How to Potty Train a Puppy: A Practical, No-Nonsense Guide That Actually Works
This guide is written by John “Ask The Dog Guy” Wade, a professional dog trainer with over 35 years of experience and more than 160 five-star reviews, who has helped thousands of puppy owners avoid the common pitfalls that turn normal development into long-term behavior problems.
A real-world, step-by-step system based on how puppies actually learn so you can train your puppy to go three times per day, on your schedule, and in one spot.
Table of Contents
Why Potty Training Fails
Most potty training failures don’t happen because a puppy is stubborn, slow, or “not getting it.” They happen because the puppy was given too much freedom, too soon, and accidentally learns the wrong habits. This guide explains how to potty train a puppy by working with biology, environment, and a little behavioral chaining to speed up habit formation.
Pro tip if you haven’t picked a breeder yet.
Breeders make it a lot easier on a puppy and a new owner when they send home a puppy that they’ve already positively exposed to crates and housetraining. From the housetraining perspective, the best breeders start getting their puppies out on a schedule with a key phrase (“Potty Time!”). They also embrace the brilliant idea of taking puppies to the same area each time, an area which they’ve covered in something like wood chips. They send the puppy home with a bale of wood chips, so the new puppy owner can mark the preferred elimination area with something familiar to help the puppy understand what’s expected on this new territory. (See Questions to ask a breeder beforehand…)
What you need...
- A leash
- An alarm
- A collar that won’t slip over your puppy’s head (see my article about collars and harnesses)
- A leash about 6’ in length.
- A carabiner
- At least one crate, but ideally several (For the extras, buy used and sell them after your house training and crate training is complete.)
- Baby gates (sort of)
I teach all my puppy clients this rhyme:
“If your puppy can’t be caught, your puppy can’t be taught.”
So I tell them to attach a leash to their puppy and, for the most part, let the puppy drag it around. Supervision is pretty important in teaching any of the life skills, and anytime a puppy can get somewhere before their owner can get to their puppy is going to slow down training and mess with the puppy’s concept of who is the teacher and who is the student.
There are some sound behavioral reasons to being able to constantly remind your puppy that they can be caught, beyond house training. (I go into more detail in other training articles (see my free Puppy Training: A Practical Guide To Raising a Well Behaved Dog article) and in my foundation book, “The Beautiful Balance – Puppy & Dog Training With Nature’s Template – 2nd edition”.)
In any event, the puppy doesn’t lose any serious freedom, just the freedom to leave a supervised area and make a mistake (soiling, destructive chewing, etc.).
Attach a leash and supervise during the house training phase of life and your life will be so much easier.
Now embrace the idea that your puppy is supervised at all times, meaning in the same area within eyesight of someone you would leave a 2-year-old child with for 24 hours.
This is where the leash comes into play. Attach a leash that is directly proportional to how fast you feel in the area you’re in. Your puppy, for the most part, just drags it around. This way, you don’t wreck your puppy’s freedom, you wreck your puppy’s freedom to outrun you or “out-sneak” you. (See my article on how to passively discourage leash chewing.)
Sometimes the leash won’t be enough
- If you’re busy enough that your hands are full or your attention is significantly going to be diverted, attach the leash handle to the carabiner and the carabiner to your belt loop.
- If you’re so busy that attached or not, you are going to be tied up for a few minutes, then use the crate, but only in the same room, so you don’t start associating the crate with separation. (See crate training article)
- Baby gates are “Just in case I totally mess up.”, backup, not an excuse to not pay attention.
- You do not let your puppy “out”. You accompany your leashed puppy to the spot.
Setting Up The Bathroom for Success
The Outside Setup
If you want your puppy to end up going in one spot only, so you don’t have land mines all over the yard, I recommend:
- Picking a spot that makes sense no matter what season of the year.
- Temporarily section off that area using the mini-picket fences that can often be found at the dollar store or home hardware retailers.
- Optionally, line the surface with something that in the future you want to say, “Go Here”.
Additionally, if your home lends itself to going out a door that over the short term is only used for bathroom trips, it might speed up the connecting of the dots for your puppy.
The Indoor Setup
Unless you absolutely have to, avoid the puppy pee-pad phase of house training if your goal is to have your puppy eventually eliminate outside.
If you’ve already started with pee-pads and want to transition to the yard:
- Gradually, move the pee-pads toward the door you’ll be going out for potty trips.
- Take a soiled pee-pad and pin it down outside in the area you want your puppy to eliminate.
