Toilet Training 101: How to toilet train a puppy using positive reward based methods

I hear it all the time, puppy clients come to me with the same question over and over, "I have tried to teach my puppy to go outside but all she wants to do when she goes out is play, and then as soon as I let her back inside she messes in the house! How do I stop her from going to the toilet in the house?"

Sometimes teaching your puppy their toileting area is outside is hampered by your puppy not realising she needs to go as she is too busy playing, or maybe she's just woken up, desperate for a wee, and just physically unable to hold on any longer. Perhaps she is a little scared outside and feels vulnerable, so her instinct is telling her that it is much safer to go inside.

Puppies can also get a preference for a specific surface to go on too. Another common reason for puppies not finishing their toileting is that we are interrupting them by praising too early and puppy stopping mid-flow to get the offered treat. All these things are reasons why your puppy might prefer to go inside.

How to successfully toilet train your puppy

By following these tried and tested toilet training tips your puppy will be toilet trained and banish accidents to a thing of the past.

• One of the most important things we need to do when toilet training our puppies is for us to vigilant and notice when our puppy needs to go to the toilet. Look out for signs like sniffing the floor whilst walking in circles or going towards the back door.

• There are various common times when puppies will need to go to the toilet. In fact puppies like routine so take them out:

  • First thing in the morning

  • After eating or drinking

  • After naps

  • After playtime

  • Before bedtime

  • and every hour (I like to take them out on the hour as it is easy to remember!) initially until you can see a pattern on how often your puppy needs to go out. Depending on your puppy this may be every 2 or 3 hours. A good rule of thumb is that your puppy can hold on for 1 hour per month of age. But each puppy is an individual, so keeping a journal of when puppy goes can be helpful to finding out how long she can hold on for.

• Encourage your puppy to walk out with you, rather than picking her up to put her outside. This will teach her that she needs to go to the door to ask to go out.

• When your puppy goes in the garden gently praise her by telling her she is a good girl and rewarding her with a treat once she has finished going. If you reward her too early she is likely to stop mid-flow and finish off going when you have taken her back inside.

Each puppy is different and they will learn this at different speeds, whilst one puppy might be completely toilet trained within a few weeks another puppy might take a lot longer to learn. Don't worry just be consistent and take them out every time you notice that they are asking to go out.

You need to reward your puppy each time she get it right, but wait until she has finished going before praising and offering her a treat. Do not tell your puppy off if she makes a mistake in the house, she will not understand that she is being punished because of where she went. Instead, she will be afraid to go to the toilet in your presence and this will cause much greater problems in the future.

Acknowledge that you made a mistake by not watching your puppy close enough to act when she needed to go. Don't say anything, just clean up the mess using an appropriate enzyme-based cleaner, such as a biological washing powder solution, and do better next time.

The key to success is to be Consistent!

By ensuring that you watch your puppy carefully and noticing the signs that she needs to go to the toilet you will be setting your puppy up for success.

But, I hear you ask, how can I watch my puppy during the night?

Well, quite often when I ask my puppy owners how the toilet training is going they will tell me we are doing ok during the day but at night time she still makes a mess. How can we ensure that puppy stays clean overnight?

Well, there are a few options to consider for puppy training overnight. One of the most commonly used techniques is to use a puppy crate overnight. The common train of thought is that pups don't like to soil their sleeping area. So if puppy sleeps in a crate she won't want to toilet in the crate as that will force her to sleep in her own filth. Sounds like this might be the perfect solution doesn't it? Truth is, it's not that simple, consider these points:

• If you are using a crate as your puppy's bedroom, how long are you expecting her to be in her crate for?

  For example, if you put your puppy in her crate after a night time toilet break at say 11 pm and you get up at 7 am, your puppy will be in her crate for 8 hours.

• Now consider how long your puppy can hold on for, if your puppy is 2 months old she is likely to be able to hold for approx 2 hours without needing to go to the toilet, now because she will be sleeping at night time she may be able to go 3 hours without needing to go to the toilet. That means that she will wake up around 2 am to go to the toilet, but there is nowhere for her to go. Your puppy now has 2 choices:

  • If your puppy can't hold on and soils her crate, she will end up sleeping in a soiled crate. This is not only not hygienic, it will also teach your puppy not to care about soiling the area where she sleeps, making potty training that much more challenging for both of you. Don't forget, going to the toilet when you are desperate is extremely rewarding, just think of the relief you feel when you've had to hold on for ages because there was no where to go!

  • Even if your puppy holds on and manages to got the extra 5 hours without a toilet break she is likely to be feeling very uncomfortable and desperate by the time you let her out at 7 am, which is likely to result in her having an accident in the house.

