How to Potty Train Indoors With Movable Locations

Teach your dog to paper train before potty training outdoors.

If you live in an apartment building or on a crowded street, potty training your new puppy outdoors may not be an option for you. Instead, paper train your puppy and teach it to go potty on newspaper or potty pads, available from pet stores. A little bit of training will teach your puppy to associate the paper with a place that it can go potty. The key to training is rewarding the pup's positive behavior.

Instructions

1. Feed the puppy a small bowl of water and food. Look at the instructions on the back of the dog food package to find out how much to feed your puppy. The size and weight of the puppy determines how much it eats.

2. Lay down a potty pad in an area away from the puppy's bed or crate. Potty pads are lightly scented to encourage puppies to pee on them. Puppies don't like the smell of potty near their sleeping area, so make sure it's placed far enough away.

3. Take the puppy to the potty pad about 10 minutes after it's finished eating. Dogs, especially young puppies, must relieve themselves shortly after eating and drinking.

4. Bring the puppy to a location and say "Go Potty." If it pees, reward the puppy with a treat and say "Good Potty." Puppies learn to associate action with good behavior. Keep reinforcing good behavior with treats and get excited when your puppy does the right thing. You don't have to bring her to the same location every time; the puppy should associate the potty pad as a place it can pee.

5. Add potty pads to different locations gradually. This works if you have a large home and can't always monitor the puppy. The puppy will eventually learn that the potty pad is where it can pee, regardless of the location.

6. Create a regular schedule for taking the puppy to the potty pad. Puppies need to go often, so take it out the first thing in the morning, after each meal or snack, after naps and right before bedtime. Puppies respond to schedules, and they learn to hold their pee until the right time, as long as there's a regular schedule. Over time, you can decrease the frequency as the dog can hold it for a longer period of time.

7. Recognize the signs that your puppy has to go potty. Common signs include running in circles and sniffing the ground. Puppies usually have to go potty after playtime, so learn to recognize the signs and take it out before it makes a mistake.

Tips & Warnings

• Puppies make mistakes, but don't punish your pup. Clean up the mess quietly. Puppies aim to please, and the goal is to reinforce positive behavior, not punish bad behavior. You can say, "Uh oh," however, if you notice she's about to go potty.

• If you are crate training, take the puppy to the puppy pad immediately after taking it out of the crate. Puppies don't like to soil the area where they sleep and will be less likely to go potty inside the crate. However, don't leave the puppy in the crate for long periods of time. Start slowly and leave the puppy in the crate for 20 minutes and take it to the pad immediately. Praise the puppy if it potties; put it in the crate for a slightly longer amount of time if it doesn't.

References

• The Housebreaking Bible: Indoor Potty Training
• Training Dogs: Potty Training Dogs: How to Do It
• The Daily Puppy; How to Potty Train Dogs After Using a Potty Pad; Jane Tyne