This is probably one of the most common questions any dog trainer hears! Potty training sounds daunting, and for some puppies and dogs it feels impossible. If you’ve felt like you’ve tried everything, I want to tell you the most important thing you need to know: you’re not teaching your dog to potty outside, you’re teaching your dog to NOT potty inside. Does that sound backwards? Too abstract? Exactly! Most potty training methods focus on the steps we see as people, which is not how your dog sees it. Why is it so hard for some dogs to grasp? Because teaching a dog to NOT do something is much harder than teaching them to do a clearly defined task. We call this “teaching a negative,” that is, teaching an empty void of nothingness as opposed to something simple and tangible, like a Sit or High Five. It’s tough, especially when you have a puppy brain. It’s even tougher if you’re all grown up and no one has ever taught you this before!
In order to get your dog to understand that potty only happens outside, they have to only potty outside. That means avoiding accidents 100% in the home. The most effective way to do this to keep your puppy on a leash at all times in the house. Notice that I said effective, not easy! Yeah, it’s not always easy, but it works. You can clip this leash to your belt loop or tie it around your waist so that your puppy simply can’t have an accident, at least not without getting caught. Getting caught is so important! Because then you can scold and create negative feelings about what just happened. Those negative feelings will creep back up into his memory the next time he feels like relieving himself in your presence. But if he has an accident not in your presence, then he only feels good and empty, not bad, so you missed a valuable teaching opportunity. And even worse, your puppy had a positive experience with pottying inside. Oh no! That will also stick in his memory!
But what about if you can’t watch your dog? That’s why crates are so important! Is your dog an agonized demon in a crate? That’ll be a future blog post. This is only my first one. We’ll get there!
For now, let’s focus on potty training this new bundle of joy! Return to our blog page to download our detailed potty training instructions. This is one section of the book that we send home with every doggie graduate!
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