- Gradually, reduce the size of the soiled pee-pad until your puppy is going on the ground area you’ve chosen.
If you must have an indoor eliminating dog, set the indoor area up just as you would in the outside setup described above and make your alarm-triggered, etc., trips on a leash to that spot.
What About Walks?
For a lot of people, the main point of taking their dog for a walk is at least in part as an elimination opportunity. I get it, but really, when you pick up after your dog after he or she has just left a pile on someone’s lawn, or the curb, or the park, and you diligently pick it up, just how clean are we really being leaving these areas? Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but for the most part, wouldn’t it be great to begin outings with a trip to the designated area at home, and have carrying poop around being the exception and not the rule?
Pro Tip: Try starting every walk with a trip to the designated bathroom spot.
The important role of food and treats
The food and treats you give your dog can have a huge impact on house training as what goes in, must come out.
- Feed quality food
- Treat moderation
- Treats that are protein only (no fillers of any kind)
- Feed on a schedule (no free feeding) a minimum of 3 X/day
Food
Food quality varies, and many brands can require higher consumption because calorie density is thinner, and some ingredients are less digestible. It’s generally not cheaper to feed a cheap brand when you take into consideration that your growing puppy has to eat more, and that one would hope better quality might impact veterinarian bills over the long term. If you want to learn more about selecting a food, here is a link to a video I made that provides an overview of how to go about that – Puppy & Dog Foods & Feeding – Decisions: How, What, Etc. Do’s And Don’ts.
Also, if you decide your puppy needs a food upgrade see below on how to properly transition a puppy with a cast iron gut, and one with a very sensitive gut from old food, to new food.
Treats
People often overdo treats. If you must give treats, use moderation during the house training phase of puppy life. Contrary to popular belief, they’re not needed for most training. Puppies love to please; harness that for a better relationship (See my eBook, “The Beautiful Balance – Puppy & Dog Training With Nature’s Template – 2nd edition”). However, if you must, here are some suggestions:
- A single treat should be half the size of your puppy’s eye (maximum).
- Avoid treats that are made of anything other than protein eg dried liver.
- The number of treats between meals should not be enough to throw off housetraining (or the nutritional balance of their regular dog food).
Heavy-duty chew things, like Bully sticks, Pig Ears, Rawhide, etc., should be given in moderation. I have a pretty good article not only on what to pick (and what to avoid), but how to alter many standard favorites to maximize their appeal and minimize consumption
Transitioning Food
Even if your puppy is on a less than ideal brand of dog food and you want to switch, don’t suddenly switch, as you might trigger a round of diarrhea. Some people end up thinking the food wasn’t a good match for their puppy. It’s rare that it’s the food. The problem is the switch was too rapid. Make the transition as follows and closely monitor the quality of your puppy’s stool. If it’s too loose, switch to the second food transition chart below.
Key: Embrace alerting your puppy
During the day
Welcome to the first reason why most potty training fails. You don’t want your puppy to alert you. You alert the puppy. It’s only amateur dog trainers (whose life must entirely revolve around their own dog) that tell people to hang a bell, teach to bark, whine, or do the pee-pee dance for potty.
No Reactive Alerting Reason #1
The main reason is that a young puppy doesn’t “know” they need to “go”. And, even if they do, they don’t know yet where to go, so you’ll be taking that decision right out of their little paws.
No Reactive Alerting Reason #2
Your puppy is in a very formative part of learning who is the teacher and who is the student, and if the puppy is encouraged to ring a bell or demand bark, who’s ultimately training who? If you’re getting everything else right, it’s not the end of the world, but you might as well get as many passive reinforcers as you can.
No Reactive Alerting Reason #3
You’ll almost always end up with a dog that starts ringing that bell or barking like you’re their butler. Here’s a common dialog in households that teach this way. Ding, ding, ding … “The dog needs to go out!” “I just let him out!”, “Well, he doesn’t think so.” “Well, one of us better let him out because we don’t want an accident.” Dog thinks to himself, “Their training is coming along wonderfully!”, and goes out to chase squirrels.
No Reactive Alerting During the night
The same goes for nighttime when a puppy is under ten weeks of age. They often need to empty out once (and rarely twice) in the middle of the night, so they will likely whine, bark, etc., when the need arises. Subsequently, their owner awakens and takes them out. You don’t want this. You want to proactively wake your puppy. Otherwise, for most dogs, this becomes a tool in their tool bag that we call “demand barking”, and they go off not necessarily because they need “to go”, but because they woke up for any number of reasons, and puppy owners have interrupted sleep to go on far longer than necessary. Also, more often than not, the pup starts using the “tool” for other demands throughout the day as well, and you end up with a nuisance barker.
