Housetraining your puppy or dog takes consistent, clear instruction, patience, and lots of walks. Before we dive in, let’s review why your pup may be having accidents. There are 2 broad categories, and knowing the suspected cause of behavior will help you change things sooner.
Learned Behavior
Not getting outside as needed, so inside was the place they learned to go
It is unfair to expect your dog or puppy to stay in a crate for more than 4-5 hours without a potty break, even less time for young puppies. Imagine going to work and not being allowed to leave your office or cubicle for a drink, snack, or potty break for 8, 10, or 12 hours. That may mean using a dog walker to give your dog a break if your work schedule doesn’t allow letting your puppy out at lunch. Over-crating may lead to urinary tract infections, too.
Too much access to the outside, so they never learned to hold their bladder
If your puppy lived outside or lived somewhere with a doggy door where he could go outside at will, he may not have started developing bladder control because he doesn’t have to. Don’t skip potty training and rely on the door because there may be a day with bad weather when you want to keep it closed, and your pup may have an accident. Always supervise puppies outside to ensure they don’t get into trouble, escape, or worse, get stolen from your yard.
Resulting substrate preferences, so they choose a place that's familiar to them
Your pup may have developed a preference for a certain substrate, or surface– concrete, wood shavings, dirt, etc. because it’s what they are used to standing on when they eliminate. Anything that feels or looks similar may seem like a good spot, and they may avoid other surfaces. This can happen with leashes, too, where they only go with a leash on / off or only eliminate inside / outside of their yard.
Many puppies just haven’t learned where you prefer them to eliminate—or they haven’t learned a way to tell their people when they need to go out. It’s a good idea to teach your puppy to go on grass and pavement so your pup is flexible if you relocate or travel.
Potty pads: these work well for people with mobility issues or who live in high-rise buildings, but some puppies like to tear them up, and other pups will decide that rugs and bath mats look a lot like potty pads. If you want to use them, you might have better long-term luck with indoor potty stations made of bark or grass, which you can find for sale online.
Puppy mill dogs notoriously have accidents in their crates because they were never allowed to keep their sleeping/eating area clean. Dogs who spend extended time in a shelter also often have issues since they may not have been able to signal anyone to take them out and learn to go potty in the run. Dogs who used potty pads before and don’t have them available now will tend to target rugs, bathmats, and so on.
Pro Tip: don't go smaller with the crate if you have a pup who soils their sleeping area. Instead, try a larger confined space where you cover the floor with newspaper, potty pads, or the like to teach them to eliminate off the bed. Then, gradually decrease the amount of newspaper until it’s just a small area, then start moving the paper closer and closer to the door and finally outside.
Behavior learned due to punishment
Dogs who have been scolded or startled or frightened by people when eliminating indoors or after having accidents don’t learn that going indoors is wrong, they learn that people are scary. Many dogs then conclude that they should eliminate only when people aren’t around. These dogs tend to go in the dining room, the basement, under tables, behind couches, as soon as your back is turned, after you are back from a walk, and so on. Never punish a dog for having an accident. They are simply trying to relieve themselves.
Also, sometimes dogs are eliminating outside, and as soon as they eliminate, people take them back inside. That can lead dogs to believe that eliminating outside ends the fun, so they start holding it outside.
Pro tip: Dogs don’t eliminate out of spite. Think about it—what’s the first thing they do outside? They find all the urine and excrement to sniff and sometimes lick or roll. They think it’s great. Also, dogs don’t feel guilty. They can make appeasing facial expressions and postures in response to our anger; humans tend to read that as guilt. They’re just trying to get us to calm down.
Bodily Functions
Urine Marking
If your pup urinates in small amounts, often on vertical surfaces, he may be marking. Consistent potty training and neutering reduce this behavior, and belly bands with added liners can be a good management tool to keep the furniture clean. Still, you may see it pop up again if another dog visits your home, if you visit someone else’s home, or if your dog explores an unfamiliar room. Always be sure your pup has an empty bladder in these situations.
