Puppy potty training is the bane of many new dog parents. That is why there are so many tutorials on how to housetrain a dog, with promises of how it can be simple and effortless.
The fact though, is that potty training requires time, patience, and consistency. How simple or difficult it is, will depend on our dog’s temperament and our own temperament.
Some dog breeds such as the Shiba Inu, are naturally clean and are relatively easy to housebreak. My Shiba was housebroken when we first got him at 10 weeks old.
Shiba Sephy does not even like to eliminate in our backyard. Instead, he prefers to wait until we go for a walk. In contrast, my second dog (a Siberian Husky), was more difficult to housetrain because she did not mind frolicking close to her own waste products.
It took a few weeks to housetrain her.
Puppy potty training also depends a lot on us. If we are naturally calm, consistent, and patient, housebreaking will seem easier and require less work.
Whatever the case, always remember that we can successfully housetrain a physically healthy dog, at whatever age (after the weaning off process), no matter the history.
And that is a potty training fact!
1. Set Up a Schedule
Puppy potty training begins, by setting up a schedule. Initially, we want to bring our dog out often, and reduce the chances of her making mistakes inside the house.
I observe my puppy closely, and try to identify patterns in her potty behavior. For example, she usually has to go when she wakes up, and after a bit of vigorous play. Therefore, I took her out after nap-time and after every 10-15 minutes of play. Different dogs may have different patterns depending on size, temperament, routine, and more.
I stop giving her water about 2-3 hours before sleep time, and take her out right before I crate her for the night. If I need to reward her during that time, I only use moist dog treats such as boiled chicken, so that she does not get thirsty from them.
Fact – Dogs learn through a process called conditioning. They repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them bad results.
The more we reward a puppy for eliminating outside, the more she will repeat that behavior. When my puppy does her business in the backyard, I mark that behavior (Yes!). Once she finishes, I treat her with something special that she only gets for potty success, and give her some good affection. Then, I reward her more with play-time and her favorite activities.
Similarly, the more a puppy practices eliminating inside, on her own, the more she will go in the house. After all, it is convenient and nobody is teaching her that it is inappropriate behavior.
Therefore, we want to not only maximize the number of successes, but also minimize the number of mistakes. In this way, our puppy will learn that doing her business outside is extremely rewarding and fun. On the other hand, when she does it inside, she consistently gets interrupted and taken outside.
Myth – My dog cannot be housetrained because she comes from a stubborn breed, she is too stupid, she is too dominant, she doesn’t listen to me, she is too old, etc.
Any physically healthy dog can be housetrained. The key to potty training is patience and consistency. Always be around to supervise our puppy when she is inside. If I do not have the time to supervise, then I crate my puppy or put her in a long-term enclosure with puppy pads.
Myth: Screaming and hitting the dog will show her that I am boss and make her stop pottying inside the house.
Screaming and hitting a dog does not work well, and usually makes things worse. How well do you learn when somebody is screaming at you, or hitting you? It is the same way for a dog, especially a puppy.
The fastest way to housebreak our puppy, is to remain calm, and consistently let her know that going inside is inappropriate (Ack, ack), and going outside is appropriate (Yes).
2. Prevent Potty Mistakes
There are three ways to prevent mistakes inside the house:
a) Be there to supervise.
When our puppy shows signs that she has to go potty, take her outside right away. If I do not catch my puppy in time and she starts to do her business, then I interrupt her with a no-mark (Ack, ack) and take her outside.
Myth – I can potty train my puppy by rubbing her nose in it after the fact. She always looks sheepish and puts her head down when I shout at her. She knows she has done something wrong.
Dogs will only learn when we catch them in the act.
If we are not around and our dog makes a mistake, then we have missed a learning opportunity. All we can do is clean up the mess and move on. It is true that a dog may look sheepish when we shout at her after the fact. This is because she knows that we are upset, so she uses submissive gestures (e.g. putting her head down) to try and appease us.
