How do I get my new puppy to potty outside instead of inside?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed
I'm a first time dog parent and adopted a 3 months old stray puppy. She used to potty outside on the first day but then she got used to our courtyard. Even taking her to the backyard didn't help. Thereafter we covered the access to the courtyard. Despite taking her out & keeping the back door open throughout the day, she still choose to potty inside the house. It's so frustrating! I stay with her outside after meals but she tries to get inside the house. How can I make her potty outdoors?
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on April 1st, 2019
Congratulations on your new puppy Ollie! I recommend crate training. This is often the fastest and most effective way to house train a dog. You can find many resources online or in training manuals. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
-
Published on December 29th, 2018
I would recommend crate training Teddy. He is still very young so I would give him time to become potty trained. For information on how to crate train here is a website you can look at. http://www.thejerseymoms.com/potty-train-your-puppy/ Thank you for using PetCoach.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Health & Wellbeing
Hello! I have 1 week that I brought my maltese dog home and he is 3mnth old. Im trying to potty train him now &every 2-3 hrs I take him to the toilet. He doesnt go on his own.If I dont get him to the toilet myself he will pee and poop around the hou
Congrats on your new dog! I would not punish him for going to the toilet in the house, that will not work to house train him. House training a puppy can takes weeks to months to happen, so patience is needed. It is normal what he is doing, and I will give you a method I recommend for getting him house trained. Start by keeping your puppy on a regular feeding schedule, and taking away his food between meals. Take him out to potty first thing every morning, and once every 30 minutes to an hour. Always make sure he goes out after meals, first thing when he wakes up from a nap, last thing before bedtime at night, and right before you leave the house. Take him to the same spot each time to go potty. His scent there will encourage him to go. Stay with him outside each time he goes to potty, at least until he is fully house trained. When he goes outside, praise him and give him a treat. You might want to consider crate training as part of his house training. It allows you to keep
Updated on September 24th, 2025
New Pet
I recently adopted an Australian Shepard mix. I need advice on what to do about him peeing on our stuff.
I would start at the basics and crate train him. This means getting him and crate and leaving him in there when you cannot monitor him. When he is outside of his crate, I would take him outside every hour and then 30 minutes after he eats/drinks. I will put a few links below to help reteach him how to be potty trained. If he is really anxious in a crate, you may consider getting him a calming collar like adaptil and calming chews like composure or the prescription version composure pro. You could also set up the crate with some calming essential oils near by but you will need to get some that are proven to be safe for dogs. Check out DoTerra oil or www.oilyvet.com I hope this helps! https://www.petco.com/content/petco/PetcoStore/en_US/pet-services/resource-center/new-pet/Puppy-and-Dog-Crate-Training.html https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/pets/dog-care/how-to-teach-your-dog-to-love-his-crate
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Hello! We adopted an 11 month dog who loves walks and even walked around the yard in the snow, but will rarely potty outside. We walk him for 10 mins or so in the morning and he won’t potty at all! Then when my husband comes home for lunch at 1, ther
It would help to know if you are kennel training. Most dogs will not potty in the kenne if the area is small enough. If you are not currently kenne training, I recommend to do some reading about how it’s done and then get started. If dogs were kept in a cage all the time and forced to mess in the cage, this will create a problem kennel training as the pet thinks this is normal. Please repost if that is the case. Continue to take him outside frequently. If you begin kennel training, take him outside and if he does not potty, take him back inside and put him back in the kennel for 30 minutes. Then take him outside again. Once he potties, praise him and give treats. Then he can be loose in the house. If he does not potty outside, back in the kennel he goes. Most dogs will learn quickly to potty outside so they can be free in the house. Be slow and consistent. Barry will be confused if everyone does not follow the same protocol. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any add
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
How will i make my puppy poop outside? Is it safe to make him poop in the bush backside.. A lot of cats comes there..