Submissive/Excitement Urination
Your puppy may have a submissive/excitement urination problem if he only urinates during greetings, play, physical contact, or when humans seem upset. You may notice your puppy displaying submissive postures during interactions if this is the case. He may cringe or cower, roll over on his belly, tuck or lower his tail, duck his head, avert his eyes, or flatten his ears. A good idea is to greet people outside until this phase is over and be sure greetings are quiet and low-key. Avoid leaning and looming over pups who seem uncomfortable.
Fear, Anxiety, Arousal, and Panic
If your dog is urinating on your bed, couch, or their bed, that’s often a sign of fear. It can happen because of something scary in the environment from your pup’s perspective. Dealing with the fear or panic is the key to success.
Is your dog in a yard with other dogs who interrupt him when he tries to potty? Is he walking in areas where he is fearful or anxious (noisy city streets)? Is your dog worried about a shock fence or a scary dog barking across the street? Is your dog unable to eat outside? Is he sound sensitive, and noises from outside the yard frighten him? Those are clues that the potty training may not be going well due to anxiety outside. Try driving to other areas and see if it makes a difference. If the walk itself is scary, going for a walk after going potty will not be rewarding. In severe cases, we may need to work with a vet and a trainer to solve these worries before potty training is successful.
If your pup only has accidents when he’s left alone, even for short periods, he may have separation distress or anxiety. If this is the case, you may notice that he appears nervous or upset right before you leave him alone or after you’ve left (if you can observe him while he’s alone). Destruction is often aimed at exit areas like the door jamb. Potty training will not fix this issue. You must work with a vet and a qualified trainer.
Medical Issues
If your pup suddenly starts having accidents and none of your training work makes a difference, you should go to the vet to rule out medical concerns like a urinary tract infection (UTI). Also, call your vet if your puppy has diarrhea to rule out parasites. Changes in diet, both in type of food and amount of food, can also cause issues. Cognitive issues and incontinence can affect senior dogs. The vet can help figure out what's going on.
Now that you know what’s going on, you can make a plan.
Plan with Patience
Bladder and bowel control is not fully developed before 12 weeks of age and varies among dogs. Tiny pups have tiny bladders.
Some puppies learn when and where to eliminate within a few weeks, while others may take up to 7 months, even if you do everything correctly.
Older dogs may have months or years of experience eliminating in the wrong spot, and they tend to eliminate less often than puppies, so it may take more time.
Set up Schedules
Consistent feeding times help make elimination times predictable.
Never restrict access to water and pick up food between meals.
Plan frequent opportunities to eliminate, as often as every 30 minutes for some puppies and maybe 90 minutes for most dogs initially. A common rule of thumb is that the maximum length of time he can wait to eliminate while awake is the same number of hours as his age in months, e.g., a four-month-old pup should not be left alone for more than four consecutive hours without an opportunity to go outside.
We’ll aim to stretch the time between outdoor trips, little by little, once your pup is not having accidents.
Puppies should be taken out first thing in the morning and shortly after meals, drinking, playtime, or excitement of any kind, after naps, and sometimes even when they’ve been chewing happily and stop. They also need to go out last thing at night and before being confined or left alone.
Older dogs might need to go out as often as 5 times a day when you begin training, as they are not used to having to hold their bladders.
Pro tip: keep a journal of mealtimes, potty trips, and accidents to identify behavior patterns.
What to do Outside
Go with your pup to the area you want them to use, and try to be consistent over time.
Let pups sniff and circle
Puppies who have yet to receive all their shots and worming preventives must avoid areas where many other dogs walk due to the risk of infection.
Dogs who are excited or distracted outside can usually settle if you walk for a bit before finding an elimination spot. You can even make a big circle of kibble in the grass; as they sniff and eat in that circular pattern, it may stimulate their bodies to do their business.
If your pup doesn't go after 5-10 minutes, return indoors, keep a close watch, and try again every 5-10 minutes.
Optional: you may want to add a cue like “go potty”(say it once only; don’t chant or repeat) just before your pup is about to go.
Be quiet while your pup eliminates. Wait for your pup to stand up straight on all 4 paws, then reward your pup with several pieces of high-value food. I tend to use 5 with puppies and 10 with dogs.
