Everything You Need To Know Potty Training

Note: To send the automated potty plan to the client, on AC add the tag “Potty Plan” to their account. It does take about 5-10 minutes to deliver to them once they have the tag added to their profile and they may need to check spam.

Potty Training Guide

Potty training can be one of the most frustrating issues that come with having a dog. This means for the clients that hire us and have potty training problems, we need to solve first and foremost! Below we go through all the various ways we have found to solve potty training.

Potty training is one of the few things we can’t do for our clients. We can teach them what to do, but we can’t do it for them. For this reason, some clients can get a bit frustrated during the potty training process. One thing I always tell them is… “Potty training is like teaching a kid to ride a bike without training wheels. It takes a lot of work at first, but once the wheels are off, they don’t have to go back on. The same if true for potty training. Once the hard work is done, the dog doesn’t typically regress.” - Corey

The Big Seven

Potty Training is pretty simple by nature and most cases can be solved by what we call The Big Four. The big seven cover the majority of issues dog owners and new puppy owners have. If they do these 90% of people will have success.

1) Take The Dog Out

This is first because a lot of the people who have these issues just aren’t letting their dog out enough. Depending on the frequency of accidents, they need to be letting their dog out every 60-120 minutes until they are no longer having issues with potty training.

2) Supervision (In-Home)

Keep eyes on the dog when the dog is in the house and you are home! It is hard for the dog to have accidents if the dog under the supervision of the owner. So keep the dog in the room, and if you can’t watch it or don’t want to, put the dog up.

3) Supervision Outside

You can let the dog out all you want, but if you don’t know if the dog went to the bathroom, what is the point? If the client is having accidents, they need to be spending some time with the dog and making sure the dog went potty. Do this by either going out with the dog or by watching the dog out of the window, a backyard camera, etc.

4) Feed The Dog In Potty Areas

If the dog going in the house is a long time issue, the dog probably has areas in the house that the dog goes more frequently than others. One way to combat this is to feed the dog in the areas that the dog is going potty. Dogs don’t like going where they eat and sleep.

5) Put The Dog Up When Not Home

It is hard to train a dog to not potty when you are not home or supervising the dogs. When the clients aren’t home, the dogs need to be in some sort of confined area. Like a kennel, laundry room, bedroom, etc.

6) Reward The Dog

Reward the dog as they are going, or as soon as you can after they are done. Do not wait until they are back inside to reward.

7) Finding Accidents In The House

After a few months of consistent (consistent is the key word here) potty training, if you find potty in the house, let the dog know they did wrong by walking the dog over to the accident and telling them “bad dog.”

Note: This is a controversial method & old school method. For years and years this has worked to get dogs to STOP going in the house. We do not agree dogs should be hit or smacked for pottying inside, but simply letting the dog know that they did wrong is okay.

Puppy Training Tip

Do not go out with the puppy each time the dog needs to go potty. If you do you will train the dog to become dependent on you being outside each time. This is okay if you are cool going out with the dog each time forever.

FOR DOGS GOING IN THE KENNEL

 When a dog is going in the kennel, we can train the dog not to go in the kennel by doing a few things. 

1) Feed the dogs in the kennel.

2) Make sure the crate is properly sized and the dog doesn’t have too much space in the crate

3) Train the dogs not to bark and scratch in the kennel using a remote collar.

4) Make the dog wear a diaper.

For some more specialized tips, click here — https://youtu.be/cHCQ7jU509g

Complicated cases

As you begin to train dogs and take on complicated cases, some dogs will require a bit more than the Big Five. Here are some additional tips on things we can suggest.

These next steps assume the dog isn’t sick or doesn’t have a UTI.

Restrict Food & Water - If the dog is going overnight, you can take up food and water before bed time.

Take the dog out in new areas - If someone is having major difficulty with getting the dog to go in their yard, have them take the dog on a walk. Go to the front yard. Go to the neighbors yard. Dogs love going in new places. Once they take the dog somewhere and the dog goes, have them reward the dog as the dog goes.

Enzyme cleaner - There are certain cleaners that take the smell of the potty out of the floor for the dog. It is an enzyme cleaner. They sell these at all local pet stores.

Potty Enzymes - If someone is having trouble getting their dog to go in the yard, there is a certain spray that you buy that supposedly makes the dogs want to go in certain areas.

Gate - They could always get some gates and restrict access to the rooms the dog is having the most accidents to. This option isn’t a favorite of the WD team because no one wants gates in their house.

Diaper - Not the most fun for the dog, but it does deter dogs from pottying in the house. So if they don’t want to watch the dog or confine the dog, try a diaper.

Potty Log - Some people are data driven and want quick results. This way is the fastest way to get potty training over with. Write down times you let the dog out, result of the potty break, and any accidents you find in the house with the times you found the accident. Soon the data will start to show patterns.

Take their potty outside - Any time the dog has an accident, take the accident outside and start to put the accident where you want the dog to go. The point of this is to bring the dog to a place where their pee and poop is so they go there.

Dogs that go on concrete - Take dog out and supervise the dog on a potty break. Use the remote collar to correct the dog for going on concrete. This is one of the only contexts we punish dogs for actually going.