The dog does not know what particular event has caused our anger, but just that we are angry. Shouting and rubbing a dog’s nose in her own waste does not teach her anything. All it does is confuse our dog, as well as create stress and fear. This can make things worse by causing submissive urination.
b) Crate train our dog.
Dogs do not generally like to soil where they sleep. Keeping our puppy in a crate can discourage her from pottying because she does not want to soil her sleeping area.
When I got my first dog, I was a bit concerned about crating him. Here is what the Humane Society of the United States and the American Dog Trainer’s Network have to say about crate training
Myth – A crate will magically keep my dog from pottying for any period of time.
The crate is not some magical cure. A crate discourages a dog from eliminating, but if a dog absolutely has to go, she has to go.
Keeping a puppy for too long in a crate, will force her to potty in the crate, possibly traumatize her, and greatly set back our potty training program.
The maximum crate time is dependent on the age of our puppy.
| Age | Maximum time in crate |
|---|---|
| 8–10 weeks | 30–60 minutes |
| 11–14 weeks | 1–3 hours |
| 15–16 weeks | 3–4 hours |
| 17+ weeks | 4–5 hours |
Maximum crate time from ASPCA Weekend Crate Training.
Note – this is just a general guideline for the maximum crate time. I usually take my puppy outside more frequently than that. I take her out as soon as she wakes up, and right after any heavy activity.
At night, I crate my dogs in the bedroom. Keeping our dogs with us in the bedroom will help with the bonding process, and show them that they are part of the pack.
When puppies are really young, they may not be able to hold their bladder throughout the night. It may be necessary to make an extra trip outside at night, or really early in the morning. Once they get a bit older though, this will no longer be necessary.
Some puppies, e.g. pet store puppies, may already be conditioned to eliminate in their crate, because they are kept in there for overly long periods of time. In such cases, a crate will no longer be a deterrent to potty behavior.
c) Put our dog in a long-term enclosure.
If I will be away for a long period of time, I put my puppy in a long-term enclosure. This can be a secure puppy pen, or a secure and safe room (e.g. kitchen).
Make sure there is nothing dangerous in the enclosure that our puppy can destroy and swallow. Put bedding, a water bowl, some puppy pads, safe chew toys, and safe food toys, in the enclosure. Put the pads in a corner as far away from the bedding as possible.
Instead of puppy pads, we may also use an indoor grass system.
However, some dogs may not like standing on or eliminating on the indoor grass surface. Just using regular sod or grass did not work well for me because of drainage issues. The sod gets smelly very quickly because there isn’t anywhere for the pee to go.
When I tried using sod, I had to change it every other day, or my puppy refused to go onto it. This ended up being a lot more work than just using puppy pads.
Myth – We cannot train a dog to potty outside as well as on puppy pads. She will get confused and not know what to do.
Yes, it is true that if we can be around most of the time to supervise, it is better not to let a puppy do her business in the house at all.
However, if we will be away for long periods of time, if our dog has separation anxiety issues (which may cause her to need to eliminate when we leave), or if there are other medical issues (surgery) that make frequent trips outside unfeasible, then it is perfectly fine to train a dog to both potty on pads, as well as outside.
Reward a puppy for going on his pads, and reward a puppy a lot more for going outside.
3. Clean Away Mistakes Properly
During the housetraining process, there will be some mistakes. When that happens, I calmly no-mark my puppy (Ack, ack) and take her outside. Once we are outside, I praise and reward her if she continues with her business.
Then, I leave my puppy in our fully enclosed and puppy-safe backyard, come in, and clean up the mess. Cleaning up messes in front of a puppy may sometimes cause her to mimic our behavior, and engage in eating her own poop. In her mind, she is only helping to clean out the den.
Use a cleaner that is made especially for pets. A popular pet odor cleaner is Nature’s Miracle.
Do not use ammonia based cleaners as the ammonia odor, which resembles urine, may attract our dog to urinate in the area.
4. Make Sure the Mistakes Are Potty Mistakes
Not all indoor urination is the result of housetraining mistakes. Other reasons for indoor urination include:
- Submissive or excitement urination.
