Dogs don't go where they sleep. Every puppy is born knowing that, and every adult dog keeps it, which is why going inside the house is not natural for a dog. He holds on as long as he can.
A puppy just can't hold on long yet. So toilet training isn't teaching him something new. It is learning his timing and leading him to the spot before his body decides for him.
An adult who starts going inside is a different case. He is telling you something changed.
Puppies: watch first, then lead
Learn his timing before you try to change it. Dogs go at their own set times. For most puppies that is a few minutes after a meal. Note how many minutes it takes for yours, and be at the spot then.
Watch his body. Sniffing the floor, circling, a little restlessness, a whine. When you see it, pick him up calmly and put him at the spot, with a light push in. It is fine if he doesn't go. You are showing him where, not making him perform.
If he goes in front of you, it isn't wrong. Say your word, "go susu" or whatever you'll use for life, while he goes. The word is the marker. Later you'll use it to tell him this is the place.
No treat for every pee. A treat can lead him to the spot. But a puppy rewarded for every pee learns that peeing gets food, and he pees for treats, in small amounts, everywhere in between.
Keep the day fixed. The same meal times, walk times and play times. A puppy on a fixed day goes at fixed times, and you can plan around him.
Accidents will happen. No yelling, no rubbing his nose in it, no rushing at him mid-pee. That only teaches him to hide when he goes, which makes training slower. Clean it up and watch more closely next time.
Excitement makes a young puppy pee. Again and again, a few drops at a time. That fades as he grows. Keep greetings calm and it fades faster.
Pee pads, only for the very young
Pee pads are for a puppy too young to go out, nothing more.
- Put pads in two or three places, not one.
- Pick him up and put him on one, again and again, at his times.
- Move toward the final spot step by step. Not straight from the bedroom to the bathroom in one jump.
- Make spots outside as early as he can go out.
If you can't watch him for a few hours, keep him in an enclosed space with a raised tray or pads, away from his bed.
An adult who goes inside
Going at home is unnatural for an adult dog. If he does it, either the puppy habit never got reset or something has changed.
No set outing times keeps the puppy habit. A dog with no fixed walks learns to go wherever and whenever. Fixed walks fix it.
To move him outside: watch his signs and take him out every time. Soon he starts coming to you when he needs to go.
Washroom training, I don't recommend. If you must, say the word as he goes outside, then use the same word at the home spot. Never stop his walks because he has a washroom.
On days you can't go out: dab his pee with a cloth outside and put the cloth at the home spot. Leash him, walk him to it, use the same word. His own smell tells him this is the place. His poop placed at the spot works the same way.
Toilet sprays don't work. Save the money.
Shouting makes it worse. A habit takes time to reset. Stay calm and stay consistent.
Fear peeing and excitement peeing
Fear loosens the bladder. A dog who pees when the walker arrives has learned that the leash means something scary. Pick up the leash at random times through the day, when you are going nowhere. Then take him out calmly.
A dog who pees when guests come, backing away with the tail going fast, is scared and excited at the same time. It isn't on purpose. Don't wait for real visits to fix it. Practise: take her out first, then bring her back in with a guest who ignores her until she settles.
A dog who pees, poops or tears things only when he is alone is frightened, and that is a different problem. Read separation anxiety.
Marking
Marking isn't a toilet training problem. It is territory.
It rises with:
- pent-up energy and too little exercise
- excitement at home
- a female in heat nearby
- the women of the house on their monthly cycle
New things in the house get marked. A new dog may pee where the others will smell it. A bed feels soft underfoot, the way mud does, which is why some dogs pick it.
The fix is the walk. Structured walks before any off-leash time, every day, for 30 days. Neutering reduces marking, it doesn't stop it.
When he was trained and it starts again
Ask what changed:
- office timings
- a new walker
- neutering
- heat or a false pregnancy
- outings that stopped
After neutering, some dogs leak, more when excited. It isn't lifelong. Keep the home calm and the walks on time.
Puppies and some adults leak in the cold or in their sleep. A raised, warm bed helps.
When it is his body, not training
Go to a vet, the same day, if:
- he strains with little or no urine, or his belly is tight
- you see white particles or pus in the pee
- he drinks and pees a lot, with low energy or no appetite, which needs a blood test
- the leaking after neutering keeps getting worse
What I'd want to know first
If you're stuck, write these down before you change anything:
- His age, and whether he is neutered or spayed, or she is in heat.
- Walk times and lengths, and whether the walk is structured or free.
- Meal times, and where and when he goes.
- Whether he is calm or nervous on walks and when he comes home.
- What changed lately.
The answer is usually in that list.
For the walk that fixes most of this, start with the walk course.