Submissive Peeing - Ignore the dog when you get home or first see the dog. Take the dog out to the yard to greet.

Excited Peeing - Ignore the dog when you get home or first see the dog. Take the dog out to the yard to greet.

UTI - If the regular potty training isn’t working, then the dog may have a UTI. It’s worth looking into. It’s very common in puppies and female dogs. Particularly female puppies.

Puppy Mill Dogs

Puppy mill dogs are the hardest dogs to train because of the poor conditions the come from. They go where they eat, they live in filth with multiple animals, etc. this makes potty training harder than it normally is.

Here are the steps we suggest giving out to anyone:

1) Get a play pen for the dog rather than a kennel so they have room to go not where they sleep, put pads everywhere in the pen

2) Still feed them in potty areas

3) Pick up all accidents and put them in the area you want them to go

4) Get enzyme cleaner

5) Get potty attractant spray

6) Treats given to the dog right after he is done using the bathroom

Bells

Bells are a really popular way to get the dog to tell the human that the dog needs to go outside to potty.

How you train the dogs to use the bells:

1) Get bells and hang them on a hook by the door (We do not recommend hanging them off the door so the ringing doesn’t lose it’s value every time you open the door for other purposes)

2) Ring the bells ONLY when you’re taking the dog with the purpose to go potty. Do this for about a week or two.

3) Use peanut butter residue or oil to rub on the bells. The goal is to have the dog sniff the bells and ring them. Once the sound is audible, you will ask the dog if they need to go potty and take them outside immediately. Do not put enough peanut butter that the dog thinks that the bells are a snack.

4) Practice over and over

Downsides to bells:

The dogs will learn that the bells mean they get to go outside, so they will ring the bell when they are bored to be let out.

Apartment Dwellers

Apartment & Condo people have to let their dogs out a lot and they don’t have the luxury of a back yard like home owners.

A few tips for apartment people:

1) Get an astro turf pad for the dog to go on

2) Get a potty pad for the patio/deck area

Potty Pads & Astro Turf

These are kind of a last resort, unless the owners specifies specifically that they want the dogs to use them. These are used in and outside of the home to get the dogs to go on a specific area.

Steps to getting the dogs to use the pads:

1) Put the pad out

2) Every time you think the dogs have to go, take them to the pads and put them on the pads

3) Wait until they potty on the pads

4) Reward the dog

Tips:

Bring any accidents the dogs make to the potty pads to get the scent on the potty pad

Going In One Area of The Yard

Sometimes you will get someone who requests that their dog go in only one area of the yard. This is possible, but it takes a lot of work up front to get the dogs to go in a specific area.

Steps to getting the dog to go in one area:

1) Put out some flags to indicate to the dog where they need to do in the yard

2) Put the dog on a leash

2) Take the dog to the area you would like the dog to go

3) Wait until the dog goes potty

4) Reward the dog

Tip:

Bring any potty from other areas in the yard (Poop only) to the area. Bring any accidents the dog makes inside (including paper towels with pee on them) to the area and put them in the yard.

Hints The Dog Is About To Go

Sometimes before the dog goes potty it will give us a little warning! Below are some of the things we have seen that indicate that a dog is about to go potty.

Sniffing the ground - Lots of times before a dog will go to the bathroom, it sniffs the ground. If the dog walks around and randomly sniffs, take the dog to the door asap!

Leaving the Room - By nature dogs are social creatures. When you are at appointments the dog is almost always in the room as you and the owners of the dog. When the dog gets up and randomly starts leaving the room, it isn’t always a bad thing, but with some dogs it is.

QUIZ Questions

Core Concepts & General Strategy

  1. What are the three most common reasons a dog struggles with potty training?

  2. What is the “Potty Plan” tag used for in the AC system?

  3. Why is it important not to go outside with the puppy every single time they potty?

  4. What is the purpose of feeding a dog in areas where it has previously had accidents?

  5. How often should a dog be taken out during active potty training?

  6. Why is supervision both inside and outside critical for successful potty training?

  7. Why is rewarding a dog during or immediately after going potty important?

  8. What are 5 of the Big Seven when it comes to potty training?

Accidents & Corrections

  1. How should you handle finding an accident in the house after consistent potty training?

  2. What cleaning product is recommended for removing lingering potty smells indoors?

  3. Why should potty accidents be taken outside to the desired potty area?

Crate & Kennel Issues

  1. What are two ways to help stop a dog from going potty in their crate?

  2. Why is crate sizing important when addressing crate-related potty issues?

Special Cases

  1. What are two things apartment dwellers can use for potty training if they don’t have a yard?

  2. What makes puppy mill dogs more difficult to potty train?

  3. What tool and method can be used to stop a dog from going potty on concrete?

Tools & Equipment

  1. What is the correct way to introduce and train a dog to use bells to ask to go outside?

  2. What’s a major downside of using potty bells with some dogs?

  3. How can potty pads or astro turf be introduced to teach a dog to go in a specific location?

  4. How do you train a dog to potty in only one area of the yard?

Reading the Dog

  1. What are two common signs that a dog is about to go potty and needs to be taken out immediately?