back in their crate and give them an opportunity a little later. No exciting activity happens until they have pottied. As soon as they potty outside while on-leash, the fun and games begin! Your dog will quickly learn that in order to participate in fun activities, they need to potty first.

This skill is beneficial for both of you: a dog with a full bladder is more likely to eliminate during sports and fun activities, and less likely to have good focus.

Keep in mind that this is a difficult concept for many dogs, as they are often highly aroused and excited in anticipation for the fun activity. But if your dog learns to potty while excited, you're well on your way to getting them to potty on command any time, anywhere!

Potty in New Locations

It's great when a dog prefers to potty only in one corner of the yard. However, once you leave the yard your dog should be able to tolerate pottying somewhere else. If you plan on traveling with your dog, get them used to pottying in unusual locations - including loud, busy places.

When teaching your dog to potty in new places (on-leash and following the advice above!), start somewhere that is relatively quiet without many additional distractions. Expect to spend some time in the new location. If your dog is nervous in new places, plan to do something fun with your dog after they potty.

Potty on Different Surfaces

Some daycares, training centers and city areas only have rocks or sand for dogs to potty on. To lower the stress of your dog when faced with a new environment, teach them to potty on different surfaces: gravel, mulch, sand, mud, grass, turf, etc. If possible, make sure you've practiced pottying in new locations on familiar surfaces, before you practice pottying in new locations on different surfaces.

Struggling with Potty Training?

These potty habits should be developed during or after your dog is potty trained. If your dog is potty trained but has recently regressed, make sure they don't have a UTI or other condition that would make bladder control difficult for them.

If you're struggling with potty training or developing good potty habits, check out our online potty training class using the following link:

https://www.courteousk9s.com/online-learning