Instead, set an alarm, wake the puppy, and take him or her out. After three days, set the alarm 1-2 hours later, after three days, 1-2 hours later again, etc. Start this around 8 weeks of age, and by the time a puppy is ten weeks of age, their kidneys’ response to their production of Vasopressin (an antidiuretic hormone (ADH)), their bladder capacity and sphincter control, and a few other things, all combine to allow for the ability to sleep through the night.
The Keys To House Training Success
Step 1 - Supervision
One thing dogs, wolves, apes, and human beings have in common is that our youngsters during the earliest part of their lives need to be supervised as if their lives depend on it, because their lives do depend upon it, and when it comes to house training, it’s what we’re going to embrace because it’s one of the keys to success.
How to supervise a puppy and not lose your mind
Supervision means that the puppy is supervised at all times. That requires the puppy to be in the same area within eyesight of someone you would leave a 2-year-old child with for 24 hours.
This is where the leash comes into play. Attach a leash that is directly proportional to how fast you feel in the area you’re in. Your puppy, for the most part, just drags it around (under supervision at all times). This way, you don’t wreck your puppy’s freedom, you wreck your puppy’s freedom to outrun you or out-sneak you. (See my article on how to passively discourage leash chewing.)
- If you’re busy enough that your hands are full or your attention is significantly going to be diverted, attach the leash handle to the carabiner and the carabiner to your belt loop.
- If you’re so busy that attached or not, you are going to be tied up for a few minutes, then use the crate, but only in the same room, so you don’t start associating the crate with separation.
- Baby gates are “Just in case I totally mess up.”, backup, not an excuse to not pay attention.
- You do not let your puppy “out”. You accompany your leashed puppy to the spot.
Step 2 - Proactive Scheduling
Daytime scheduling for your puppy - Mandatory Trips (You Schedule)
The common, “Take your puppy out often”, isn’t bad advice, but it’s certainly superficial advice. Yes, take your puppy out often, but on a firm schedule, not randomly if you think the pup needs to go out. If a new puppy has no idea or already bad habits, you might have to start taking the puppy out every half hour to an hour.
This chart is what the average expectations are, however, if you follow this guide, you’ll find you get where you want to be usually by 16 weeks.
| Puppy Age | Expected Hold Time |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks | 1–2 hours |
| 12 weeks | 2–3 hours |
| 16 weeks | 3–4 hours |
| 20 weeks | 4–5 hours |
Step 3 - Set Up Successive Trips
Set an alarm on your phone. ⏰
Whatever the increment is, you set an alarm – an actual alarm and make sure you take the puppy out every hour, (even if the puppy eliminated on the last trip). You can’t depend on memory. You’re just too busy, and with a new puppy, very likely exhausted.
- If you’re starting at hourly increments, you create a chart (see my free housetraining cheat sheet and chart), and you set your watch or your phone, or your smart pods, etc., and when they go off, you take your puppy out through the same door (and ideally a door that for the short term is only used for this purpose).
- When you come back in, you set the alarm again.
- Keep it up until you see on your chart that you have three days in a row with no accidents, and then you set your alarm for half an hour longer.
Stick to this (and the other recommendations) and by the time your puppy is 16 weeks old, you’ll be on a routine that’s close to once in the morning, once in the late afternoon, and once before bed, and in one spot.
How much time do you give?
Eventually add a slight delay
In the beginning, you’ll want to get your puppy out as the first thing you do in the morning, or when they come out of the crate after a nap, but in time, this can backfire as in time, your appearance can trigger the damn coming down, and if you get delayed in letting them out, they may soil before you get to them. So, as they come along with their house training, you want to gradually add a little puttering about before letting them out of the crate and out to their elimination area. Build up to about a fifteen-minute wait, and they’ll be even better about holding things in.
Should you give a treat?
I’m very careful with my own clients as to how treats should be used or not used, and when they must be used, and how to eventually get away from them. They’re almost never necessary if you approach relationship and training correctly. (See my eBook “The Beautiful Balance – Puppy & Dog Training With Nature’s Template – 2nd edition”). However, for house training, while it’s not absolutely necessary, there’s nothing wrong with giving a treat at the very end (if there’s moderation – ie just a tiny protein-only treat) and in some cases it might even help.