- Medical issues, e.g. urinary tract infection.
- Marking objects or territory.
- Stress or anxiety, which results from being alone or other psychological issues.
My 15 week shiba inu is still not house trained. (We got her at 8 weeks) she will go 4 days without an accident then 1 week with accidents all the time. My husband and I work 8 hour days and do not have consistent shifts ( although I was told I would before getting Maya). We try our best to keep her on a schedule but it seems to not work. We live in an apartment and I have read that it is hard to potty train a puppy in an apartment but I did not think it would be this tough. I do not have an enclosed area to “just take her out” we have to put on the leash, then walk down 2 flights of stairs to get her outside, so correcting the behaviour is hard. We have tried pee pads but she just destroys them. I have tried coming home on my lunch but it doesn’t seem to work either. Any suggestions?
Hello Stephanie,
The only way I know of to effectively potty train a puppy is through supervision.
With my puppy Lara, I am there to prevent mistakes and to quickly no-mark and take her to her potty spot when she makes a mistake inside the house. I reward her for going in her potty spot very very well, so that she learns –
Going in her potty spot = Attention, rewards, play, and more,
Going inside = No-mark, get interrupted, get taken outside.
For a puppy to learn, we need to be there to teach her what to do, and what not to do. Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
When Shania was young, she had to go through leg surgery, so we kept her in an enclosure during the healing process. During that time, we trained her to go on puppy pads. I changed the pads as soon as she goes on it, and I am also there to supervise and train her not to play-bite on the pads. Puppy pads can be very helpful for situations where we are unable to go outside quickly or easily. However, supervision is still necessary.
Some alternate possibilities for supervision-
1. Hire a pet sitter.
2. Get a friend, neighbor, or relative to drop by and help.
3. Take some time off to train our puppy.
Some people may also use dog-daycare, but that is only appropriate *after* our puppy is fully vaccinated. In a daycare, or other public kennel, our dog will be exposed to many other dogs, some of whom may be sick or contagious. Some daycare places may keep only puppies together, and check for vaccination records; but personally, it is not something that I would take a chance with.
Some people may suggest using a plastic potty system that cannot be shredded. However, my Shiba is very particular about his potty ritual and he will not go on plastic potty systems. He is also a strong chewer, and has chewed up plastic objects before, which can be a health risk.
When Sephy was a puppy, he was very energetic, mischievous, and full of curiosity. He needed a lot of structured activity, a consistent set of rules, training, and a lot of supervision.
I have a teacup yorki and the house and crate training has been a nightmare. I was always told that dogs don’t like to be in their own “mess” or go to the bathroom where they sleep. But this little one has no problem being covered in it. Any suggestions? I feel like we have tried everything
In general, I think that is true. However, some puppies (especially pet store puppies or puppy mill puppies) are kept by their breeders in cages for long periods of time in their youth. As a result they have no other choice but to eliminate where they eat and sleep. After a while, they get used to it and think it is what they are supposed to do.
Since there is already a potty association with the crate, one possibility is to use a puppy enclosure/pen instead. I make sure the enclosure is safe, put puppy pads in the enclosure, and teach my puppy to go on the pads (if need be) when she is in there. When she is outside, I am always there to supervise, take her outside, and reward her very well for doing the right thing.
i have had a siberian husky for about 6 weeks now he is 11 weeks old and i cannot house train him! He did very well around week 2 and 3 and now all of a sudden he is peeing in his crate and peeing and pooping in the house….we only use positive reinforcements treats and praise but he has just taken a major step in the wrong direction and we just dont know what to do. Please help.
Did something change recently that may have caused this change in behavior? Is he energetic and eating and drinking normally? Is his pee and poop normal? Has he been to the vet for an examination?
Has anything else changed in terms of level of supervision, routine, exercise, etc.?
What is his daily routine? When he pees and poops in the house, is he home alone?
When there is a sudden change in behavior, there is usually something that triggers it. What has worked with my dogs, is to identify the source of that change, and help them overcome it.