Is it really fair on the puppy to ask her to hold on for 8 hours overnight when she needs to go to the toilet every few hours during the day?

Now there is nothing wrong with asking your puppy to sleep in a crate, I have done so myself on numerous occasions. However, I never expect my puppy to go all night without a toilet break. Instead I set my alarm clock to 2 am and then go check on puppy. If she is awake I will take her outside and encourage her to go potty, rewarding her for doing her business and then we go back to bed. Puppy gets settled in her crate again and I go back to bed, setting my alarm for 5 am. If puppy is still fast asleep then I set my watch for another hour and go back to bed for a bit.

A really useful tool here is a baby monitor, if you hear your puppy getting restless you go and take her out so she can go to the toilet. If your alarm goes off and she is quiet she is probably still asleep so set your alarm for another hours time and then check again.

The way I look at it is this, toilet training a puppy isn't any different to having a baby that needs feeding or changing during the night. So, if I have to get up in the middle of the night for a few weeks to let her out so that we can prevent any accidents then I will happily do that. I have been doing this with my puppies since 2007 and honestly ever since I started doing this I haven't had a single night time accident. Another thing I have found with following this process for puppy training is that before long, maybe 3 or 4 nights, the puppy is only waking up once during the night. In fact, by the time my puppies were about 10 weeks they were able to sleep through the night and instead of having to take out the puppy at about 4 am for her break she was able to go to till 6 am, so I just got up an hour earlier.

I also found that doing this has sped up the overall toilet training process, because I am being consistent in my approach, regardless of whether it is day time or night time, puppy goes outside for toilet.

What about Puppy Pads?

Puppy pads are useful as a short term measure, however the problem with using puppy pads is that puppy learns it is ok to go to the toilet inside, so it can be hard to get them to transfer to going to the toilet outside. The only time I recommend them is if the puppy hasn't got access to a garden to go to the toilet. For example, if someone lives in a flat or apartment building and the owner and puppy would need to walk a distance to get to a suitable outside space.

Trouble shooting Potty Mishaps

• What should I do if my puppy keeps having accidents indoors?
  Accidents do happen, especially in the early stages. If your puppy is a little older and is still having accidents you will need to go back to basics. Watch like a hawk for those tell tale signs that your pup needs to go to the toilet. Remember your puppy will need to go:

  • First thing in the morning after waking up.

  • After eating or drinking

  • After naps

  • After playtime

  • Before bedtime

  • and take puppy out at regular intervals. Like every hour on the hour to start off with.

  Also if you haven't already keep a potty journal noting when your puppy went to the toilet, you will see a pattern emerge and then you can use that schedule to plan potty breaks.

• What should I do if all my puppy wants to do is play when I take her out for her potty break?

  This is more common than you think, a lot of puppies ask to go out when they need to go to the toilet but then when they get outdoors in the garden they get distracted and just want to play. One way of dealing with this is to take the puppy out on a little puppy training lead, this is a very light 3m line that hasn't got a handle on the end. Gently direct your puppy to the area in the garden she likes to go to the toilet and keep her in that area until she goes to the toilet. Once she has been reward her for being a good girl and remove the puppy training lead and let puppy play.

• What is the best way to clean up accidents?

  When puppy has an accident, whether the accident was on a hard floor or carpet, most people will reach for disinfectant or a cleaner that has bleach in it to clean up the accident. The problem with this is that while these cleaners seemingly do a good job at cleaning the mess, to our puppy the odour that lingers once the area is dry still smells like a toilet. this is because urine contains fatty acids that don't get broken down by bleach or disinfectant. That is why when you go to the pet shop you will find that the cleaners sold there have enzymes in them. These enzymes actively break down these fatty acids and the previously soiled area will smell squeaky clean even to your puppy's delicate nose. The problem is though that these pet accident cleaners can be quite expensive, but don't worry I have a fantastic little tip for you. Instead of forking out for these specialised cleaners you can use a mixture of water and biological washing powder/ liquid. Biological washing powder/ liquid contains the same enzymes as the expensive cleaners from the pet shop. Simply mix warm water with a dose of the biological washing powder, just like you would if you were going to do a handwash. Put the mixture in a trigger spray bottle and use that to clean the area. Let it dry and voila!

Some final tips:

• Consistency is key. Don’t skip potty times!

• Patience pays off. Frustration only slows progress.

• Positive reinforcement turns training into bonding.

Remember: You’re not just potty training—you’re setting the foundation for a confident, trusting relationship with your dog.

So breathe deep, laugh at the mishaps, and remember: every puppy parent has had their fair share of accidents—you’re in good (and slightly pee-stained) company!