Dealing With a Puppy's Potty Accidents

Potty training a puppy takes time and patience, as accidents happen quite often at first.

A new puppy is a source of fun, entertainment, love and a little bit of stress until the puppy becomes adjusted to living in your home. A puppy needs to be potty trained so that it learns to let you know when it needs to go to the bathroom and gives enough warning for you to get the puppy outside. Potty training a puppy means that there will be a few potty accidents along the way. Learning how to handle potty training accidents is important so that you can train your puppy properly.

Things You'll Need

• Training mats or newspaper
• Puppy treats
• Water
• White paper towels
• Pet odor neutralizer

Instructions

1. Watch your puppy for signs that it needs to go to the bathroom. Keep the puppy confined to a small area such as a kennel, crate, small bedroom or bathroom with newspaper or a training mat on the floor if you will be gone for an extended period of time and no one can let the puppy outside. Puppies can generally hold their urine for about two hours.

2. Stop the puppy in the middle of the potty training accident as soon as you see it going to the bathroom in the wrong place. Calmly, but firmly, tell it, "Outside," and guide the puppy outside to continue going to the bathroom.

3. Take the puppy outside immediately following an accident. Do not rub the puppy's nose in the area and do not punish the puppy in the aftermath of the accident.

4. Clean up the potty training accident immediately and thoroughly clean the area by first blotting up all liquids and removing all solids. Use damp, white paper towels to blot the area until there are no traces of the accident on the paper towel. Use a pet odor neutralizer available at pet supply stores to remove lingering odors. Do not leave traces of the accident, as this could trigger the puppy going to the bathroom in that same spot again.

5. Reward the puppy with treats and praise when it successfully goes outside to go to the bathroom.

Tips & Warnings

• Devote as much time as necessary to instill proper potty behavior in a puppy. Do not force the puppy to train faster than it is capable of. If you do not have the patience to potty train a puppy, consider getting an adult or adolescent dog.

• Treat your puppy with respect and do not hit or injure your puppy due to a potty training accident.

References

• The Humane Society: Housetraining Puppies
• The University of Tennessee: College of Veterinary Medicine
• The Humane Society: Removing Pet Stains and Odors