I just got a Shiba Inu three days ago, she(Mocha) is 3 months old and will be 4 months on January 3rd. I just found your website and I love it! I googled a lot about potty training and as advised, I bring her out after sleeping/a nap, eating and playing. She hasnt had any accidents today, a few yesterday but that was partially my fault since I think she was trying to tell me but I didn’t notice. I taught her sit but she only does it when I have my hands bunched up in front of her or if I have a treat holding it in the bunched up position(idk how to explain, sorry). She doesnt sit if I say sit while standing or sitting somewhere not having my hand in front of her. She automatically sits now when I have a treat, is that good? Also, when I bring her out now, she doesnt want to go in. Instead she sits there just looking around. She already peed but she still didnt go in, she used to go in after me but she didnt follow me in today so I just picked her up and went in while saying “Come in” totry and teach her to come in when I say that. Any advice on that? She also sleeps a lot, is that normal? And one last thing, she only goes out if I go out, any advice?
Thank you! Help appreciated!
Congratulations on your new Shiba Inu puppy! She sounds like a very clever and sweet girl.
In terms of commands, my dogs also learned the visual gestures first. I give them different hand signals for different commands. In the beginning, I repeat a command very frequently using visual gestures. Once they are doing well with a particular command, I add in the verbal and keep practicing. Then, I try just the verbal without the hand gesture.
When I first did this with Lara, she was a bit confused. She did not really understand what I wanted because she learned the commands first using visual cues, which I believe is more natural for a dog. So I waited while she tried out different things and finally she got it. Sometimes, it was necessary to help her out with a slight hand gesture, but with enough consistency and repetition, she was able to learn the verbal cue in addition to the visual.
In terms of “Coming In” or more generally, coming when called, this article from the ASPCA has a very nice list of recall training techniques-
http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/teaching-your-dog-to-come-when-called
Hmmm, how many hours does she sleep? What is her regular routine like during the day? Does she have a good appetite? When I get a new puppy, I usually take her to the vet early-on to get a general check-up and set up a vaccination schedule.
Big hugs to Mocha and Happy New Year!
My fiancé bought me a shiba as an early Christmas present and he is adorable and very loving, however he is making me want to rip my hair out!! I was able to train him to poop outside very early on (thank god), but he pees everywhere- all the time! We’ve tried crate training him as well and that isn’t working either. I’ve tried rewarding him when he does go outside, the trouble is, when he comes back in..he pees what seems like every 5 min inside as well! He pees in his crate, he pees….pretty much everywhere. He’s got lots of energy so I don’t see him being sick in any way. I take him out when he wakes up all the time, every 1/2 hr to hr of being awake, after eating, before bed, once during night, and stop water 3 hrs before bed and only gets it every few hours during the day-what am I doing wrong? He was so easy to poop train!
Helllllllllllllp
Hello Nikola,
If puppy is peeing really frequently, then there could be a urinary issue. Is his pee clear or cloudy? When I get a new puppy, I find that it is really helpful to take her into the vet right away, for a general check-up and to setup a vaccination schedule.
With Husky puppy Lara, she usually needs to go when she wakes up and also after any kind of play or exciting activity. At most, we do 10 mminutes of play then I take her out. Other than that, supervision is key. I try to look out for her “pee signals” – e.g. circling, going to corners. When she starts doing any of these things, I take her out right away.
If I am too slow, then I calmly no-mark, interrupt her, and take her out for her to finish outside. I praise her very well when she continues outside and reward her with very high priority food (something that she only gets during potty training) and a very fun game. We stay outside for a while, and then I check if she needs to potty again before we come in.
If I am too busy to supervise, I put Lara in her enclosure with puppy pads and bedding.
Supervision is probably the most important thing in potty training. If I am there to catch her every time, I can limit the number of mistakes, and maximize reinforcing her for doing the right thing.
