Prevent Accidents
Going to the bathroom inside becomes a habit quite quickly. Preventing your dog from practicing going inside is the most important step in house-training.
How do we prevent our dogs from practicing going indoors? We set them up for success with an appropriately arranged environment.
Resting Spaces: Most of our dogs are unlikely to go to the bathroom if they are in a resting space. This comes in handy for potty training. When it is time for rest (e.g. after their needs have been met and you are busy working), use a defined resting space. This will prevent them from wandering off to have an accident. Crates and exercise pens are perfect. Both types of confinement can be made comfortable with water, your dog’s preferred bed, and self-soothing chews.
Supervised Spaces: Keeping your dog in the same space as you will reduce the likelihood of accidents. It will also give you the opportunity to supervise. Use doors and baby gates to keep your dog in the same room as you. If you enter the office with your dog, close the door behind you. If you enter the kitchen, clip a baby gate closed. With baby gates available for any sized threshold, this prevention tactic can be used for all home layouts.
Buddy Leash: When your dog is highly likely to have an accident, a buddy leash is helpful. For example, when your dog did not go to the bathroom outside even though you know they need to, the buddy leash will be useful. The buddy leash attaches to your dog’s flat collar or harness. The other end of the leash can then be attached to a belt loop, waist strap, or held onto. The leash keeps your dog close and under active supervision.
Actively Train
We discussed preventing your dog from making a habit out of going indoors. Now, how do we create a habit of going outdoors? It’s actually quite simple: we make it a very rewarding place to go! Dogs have a natural desire to relieve themselves and don’t understand why they can’t do so indoors. It is our job to give them sufficient reason to hold it until they get outside. The steps to make your dog love going outdoors are outlined below.
Step 1: Frequent Opportunities
- Reduce Distractions: Do you notice your dog engaging in different activities when you let them out to go to the bathroom? Often this looks like, finding squirrels, watching neighbors, or playing with toys. If your dog is getting distracted outside, they may forget to go to the bathroom. Some dogs may need you to take them out on leash. Stand with them on leash in one spot for 10 minutes and be very boring. Once they’ve gone to the bathroom, you can let them off to have access to the fun and distracting yard.
- Set a Timer: The more we let them out, the more opportunities they have to practice using the bathroom outside. Set a timer to ensure you give them regular outings. If you have a young puppy, they may need outings every hour. Puppies also need to go outside after sleep and excitement. If you just got done playing with your puppy, it may be time to take them outside.
Step 2: Perfect Timing
- Wait for the second they stop going to the bathroom. This is the moment they had enough time to finish, but before they have moved positions.
- Mark that moment with a cheerful “yes!” or clicker. This communicates the exact behavior you are going to reward them for.
- Reward with a very tasty treat! Right after you say yes or click, deliver the treat. DO NOT wait until you get inside to feed the treat. Make sure you give the treat to them immediately while outside.
- Give them access to the rest of the yard or play time
The top mistakes we see here are…
- Not marking the moment they finish going to the bathroom. This is essential to creating a strong connection between going outside and getting a treat.
- Feeding the treat indoors. We often see dogs shortening their outdoor time, even though they still need to potty, in order to get to the treat jar faster. Be sure to bring the treats out to your dog to avoid this issue.
- Taking them inside immediately after they go to the bathroom. Some of our dogs love to spend time outside. If they learn that going to the bathroom will end their outdoor time, they often delay pottying.
Step 3: Appropriate Level of Prevention
If your dog did not go to the bathroom, they may have an accident indoors. When dogs do not go potty outside, we find they often have accidents within 10 minutes of coming back inside. This is a time to take extra caution. We recommend full-blown supervision. If you have a buddy leash, this would be a great time to use it. Give them a bit of indoor time (10-15 minutes) then take them right back out to try again.
Respond Properly
Responding to Accidents
We have seen owners punishing dogs for going to the bathroom indoors backfire more times than we can count. Punishment teaches dogs that is it risky to go to the bathroom in front of their owners. Instead of stopping accidents, punishment will normally result in a dog that goes in a different room to have accidents. This poses a significant challenge. You will not see warning signs that your dog needs to go to the bathroom. Typically, you’ll learn your dog’s “potty dance.” They may sniff around or arch their back. Unfortunately, if you use punishment, they will typically do these warning behaviors in a separate room.
If your dog is mid-accident, you can pat your legs to call them outside to mitigate the mess. If they are post-accident, you can use a pet-specific, enzymatic cleaner to clean the accident. Take note of the time of day or prior activity to better predict when they need a trip outside next time.
Extra Credit
Teaching Your Dog to Ask to Go Outside
There are many ways your dog could learn to ask you to go outside. They could ring bells, push a button, bark, or even knock their paw on the door. When potty training is done properly, your dog will really want to go outside anytime they feel the need to potty. Once a dog is potty trained, they will typically find their own way to ask to go outside.
Some families enjoy using potty bells because the signal is difficult to miss. If your dog does not have sound sensitivities, training them to use bells can move quite quickly. You can simply hang the bells before normal outings for practice. When you set them out, your dog will investigate. Say “yes” and deliver a treat anytime your dog has their nose on the bells.
Generalize for Travel
At some point in their life, your dog will need to go to the bathroom in a new environment. Some families get stuck on potty training in the backyard. It is also important to reward your dog for going to the bathroom while on walks or trips. If you ever expect to be in a situation your dog may need to go potty on a different substrate (concrete, wood chips, etc.), be sure to reward for that as well! Generalize pottying to all outdoor spaces for success when traveling.
We will help with all of your dog training needs
Get started by scheduling your initial consultation
What Maverick’s Family says…
“Marie is a fantastic dog trainer and helped us tremendously with all kinds of behaviors we were trying to work on with our pup! She has been incredibly kind, patient, and understanding with me and our pup! She is a true expert and a wonderful person to work with as we navigated different training goals! We have come so far with her help! Thank you Marie!”
-Jess P.