Bailey Coldwell
You’ve had your puppy for a few weeks or a few months. They are lovely at going potty every time you bring them to their spot, look up at you for a reward after they finish going potty, and do not have accidents inside (or the accidents are rare). What now? Do we continue to bring them outside every 30-45 minutes forever? Why isn’t the puppy starting to let you know that they need to go to their potty spot? Please continue reading to figure out how we can advance with potty training once our puppies start getting the hang of it.
Dogs like routine. If something works for them, they will keep doing it. So if the potty schedule is working for them but we want to progress, we have to help them learn how to hold it and let us know that they need to potty. As they get bigger, they don’t need to potty as frequently. Therefore, we can start to advance with how often we are bringing them outside.
Once my puppy has gone anywhere from 3-6 days without an accident, I start to advance with potty training. I will add 15 minutes in between potty breaks. During those extra 15 minutes, I keep a closer eye on my puppy, hoping they start to give me a subtle sign that they need to potty. I will also casually move to the area of the home closest to the door/bells with the puppy. Since I have prevented accidents for at least a few days now, my puppy should start to want to let me know that they need to potty, as pottying inside starts to seem “weird” or not right to them. Adding more time in between the potty breaks will lead to the puppy actually needing to potty, wanting to hold it, and therefore finding ways to let us know that they need to potty.
Here are some signs indicating that the puppy is trying to tell us that they need to potty. This is the point that we want to then guide your puppy the rest of the way to the door/bells:
ringing or moving towards the bells (if we have taught this).
moving towards the door
sniffing
circling
increased energy
pacing
staring at us
vocalizing
other attention seeking behaviors
Remember that our puppies aren’t going to put in the effort to let us know that they need to potty if they still think pottying inside works for them. This is why we want to wait at least a few days for your puppy to have not had an accident before advancing with potty training. In addition, they aren’t going to let us know that they need to potty if we are bringing them out too frequently so they don't need to learn how to hold it. This is also true for the bells and why we don’t want to rely on them too much too soon. We can introduce them at any time if that is a goal that you have, but you will still want to take the same steps so that the puppy wants to let us know that they need to potty.
As your puppy succeeds, we add more time and freedom between potty breaks. We can stand further away from the door and see if they can make their way to the door without as much of our guidance.
Another tip for advancing with potty training is not always giving a treat. First, we recommend using a high-value treat when your puppy potties are in the correct spot. As your puppy starts to be considered ‘potty trained,’ we can move away from this. Start by using a lower-value reward. So, for example, instead of a liver treat, give the puppy a piece of kibble. You can also start to adjust the reward based on what you know that your puppy enjoys. If you have the time, play with your puppy for a few minutes after they potty. You can also give the puppy some freedom to sniff around and explore. Some puppies might enjoy a chest or back scratch. As my dog matures, I advance to a simple “good dog” in a happy tone.
What happens if your puppy does have an accident after you try to add more time/freedom in between potty breaks? Just take it a step back. Some parts of dog training are trial and error, and our dogs aren’t perfect. We want to prevent the one accident from becoming a habit where your dog thinks it is okay to potty inside again. So if an accident does occur, just bring your puppy out sooner next time and limit freedom again. Your puppy should then get back on track relatively quickly if we are on top of preventing more accidents from happening.
While we are on this topic, it is a good reminder that we also want our puppies to sleep through the night after they have been with us for a few weeks without needing a potty break. We might need to help our puppies progress with nighttime potty breaks by waiting later each night to give a potty break. We also don’t want to wake a puppy at night to provide them with a potty break unless the puppy is having accidents in the crate without letting us know.
We want life between you and your dog to flow easily. Advancing with potty training is a simple way to accomplish this. It just becomes a regular routine. We want your dog to be able to let you know when they need to go outside, be able to hold it when necessary, and we want it to end up being a very simple process as time goes on.
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