I got my Shiba Inu when he was 3 months old. he is now 8 months, and absolutely refuses to go outside. I don’t understand why, at the start he always went outside to use the bathroom, and now he fights me to put on his harness, and fights me outside b/c he does not want to walk or use the bathroom. I’m a bit worried, I don’t know what to do.
When did this start? Did it coincide with changes in the weather outside – e.g. getting more rain? Sephy does not like going outside when it is too wet. He also does not like doing his business too close to the house, so we usually walk a bit before he will do his business. Trees and bushes are his favorite spots.
We use a collar with Sephy because in general, he does not like having anything on his royal Shiba body. The collar is the least amount of material, but even so, we desensitized him to it carefully.
How is your Shiba’s energy level while in the house? Have there been other changes? Does he like going out into the backyard or not at all?
Ok, a few questions. My Sibe Luna will sleep in the crate all night, whining only a bit when first put into it. However, she pooped in the kitchen at one point, so I crated her to clean it up (didn’t scold her). She went nuts. She was digging at the plastic floor, biting the bars, pawing at everything. Even when I sat there with her, she was panting and wearing herself out… do you ignore the outburst at that point until they calm down?
Also, even though we have her sleep there at night, she never goes in on her own. She doesn’t look in it, doesn’t explore it, and never sleeps there during the day. I can understand her sleeping in the study where I am, but sometimes she’ll go into the bedroom and just sleep on anything else. One morning we weren’t ready to get up, but she was, so we just shut the bedroom door and kept her in with us. She slept on a pile of clothes. When we were worried about our jeans and stuff, we moved the clothes, but she still didn’t go to the crate. My husband lay a sweatshirt down for her, and she’ll go sleep on that sometimes. So basically, she doesn’t seem to see it as any sort of sanctuary.
Also, I think it may be too big… do we need to replace it?
You talk about scheduled crate time. How do you schedule it? Do you leave any toys in there? Just chew toys?
Interesting. The crate thing happened with Shania as well. She pooped on her bedding in her enclosure, so I put her in the crate and proceeded to clean up the mess on her bedding. She went nuts in the crate and pooped there again.
I think she sensed my energy – that I was stressed, frustrated, and unhappy. In addition, she probably didn’t get all the stuff out the first time. My guess is that the flurry of activity (getting her out of the enclosure without her stepping on the poop), combined with my unstable energy, combined with the sudden confinement, got her really stressed out. All my dogs are very good at picking up on my energy even when I don’t say anything. After that, I never used the crate again in that circumstance.
If she makes a mistake inside, I try to stay very very calm, interrupt her, and take her outside. If that is not possible, I also have a secondary smaller enclosure with puppy pads but no bedding. I put her in there, and then I clean up the mess. That seemed to work well for Shania.
In Shania’s case, I let her out right away. This is because-
1. Her behavior came from stress and not from anything else.
2. The confinement was contributing to her stress, and making it worse.
3. I want her to always associate the crate with positive events.
Context is very important in dog training. The general wisdom is that we should not reward undesirable behaviors, so if our dog whines to demand attention, we should ignore her until she calms down.
However, in Shania’s case, her frantic behavior was borne out of stress, and the confinement was exacerbating the situation.
One important lesson I learned, during my difficult Shiba days, was to be flexible. I carefully look at Sephy’s body language to try and understand where he is coming from, and I try to take everything into account. I do what I think is right given the surrounding context, and given what Sephy is saying to me. I try to follow the spirit of the law, rather than the letter of the law.
In terms of crate training, I go slowly during training and I pair it with positive rewards including food, attention, and relaxation.
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#crate
I usually let my dogs work on frozen Kongs while in their crate. Sometimes they work on chicken stuffed chew toys. I only use *very safe* chew toys. Some dogs can tear chunks out of toys, and these chunks can become a choking hazard.
When Lara was young, we would have about 2 hours of activity, training, and working on food toys, then nap time and repeat. Each dog is different though, so I set-up Lara’s schedule based on her activity level at the time. At night, Lara would sleep for a longer period of time, maybe about 6 hours. Then she wakes up and needs to go out. After she got a bit older, she slept through the night.
