How to Housebreak a Puppy

What do you do when your puppy really needs to use the restroom. Take your puppy for a walk, right?

Sometimes it’s easier said than done. For many folks who live in high rise apartments, it’s challenging waiting for an elevator when your puppy needs to go now! Also, some people work long hours and would like their puppies to have immediate access to a potty spot. Potty pad training is a nice solution to fulfill these needs.

Benefits of Puppy Pad Training

If your dog is home for long hours, please invest in a pet sitter to provide mental and physical stimulation even if you are potty pad training. They need a walk to burn through their excessive energy just like people. Puppy training classes are a great way for them to learn while burning off some energy.

Before starting, read these tips on how to potty train your puppy. The difference is, instead of bringing your potty outside, you will bring your puppy to his potty pad. Also, instead of placing him in a crate, you will place him in his confined area.

Yes, your puppy will learn to potty on his pad and outside!

Train Your Puppy to Use a Potty Pad

1. Most dogs will potty in the same spot so we can use this to our advantage. Dip the center of your potty pad in his urine (after the puppy potties outside or if he has an accident indoors). If he poops, you can place one small chunk in the center of the potty pad also. While there are some products that mimic urine smells, I recommend the real stuff. 🙂
2. Add the scented reminder in the center of the pad so your puppy potties on the pad instead of the edge or slightly off the pad. Also, you can add two potty pads to provide additional potty area (cover one corner of the bathroom between the toilet and bathtub).
3. Confine your puppy in a small room, such as a bathroom with a baby gate. Trust me, the baby gate will save your closed bathroom door from hideous paw scratches! Place the used potty pad in the far corner away from his food, water, bedding and baby gate.
4. If you have difficulty confining your puppy to an area, read this crate training article for tips. Crate training has basically the same principle as potty pad training except your puppy is learning to potty in a specific spot of his area.
5. Always add and rotate toys daily so your puppy plays with food stuffed toys instead of having a party with his puppy pad. 🙂
6. If your puppy still plays with his pad, you can place it in a plastic potty pad holder.
7. Once your puppy reliably uses his pad (100% of the time), I recommend placing it in the corner of a bathroom so you can scoop and flush chunks as needed.

As your puppy is learning potty training, always scent the new pad with his urine or poop. Once he understands the pad is the puppy potty spot, you can remove the scented reminder.

Tell us about your puppy potty pad training success stories in the comments section below!

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