Step 4 - Add These Mandatory Less Scheduled Trips
In addition to your scheduled alarm-driven trips, you should also take your puppy out again when:
- On a scheduled trip outside, mid-pee the puppy got distracted and didn’t complete the task at hand. Set your alarm for twenty minutes and watch your puppy like a hawk for those twenty minutes (leash dragging, tied to you, or in the crate).
- After every scheduled meal (don’t free-feed). Within about twenty minutes of a scheduled feed, a puppy will have something called a gastric colic reflex, leading to an increased need to have a bowel movement, so plan an extra trip after each meal.
- After every nap.
- After a heavy-duty play session.
- Sniffing, circling, restlessness
- To a lesser extent, but keep an eye; when there’s a new experience, like a visitor, or a new room, or place.
Pro Tip – Visit All Rooms In Your Home
It usually makes sense to reduce unsupervised access to the entire house in the early stages, but that can backfire without this pro tip. It’s important when you’re sure your puppy has emptied out to regularly take your puppy (on the leash) into all areas of your home for a couple of minutes. What I’ve found is that often dogs can connect their house training to where they’re given access to, as opposed to only going outside, or one spot, and when the barriers come down they start eliminating in those formerly inaccessible areas. So, yes, block them off for the most part, but spend a little time in each area during the house training period.
Step 5 - Night-time scheduling for your puppy
(Getting a full nights sleep faster)
Why nighttime trips are normal and necessary
Puppies often need to empty out once (and rarely twice) in the middle of the night, so they will likely whine, bark, etc., when the need arises. Subsequently, their owner awakens and takes them out. You don’t want this.
Why you wake the puppy
You want to proactively wake your puppy. Otherwise, for most dogs, the whining and barking will evolve into a tool in their tool bag that we call “demand barking”, and they go off not necessarily because they need “to go”, but because they woke up for any number of reasons, and puppy owners have interrupted sleep to go on far longer than necessary. Also, more often than not, the pup starts using the “tool” for other demands throughout the day as well, and you end up with a nuisance barker.
Set your alarm ⏰
Instead, set an alarm, wake the puppy, and take him or her out. After three days, set the alarm 1-2 hours later, after three days, 1-2 hours later again, etc. Start this around 8 weeks of age, and by the time a puppy is ten weeks of age, their kidneys’ response to their production of Vasopressin (an antidiuretic hormone (ADH)), their bladder capacity and sphincter control, and a few other things, all combine to allow for the ability to sleep through the night.
Step 6 - How to deal with “accidents”
You want a product that is an “Enzymatic Cleaner”. An enzymatic cleaner does more than mask the smell (from a human and a dog’s perspective). It breaks down organic residues and uric acid to avoid repeat accidents in the same spot. Pro Tip: When I asked a manufacturer about its use, they said the only problem they have is when puppy owners don’t use it as directed. They said the most common mistake is using an insufficient amount, and not letting it sit long enough to do its job. Usually about 15 minutes. If you can’t find it locally, here’s my Amazon link for an enzymatic cleaner – Nature’s Miracle.
When a puppy has an accident right in front of you…
Some say never clean up in front of the puppy, but I don’t think that matters. They’re used to their mother’s doing that up until about 3 weeks of age, and it doesn’t seem to confuse anything.
When you find an accident…
If you walk into a room and find a little surprise package and/ or puzzle, the mistake is yours, not your puppy’s, so no reaction for the puppy’s benefit is necessary as there’s no guarantee they’ll connect the dots correctly, or at all. Your reaction should be inward. Ask yourself:
- Was I truly supervising while my puppy was dragging his or her leash so he or she remained within sight and didn’t get set up for failure?
- If not me, then who dropped the ball?
- When was the last time I took him or her out to the designated elimination spot?
- Did I miss a scheduled trip because I didn’t set an alarm?
- What was I doing when he or she slipped away?
- The next time I do that thing, how can I better set up to succeed? Such as:
- Would I’ve succeeded if I had him or her on a longer lead?
- If not, would I have succeeded if I had attached him or her to my waist with a carabiner?
- If not, would I have succeeded if I had put him or her in his or her crate very close by? (Be sure to review the puppy crate training articles to maximize your puppy’s comfort level in the crate.)
Answer these questions each time there’s an “accident,” and you’ll adapt your approach accordingly, and end up with more wins than losses, and ultimately a potty-trained dog.