Frozen kongs, never thought of that! I’ll give it a try!
Great advice on potty training – THANK YOU. We have a new rescue dog in our home. While he is beyond precious…we are struggling with the potty training. As he was a breeder rescue, his previous life was confined to a very small crate where he slept and poor guy also had to go to the restroom. As such we are having some challenges with him going in his cage.
We would love some tips on this.
Hmmm, one possibility is to use an enclosure instead of a crate when we are not around to supervise. I used an enclosure with Shania after her operation so that she didn’t have to go out every time she needs to potty. In that way, our dog can go on potty pads, and at the same time does not get into the habit of soiling in the crate.
After the dog is potty trained, we can slowly reintroduce the crate and help him associate it with positive outcomes.
Hi, ShibaShake! I was wondering if I could have a little bit of advice.
So, I’m 12 years old. Plain and simple. My stepfather is a traditional (stick) trainer, and will yell at me for not keeping Shiloh from messing in the house. He will tell me to swat her, shove her muzzle in the feces/urine, and shout at her. We brought her home on Sunday, October 28th, and it’s only been a couple of days. Both he and my mother actually yell at me for not fixing it.
Shiloh is a 5 and 1/2 month old black and white ticked German Shorthaired Pointer puppy, and for her whole life, she has lived in an outdoor kennel. Today, she was doing good, we thought she was learning her house training, but then she urinated 3 times within at least 2 hours. We leave water out for her access at all times, but she doesn’t drink it very often.
Even though I tell my stepfather not to hit her (she’s my dog), he still does, and yells at me. He says positive reinforcement is dumb and you ‘always need treats’, and we often go round and round in our arguments. My mom, being a non-animal person that knows nothing about training, just screams at me. What do I do? I don’t want to involve physical negativity, and my mother and stepfather both won’t buy me a tether for her, or treats, so I have no way to work with her. Is there any other way? Please help.
Actually, what I found to be most important in potty training my dogs is supervision. During the training period, I keep puppy close to me and watch her closely. In this way, when it looks like she is about to make a mistake, I interrupt her and take her outside.
I take her to her potty spot, and say “Go Potty”. If she does, I praise her very well, give her attention, and also play a really fun game with her. There are many types of rewards we can use to motivate our dogs, and treats is just one of them. We can also use attention, fun games, and also the dog’s regular food. In fact, rather than giving my dogs free food in a bowl, I make them work for all of their food. This is good exercise for them, helps them redirect their energies into positive activities, and teaches them a good work ethic. This is also called the Nothing in Life is Free program.
With close supervision, I am able to maximize the number of successes that end with a reward, and minimize the number of mistakes. Also, I clean up all the messes, so nobody else needs to get involved if they don’t want to.
Here is a bit more on what I do to train my Sibe puppies.
We just got 2 Shiba Inu Males – 8 weeks old. They have not yet been crated in the 4 days we had have them. They use our uncarpeted downstairs and their crate is open at nights. Should we shut the crate tonight?? They sure do whimper a lot during the night. They do not understand about potty yet. We try and reward with treats. Any ideas for the little guys?
Hello Morgan,
When Sephy was a puppy, we kept him in his crate, but had the crate in our bedroom so that he could be with everyone. That worked out pretty well, and if he needs to go potty during the night, we will know and can take him out.
Some other things that helped-
1. We stopped giving him water a few hours before bed.
2. We got him to go potty one more time right before bed.
3. If we need to give him treats then, we would only use wet treats so he does not get thirsty.
Still, young puppies have small bladders and may still need potty breaks during the night. When Sephy needed to do that, we would take him out on-lead, go to his potty spot, and give the “Go Potty” command. If he goes, then I make a big deal of it and reward him really well for letting me know he has to go, and then for pottying in the right place.
Otherwise, I would wait about 10 minutes or so. If he doesn’t go, we come back in and he goes back into his crate.
I also did a lot of crate training exercises during the day with Sephy so that he would get used to it and learn to associate it with positive experiences.