This post is all about what to do when your puppy won't pee outside.
Bringing home a puppy is such an exciting time! It's also a time where your patience will be tested, especially when it comes to potty training.
Whether you brought your puppy home from a breeder or the shelter, you'll learn in this article exactly how to potty train your puppy and prevent all future inside accidents.
Puppy Wont Pee Outside
Potty training can be especially frustrating when you are trying to take your puppy for a potty walk, but all they want to do is zoom and play. Or, you've just taken them on a potty walk, and they come back and immediately pee inside.
Sometimes, puppies just learn that it's okay to go inside, but sometimes, they start to prefer inside potty breaks over outside potty breaks.
Whatever reason your puppy is struggling with potty training, there is hope!
Training or fixing puppy pottying habits is possible. (And- it's not always about the crate.) Success is about your willingness to make changes and understand how to decrease or eliminate the opportunity for your puppy to make the wrong choice.
After years of helping dog owners modify their dogs behavior, I've found that there is a correlation between speed of success in potty training and the owner's commitment to the training process.
6 Month Old Puppy Wont Pee Outside
If your 6 month old puppy won't pee outside, this can be a hard habit to break.
It doesn't mean it's impossible, but there's a lot of programming and learned behavior you'll need to override to get your puppy to understand the only acceptable place to pee is outside.
The easiest way to get any age dog or puppy to pee outside is to eliminate the opportunity for them to go pee inside, and increase the opportunity for them to go outside.
Here are the four biggest mistakes that puppy owners make with their dog that increase the opportunity for your dog to make the wrong decision (and decrease their ability to make the right decision)
My Dog Won't Go to the Bathroom Outside Anymore
Mistake #1: Taking your puppy out to pee, they don't go, and then leaving them out of the crate or unattended.
Just because your puppy didn't pee outside within a few minutes during their potty walk, doesn't mean they don't have to go. This is especially true if your puppy hasn't peed in the last hour.
If you take your puppy out and they don't go, do not assume they don't have to go and give them the opportunity to have an accident in the house.
Instead, bring them inside after an unsuccessful potty walk and either put them in their crate, or tether them with a leash so that you can monitor their behavior.
Then, take them out of their crate every 5-20 minutes until they do pee. Once they pee, they can have more freedom in the house (still supervised because.. well, they're a puppy!) If they don't pee, they go back in the crate or on a leash where they can be supervised.
This way, you are only giving the puppy an option to pee outside. This method works because you are not allowing your puppy to have the opportunity to pee inside. We will discuss crate training more later in this post, but a puppy will quickly learn to keep their crate clean.
My Puppy Won't Wee Outside But Will Inside
Mistake #2: Not using an enzymatic cleaner that keeps your house from smelling like a bathroom.
Each time your puppy goes potty inside, they've logged it as a successful event in their brain. This means you'll have to work even harder to make pottying inside the wrong decision.
When you're at a restaurant, you look for the bathroom signs. Dogs on the other hand, smell for the bathroom.
So, anytime your puppy has an accident it's important to clean the area thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner that lifts the smell.
Stain and Odor Eliminator
If your puppy has made repeated accidents in the same spot, then they've also made that area smell like the bathroom. Get rid of the bathroom smell with an enzymatic cleaner like this one!
My Dog Won't Go To The Bathroom Outside Anymore
Mistake #3: Utilizing potty pads.
Whatever you do in potty training your puppy, do not get puppy pads and designate a section of your house for pottying.
Unless you plan to permanently allow your dog to pee inside, potty pads are not a great idea. They almost always confuse a dog or puppy about the rules of going inside versus outside.
One common argument for potty pads is to eventually move the potty pads outside. However, if your intent is to train the dog to use the potty pads, then move the potty pads outside to teach the dog where it's okay to go, why not just teach the dog that it's okay to pee outside?
It's much easier to train your dog once where to go, rather than continuing to change the potty routine and spaces.
New Puppy Wont Pee
Mistake #4: Not taking your puppy out after specific events.
There are several events where your puppy is more likely to need to pee than others. As a general guideline you should take your puppy outside:
- Immediately after a nap
- After drinking
- After eating
- After playing
- Before a nap
- As soon as you get home
- As soon as they come out of their crate
- If they haven't peed in over 30 minutes and have been active
- If they suddenly stop playing or go to visit another room
This doesn't mean they won't need to pee at other times. These are just times that carry an increased risk and you should definitely pay attention to.
At some point, your dog will make a small attempt at telling you they need to go outside. When they do, you need to be on it and reward their attempt! This could be as subtle as standing next to the door.
Each dog will develop their own unique signal for communicating to their owner that they need to go outside. This could be anything from spinning circles at the door, barking, pawing, to sitting in front of you, or making a low grumble.
Consider this event the one thing it's okay for your dog to train you to do as you each learn each other's communication styles.
How to Get a Stubborn Dog to Pee Outside
Mistake #5: Not crating
If you really want to master potty training QUICK for any age dog, put them in the crate if they are unsupervised.
Your dog can be potty trained without a crate. However, it will take a lot more leg work on your end to supervise and be diligent about taking your puppy outside, and you will most definitely have more set backs than someone who does not use a crate.
A dog or puppy who insists on inside being the only acceptable bathroom may even wait until they have the opportunity to go inside. The trick to defeating this? They only get free inside time after they've peed outside. Otherwise, they are in the crate.
This may seem cruel, because humans don't want to spend time waiting around in a crate. However, proper crate training shows a dog how to treat the crate like a bedroom, or a safe space where they can relax and hangout.
Two-Door Dog Crate
It's your energy and intent that will teach a dog how to respond to the crate. So, teaching your dog the benefits of crate training will only improve both your quality of life.
Consider how many times you've been frustrated and directed your negative energy at your dog because they peed in the house. When you leave your unpotty-trained dog unattended, you are flipping a coin on whether they are going to have an accident or not.
The easiest way to not flip the coin is to crate train your dog. Plus, crate training has lots of other key benefits for your dog as well.
A dog will WANT to keep their (properly sized) crate clean.
If your dog is having accidents in their crate, consider making it more of a den. This can mean adding some blankets, covering the crate, and ensuring that the crate you have is small enough.
Your dog's crate should be big enough for them to turn around in and that's it. It should be like a bedroom- not a studio apartment where they have room for their bathroom and a bedroom.
Some other logistics to consider:
Consider moving your crate closer to the door, so that as soon as you let your dog out they go right outside.
Be sure to give your dog LOTS of praise when they finally do make the decision to go pee outside. You want to encourage that good things happen when they go outside.
When they are successful, they can have some freedom in the house for a few hours until they may have to go outside again. Then, you'll start the cycle all over again: crate and rotate until they pee outside again.
How long should you wait outside for your puppy to pee?
How long you wait outside depends on your puppy. Some puppies only need a few seconds to figure out that outside smells like the bathroom. Other puppies may need a few minutes to find the right spot that smells just right.
On the other hand, puppies who maybe need use the bathroom won't need as much time for you to wait for them as puppies who may not need to or just went earlier.
In some cases, you could consider adding a lot of straw to your dog's crate. This is a common hack for separation anxiety, but could also work to help your dog feel like they have a den. Therefore, they will be more inclined to keep it clean.
If you are still struggling, it may be time to seek the help of a dog trainer to figure out where the disconnect lies for your dog. Have questions about potty training? Send an email to a professional dog trainer at alex@alexliggett.com.