Step 7 - Troubleshooting and Exceptions
Medical & Behavioral Exceptions
UTI’s are more common with female puppies, especially the “fuzzy” (but not always) breeds. Some symptoms are:
- Tiny, frequent, sudden pees that seem to even catch the puppy off guard.
- Excessive licking of the genital area.
If you suspect a UTI, get to the veterinarian ASAP, ideally with a urine sample in hand. If it’s a UTI, the 4th day of the antibiotics will provide the relief required to get things back on track.
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
Stress/"pee-mail"
When a puppy (or older dog) is soiling in the house, it’s sometimes due to stress. I call these surprise puddles (and sometimes packages) “pee-mail” (“I’m stressed, and I need extra help!”). Pee-mail can be caused by:
- Using a crate without crate training. (See crate training tip sheet article.)
- Being left alone without acclimatization to that unfortunate reality.
- Lack of early socialization exposure that lends itself to developing a healthy threshold for stress (change).
- Lack of attention by the breeder to genetic influence on stress thresholds. (Random pairing of males and females ≠ good breeding practices.)
If you suspect your puppy is in the behavior problem category, don’t try to tough it out; seek professional help.
Breed considerations (Dachshunds)
I’ve noticed that Dachshunds tend to take longer to house-train. While I could make a humorous remark about the longer distance the message has to travel from the brain to the bladder and bowel, I won’t. I do suspect that their elongated physiology is a factor. Regardless, it often takes longer to house-train them, but with patience and consistency, you’ll eventually succeed.
Housetraining FAQ's & Pro Tips
By the time they’re 10 weeks of age a puppy should easily be able to sleep through the night. During the day, most puppies show reliable house training between 14 and 20 weeks of age when supervision, scheduling, and routine are consistent. Some puppies progress faster, while others take longer depending on development, environment, and management.
Young puppies typically need potty breaks every 1–2 hours during the day, as well as immediately after waking, eating, drinking, and active play. As bladder and bowel control develop, intervals can be gradually lengthened. See the recommended schedule →
Most accidents are the result of missed supervision, timing errors, or too much freedom too soon, not stubbornness or defiance. Potty training is a habit-building process, and setbacks are normal during growth or routine changes. Read the accidents section →
No. Punishment does not teach a puppy where to eliminate and often increases anxiety, which can worsen house training problems. Accidents should be treated as a management issue, not a behavior problem.
Puppy pads can be useful in certain situations, such as apartment living or early indoor transitions, but they must be used intentionally. Without a clear plan to transition outdoors, pads can slow long-term house training.
Crate training is not mandatory, but it is often helpful. When used correctly, a crate supports supervision, prevents accidents, and encourages bladder control without causing stress or confinement anxiety.
Nighttime potty training requires proactive scheduling, not waiting for the puppy to signal. Young puppies often need planned nighttime outings, with intervals gradually extended as their ability to hold improves. Read the full night-time schedule →
Common cues include sniffing, circling, sudden restlessness, pacing, or returning to previous accident areas. Recognizing these signals early helps prevent accidents and reinforces learning.
Yes. Frequent accidents, straining, sudden regression, or difficulty holding urine may indicate a medical issue such as a urinary tract infection or digestive problem. Veterinary evaluation is recommended if progress stalls despite consistent training.
There is no shortcut. The fastest progress comes from consistent supervision, predictable scheduling, using the same potty location, and preventing repeated accidents, rather than relying on signals or waiting for the puppy to “figure it out.” See the recommended schedule →
Ready to Get Your Puppy on the Right Paw Forward?
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Send a few details — I’ll review them personally and call you to talk through next steps.
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Additional Resources
Crate Training a Puppy: How to Do It Right (and Avoid Mistakes)
Crate training a puppy works best when done correctly—and creates anxiety when it’s not. Learn how to use a crate humanely, avoid common mistakes, and build calm independence that lasts.
How to Potty Train a Puppy (What Actually Works and Why)
How to Potty Train a Puppy: A Practical, No-Nonsense Guide That Actually Works This guide is written by John “Ask The Dog Guy” Wade, a professional dog trainer with over 35 years of experience and more than 160 five-star reviews, who has helped thousands of puppy owners avoid the common pitfalls that turn normal development
Puppy Training: A Practical Guide to Raising a Well-Behaved Dog
Puppy training is the process of teaching a young dog how to live safely and calmly with humans—learning boundaries, impulse control, and real-world manners that hold up beyond treats and tricks. Good puppy training isn’t about perfection; it’s about preventing small problems from becoming lifelong habits. From first day home to real-world manners—by a professional
