When I was first born, my mom and I lived in an upper flat in Detroit where we could not have animals. When I was two years old, we moved, and my grandparents bought me a puppy for my birthday – her name was Princess.
At that time, my mom had to do all the dog training because we lived in a Royal Oak apartment, and it was a lot of work to take the puppy outside to go potty. Obviously, I was a toddler who wasn’t ready to help in the care of a puppy, and I was no help to my poor mom. Unfortunately, we had to rehome her.
How we potty trained our puppies:
- Take the puppy outside often
- Give treats when they successfully go potty outside
- Give love and positive reinforcement by saying, “Good potty outside” or “Good poop outside” It’s important to differentiate between the two potty types.
- When they have an accident, do not spank or hit the puppy. Instead, take them to the scene of the accident, let them smell it, and say, “This is no. You go poop/potty outside. No poop/potty in the house.”
- After they eat, wait about thirty minutes and take them outside, telling them to “go poop outside.”
- Do not leave a full bowl of water out at all times when they are puppies. After they have a drink of water, wait ten minutes, take them outside, and direct them to “go potty outside.”
- Keep them close by on a leash during the day to avoid them wandering off and having an accident or chewing things you don’t want them to chew
- Watch for signs such as circling, sniffing, squatting, and whining, as these are signals your puppy needs to go potty.
- Be consistent, patient, and persevere.
- Until they are potty trained, train them to get used to sleeping in a crate at night to avoid accidents. Put some newspapers in the back of the crate in case they have to go to the bathroom. Most puppies will not lay in that area.
- Put them in their crate when you leave the house for their security and to avoid accidents or chewing things in your home. It is important to note that K9s learn to love their crate/home as it will become their special space. My dogs often just lay in their crates during the day as I leave the door open. Most of them have even figured out how to swing the crate door open if it’s not latched!
- First thing in the morning, carry your puppy (if you can) outside and set them down to go potty. This method has worked well for me and my dogs over the years as it helps them avoid tinkling on the way out.
- Hang in there – it takes time, but eventually, as you both work at it, your puppy will get there.
Which dog breed is easiest to potty train?
I have had many types of breeds over the years. In my experience, it really depends on the dog itself, not necessarily on the breed and how consistent you are as the trainer.
The following are some of the easiest dog breeds to potty train according to many sources across the web:
- Labrador
- German Shepherd
- Standard Poodle
- Shiatzu
- Border Collie
- Australian Shepherd
- Bernese Mountain Dog (they are so beautiful, but they need a lot of grooming!)
- Bichon Frise
- Boston Terrier
- Miniature Schnauzer
When I was three, we moved to a duplex home near Livonia, where we were allowed to have dogs, as my mom’s best friend owned the duplex and rented the other half to us. That’s when we got my beloved yellow Labrador puppy named Pumpkin. He was an awesome dog and was easy to potty train, as he loved to please us! Sadly, a bad man on our street was shooting off a gun one night, and when Pumpkin went to defend his family, the man injured Pumpkin, and we had to put him to rest.
A few years later, we moved to a nice, safe neighborhood into a beautiful townhome community. However, we were not allowed to have dogs. On my sixth birthday, my aunt bought me a Dachshund mix puppy that I named Lady. My mom was not happy that my aunt did that as she would have to run the risk of being evicted from our home to keep the puppy. We had her for a little while, and I got to potty train her. Back then, newspapers were used for Lady to go potty on since she couldn’t be seen outside.
She was a good girl and responded well to getting treats every time she went potty on the papers. Her crate was actually a cardboard box. But after six months, my mom said it wasn’t fair to Lady to never get to bark with joy or to warn us, nor get to go outside to run and play, so we had to rehome her. That broke my heart, and my mom was furious with her sister.
Around twenty years old, we still lived in that townhouse, and I was dating a guy (who later became my husband) who got a chocolate Labrador named Josi. When Josi was about eight months old, that same aunt bought me a Shepherd Collie mixed puppy named Roxy for Christmas. Still, I wasn’t allowed to have her at my townhome, so she had to live with Josi and my boyfriend. He was not happy with my aunt either! However, we did get to keep her, and Josi and Roxy became best friends.
Are male or female dogs easier to potty train?
Again, it depends on the individual dog and the trainers. I have had good and poor experiences with both. For example, after we were married a couple of years, we got a third dog, Luke, a Cockapoo-Shiatzu mix. He was by far the easiest dog we ever had to potty train. He had only one accident during his potty-training days and was fully trained before he was three months old!
When Josi and Roxy went on to the Rainbow Bridge, we got another dog to keep Luke company. She was an Australian Terrier mix named Clio, and she was the most difficult dog to potty train. Remember when I said earlier that most dogs would not lay in the potty area of their crate? Well, I said “most” because Clio was the one dog that did, and let me tell you, it was disgusting to clean up after!
Next, we got my best girl, Phoebe, who was a Labrador Pitbull mix. She was easy to potty train but difficult to train behaviorally because she was so smart and stubborn. So, I took her to dog obedience training school, where she learned better manners.
My ex-husband brought home a German Shepherd boy puppy that we named Otis. He was extremely difficult to potty train and continued to have accidents in the house well into his first year. Although, that was because of the trainer – my ex did not spend the necessary time with Otis.
Time passed, and Phoebe went into heat. That’s when she became very interested in Otis, and they mated. We kept one female puppy and named her Lucy. Lucy was easy to train both behaviorally and pottily, and she had only a few accidents, which I took full responsibility for as I ignored her signals.
How to potty train puppies
In conclusion, potty training takes patience, consistency, and love—but with time, your puppy will learn and thrive, building a strong bond with you in the process.