I would recommend crate training Teddy. He is still very young so I would give him time to become potty trained. For information on how to crate train here is a website you can look at. http://www.thejerseymoms.com/potty-train-your-puppy/ Thank you for using Boop by Petco.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
New Pet
Just adopted a two year old dog. She will not go to the bathroom outside and ends up having a single accident inside. I do live in NYC and she come from one of the effective areas of hurricane Florence. How can I help her go outside and more than
She may have been trained to potty inside, you can try leaving out potty pads for her to go inside. She may also not be used to having to go potty in a busy, loud, or concrete-filled environment. Give her more time. Keep treats in your pocket and take her out often. Use a command like "go potty" and repeat it when you first get outside. When she does go outside, give her treats and LOTS of praise (people should be thinking you are a wackadoo!). Eventually she will figure out that going outside is a good thing that makes you very happy.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
I recently adopted a dog from what I believed to be an in home shelter. When she came home, we found she was not crate trained, but trained to go in her crate. She won't go to the bathroom outside. How can we fix this and make it so she will go outsi
It's interesting that Luna was trained to go in the crate and not outside, as the crate is typically used to teach a dog to hold their bladder and bowels until they are let outside to potty. I will give you the method I recommend for potty training, which hopefully should help with Luna. Start by keeping Luna on a regular feeding schedule, and taking away her food between meals. Take her out to potty first thing every morning, and once every 30 minutes to an hour. Always make sure she goes out after meals, first thing when she wakes up from a nap, last thing before bedtime at night, and right before you leave the house. Take her to the same spot each time to go potty. Her scent there will encourage her to go. Stay with her outside each time she goes to potty, at least until she is fully house trained. When she goes outside, praise her and give her a treat.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Training & Behavior
I’ve had my 12-week-old miniature Australian shepherd for a little over a week, and he has still never gone pee or poo outside. Even when he was outside for over 5 hours straight after eating and drinking, he waited until we returned home and immedia
Potty training a puppy takes time and patience. I can give you a method to potty train Louie. Start by keeping your puppy on a regular feeding schedule, and taking away his food between meals. Take him out to potty first thing every morning, and once every 30 minutes to an hour. Always make sure he goes out after meals, first thing when he wakes up from a nap, last thing before bedtime at night, and right before you leave the house. Take him to the same spot each time to go potty. His scent there will encourage him to go. Stay with him outside each time he goes to potty, at least until he is fully house trained. When he goes outside, praise him and give him a treat. You might want to consider crate training as part of his house training. It allows you to keep an eye on him for signs that he has to go potty, and will teach him to hold it until you put him outdoors. The crate needs to be big enough for him to stand up, turn around, and lie down, but it should not be big enough
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
How can i train my puppy myself
I think it is best to tell us what you want to achieve so we can give you specific advices about it. This is a good website with general rules and instructions http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getting-a-dog-or-puppy/general-advice-about-caring-for-your-new-puppy-or-dog/toilet-training-for-puppies/ Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Health & Wellbeing
Our new 6 pound 2 year old rescue dog has never been potty trained. She was locked in a garage. She does not know what grass is. I’ve been taking her on walks with our other dog however, she doesn’t get it when she sees the our older dog. The other
It sounds like you are going to have to be very patient with Pookie. I have attached a handout below on house training a rescue dog. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1118 Keeping Pookie in a crate or otherwise confined in the house will be very important right now because otherwise she will think it is fine to go all over the house. Most dogs do not want to go in their crate, so hopefully that will help teach her to hold it until she is taken out. Remember that the word potty doesn't mean anything to Pookie at this point, so she is likely just confused when you use the word repeatedly. Since Pookie does not seem to know to go outside, you will likely need to spend a lot of time outside walking around until she just happens to go outside. You will then want to reward that behavior (using treats or verbal praise) to try to encourage it again. It will likely be a very slow process at first, so be patient and treat her as if she were a puppy who doesn't und
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Training & Behavior
Recently we rescued a 7 month old puppy. The home we previously came from locked him inside 24/7. He rarely went outside so he only knows to go anywhere he can. Any ideas/advice on how to potty train him? We are taking him out every 30 minutes and wa
I recommend crate training and neutering him. Intact males can be more difficult to housebreak than neutered males. https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-crate-train-your-dog/ Now, once your pup is adjusted to the crate and assuming he will not potty in the crate, you will do this: Use a leash or carry him directly from the crate to the yard. You need to avoid the opportunity for him to potty in the house. Give him 15 minutes outside. If nothing happens, use the leash or carry him from the yard and directly into the crate. Keep him in the crate for 30-45 minutes. Then use a leash or carry him directly outside. Repeat this until he eventually potties outside. As soon as he potties, praise and give treats. He needs to be rewarded so that he starts to understand. He can then have freedom in the house until you know he should need to potty again. Also, keep him on a leash in the house as this will prevent him from sneaking away. If he seems to be urinating frequently, have him checked
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Have A Vet Question?
Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.