Don’t wait to reward until you are back in the house.
High-value treats help make the connection for most puppies and dogs that going potty outside is what you want - use chicken, beef, cheese, etc.…
Place a jar of reward food where you need it, such as outside in a flower pot or under a shrub, or store it with the leash.
After rewarding your pup, avoid returning to the house immediately unless your pup pulls you there. Instead, keep sniffing, play a game, or walk some more.
Your pup may also need to eliminate a second and third time, so don't rush.
Pro Tip: Going potty outside makes food and fun outings happen, so it becomes worth holding it and waiting to go out. If a walk ends as soon as the puppy goes potty, the puppy may hold it longer to keep the fun from ending.
When you are Inside
Keep your eyes on your pup. Watch for behaviors like restless movement or pacing, whining, circling, sniffing, standing near a door, or leaving the room, which may indicate he needs to go out. If you can’t, your pup must be confined.
Confinement options include a crate, an exercise pen, a small room with the door closed or blocked with a baby gate, or the “umbilical” method – attaching your pup to your waist with a long leash.
A pup is immediately and intrinsically rewarded when he has an accident because he feels relief from pressure when emptying his bladder or bowels, so it’s important to prevent accidents.
Gradually, over days or weeks without accidents, give your puppy more freedom.
After your pup eliminates outside, give him some free time in the house (about 15 to 20 minutes to start). If all goes well, gradually increase the amount of time he can spend free.
Expect young puppies and dogs who aren’t feeling well to go out at least once overnight.
Middle of the night potty breaks should be dull- no talking, no playing, etc….just a potty break.
Pro Tip: set the alarm for halfway through the night and push it back an hour every week until it’s close to wake-up time, and you can try to go through the whole night. The alarm will become the cue to wake up for the day.
Accidents during training
Environmental changes may cause a lapse in housetraining, so be cautious if you take him to someone else’s home or when the weather is inclement. Keep an eye out if you add a new rug or furniture to the house.
Some puppies may do well early on, and then they regress.
This is not unusual – re-visit the housetraining process.
Regression also tends to happen when there’s a medical issue, like a UTI or parasites.
If you catch your puppy in the act of eliminating inside, some trainers advise clapping or startling him, then taking him out to finish. I don’t find that helpful because some puppies find that scary. If you startle or punish him instead of remaining calm, he may have no idea why you’re clapping and decide that going potty in front of people is scary! When that happens, puppies may start going potty in unused rooms, behind furniture, under tables, etc… out of sight, and they tend to stop going potty on walks when you are watching. So, do not scream, clap, yell, or anything else along those lines.
Instead, you can try a quiet interrupt like a kissy noise. If your pup can stop going, get him outside quickly but calmly.
Clean up without fuss using an enzyme cleaner like Angry Orange or Rocco & Roxie to minimize odors that might attract your puppy back to the same spot.
You can use a black light to double-check that you cleaned thoroughly enough – they can smell things we can’t smell, so a sniff test isn’t enough.
Don't forget the carpet pad. If urine has soaked through, you have to get the cleaner into the pad, too.
You can also start feeding your pup in the areas of the house where there was an accident to change the way he thinks about those spaces.
Some people have luck moving BM accidents outside to the area they DO want their puppy to use so that may be worth a try. You can sop up urine and move the towel outside, too.
Pro Tip: if your puppy has an accident but you don’t catch him in the act and only find the accident afterward, do nothing to your pup – no punishment at all. That means do not rub your puppy’s nose in his accident, and do not verbally or physically punish your puppy for accidents. He cannot understand that the punishment is connected to the accident, and you may cause him to think that humans are unpredictable and scary. Dogs who are afraid of humans may develop fearful and/or aggressive behaviors.
If you notice frequent accidents even after consistent training following the guidelines we reviewed, rule out medical issues first, then increase opportunities to go outside, decrease freedom (length of time and amount of space), and up the value of the food rewards you’re using.
More great tips from a vet here: http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/canine-housetraining-challenges