The other day, I caught Matilda just as she was pooping on a plastic shopping bag I’d left on the floor.
She looked up at me, quivering, her ears crooked, as she squeezed out one of her famous logs.
She’s 1.5 years old, and fully potty-trained. She knew she wasn’t supposed to poop there, and I could tell by the look on her face that she was well aware.
What did I do?
I soothed her. I told her it was okay, and stroked her back until she finished.
Then, I cleaned up, asked her to ring her potty bell, and took her outside.
I didn’t yell at her, spank her, and scold her in any way.
I realized that I hadn’t left her a potty pad. I’m not sure if she remembered to ring her potty bell, but if she had, I must have not heard, or even ignored it. Maybe I’d been neglecting her, as I’ve been spending more time with my sister-in-law and her new husky pup. (Hi Janie!!!)
All in all, Matilda only pooped on the bag because she needed to go, and saw no better option. She even took care to use a piece of trash that was easy for me to clean up. She’s a good girl.
So I didn’t scold her.
And, guess what?
She hasn’t had any more accidents since.
What I’m getting at here, is, you don’t always need to scold your dog to make them behave.
Some positive trainers say you never need to scold your dog. As I get better and better at understanding dogs, I’m starting to think they’re right. I’m finding fewer and fewer reasons to so much as say, “No!” and discovering more creative ways to encourage good manners.
When Your Puppy Pees Or Poops On The Floor
If you’re potty-training your new puppy, you’re going to catch her mid-accident many, many times over the next few weeks.
Since she doesn’t already know the rules of the house, you will have to do something when you catch her having an accident.
The best thing to do is this:
- Pick her up, even if she’s still going. Even if she’s not going anymore. Be calm. Don’t say anything.
- Place her on her pad, or take her outside.
- If she finishes her business, or at least sniffs around, praise her and give her a yummy treat.
Picking up your dog mid-stream or mid-log is discouraging enough to prevent future accidents. Can you imagine someone grabbing you while you’re on the toilet? How annoying.
She’ll be happy to use the correct spot if she realizes that’s the only place she can relieve herself without being interrupted.
Saying or yelling “No!” just scares your dog. The potty-training process needs to be anything but scary. It’s harder for your dog to pee and poop when she’s afraid of you.
When you pick up your dog, and bring her to the appropriate place, the message is pretty clear.
In addition, the appropriate place should carry her own scent. Soak up her accidents with a pad, and leave her poop outside in her potty area. She’ll instinctively relieve herself in areas that smell like her own waste. That’s also why it’s so important that you properly clean her messes with an enzyme cleaner. If it smells like pee under your bed, she’ll keep peeing there.
Dogs don’t pee or poop where they eat and sleep. So, if there’s an area of the house where your dog won’t seem to stop having accidents, try moving her bed or food there. I can’t say I’ve tried it, but it could help!
Why Your Dog Pees And Poops On The Floor
I’ll leave you with this: remember your dog’s intention. Know her heart and mind.
More likely than not, your dog is peeing and pooping on the floor because she had to go.
She either didn’t know what else to do, or simply couldn’t hold it any longer.
Once she figures out what you want from her, she’s going to be more than happy to do it.
Visualize her as a perfectly trained pooch. Then work backwards to make it happen. Work on reducing accidents, avoid getting frustrated and don’t take shit too seriously.
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She also uses her pet copywriting business to make sure the best pet products and services get found online through catchy copy and fun, informative blog posts. She also provides product description writing services for ecommerce companies.
As a dog mom to Matilda and Cow, she spends most of her days taking long walks and practicing new tricks, and most nights trying to make the best of a very modest portion of her bed.
You'll also find her baking bread and making homemade pizza, laughing, painting and shopping.
Thank you for not scolding her! A lot of people think that scolding their dog will help with potty training because dogs “know” when they’ve done something wrong. Really all it does is make them scared to go potty in front of you. Which can lead to other behavioral problems where dogs will not go potty while on leash near you, etc. Dogs really don’t know right from wrong. When we scold them they just see us as scary monsters.
Great puppy mid-potty correction! Think about it – if you were having an ‘accident’ would you want someone to yell at you and yank you to the toilet? It’s not like we’re trying to be bad – it’s a bodily need, and really it’s a sign that we need to communicate better. That’s all. The world won’t stop spinning. Great approach – thank you!
I actually did the pick up and take outside with Jasmine. She started asking for door at the end of first day. She was fully potty trained in a week. But she was extremely smart too, though.
What a great article! We take the positive approach in our house too and it has worked wonders. No frustration or yelling and screaming. Just happy pups and happy people.
Great tips. I hate when people scold dogs for accidents. All that results in is a scared dog.
One of our neighbors offered to watch Mr. N but said she would rub his nose in an accident if he had one. Needless to say, she doesn’t watch him!
Such greattips. Thanks so much for sharing
I think this method is very effective.
Great suggestions! Positive reinforcement and training definitely go a longer way than punishing or yelling. I’m really glad that positive reinforcement is the method so many dog owners use these days.
Great post, I totally agree with you. Poor pup just had to go potty, she didn’t do it out of spite or to be naughty!
Agree. Kilo the Pug had lots of accidents at first. I think maybe one of his families had let him pee on their bath mats as they were not mobile and it is a hard habit to break. He also finds it more comfortable inside than in snow or rain. We never got mad – we just take him out every 2 hours and reward him when he pees or poos outside. We close the door to rooms that might tempt him and leave pads out in case he just has to go. He is so much betterer these days.
Potty training takes a lot of patience. I really like your method! So many people believe that punishment will work and it rarely has the desired effect. Being positive works a lot more reliably.
Great post with very helpful tips! Totally agree! Thanks for sharing!
I also do not scold my dogs for having an “accident”. Typically if a dog is making a mistake it is because they don’t understand what we want of them or we made it too hard (they really, really needed to go).
No, I can’t imagine being yanked off the toilet, and I might have a few, more colorful than “annoying” words to describe the event should it happen!
If only every new puppy person was required to take a positive potty training course. Would solve so many problems. But they can’t, so thanks for writing and sharing such great information! I don’t believe dogs should be punished for any reason. 🙂
Haha!
I wish! So many people give up their puppies around the tough stage, 6 months or so, especially when they have kids and other things going on in their life, and the responsibility becomes too much. But I know puppy parenthood is so much tougher than it has to be, because it can be so hard to figure out who to listen to!
So true. Just doing a post about Potty Training Pugs. We have gradually minimized Kilo’s accidents as we take him out for a quick walk every 2 hours and remind him. I used treats at first but now, I don’t even need to. I still leave pads in a few spots in case I run late or miss signs. He has a small bladder and sometimes he just has to go. Scolding or punishment would not have worked.
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good job with Kilo! I think having a small bladder makes small dogs so much harder to potty-train. It’s up to us to get them out when they need to go, but I’d rather have pads to clean up then let accidents happen.
Great article. Positive approach always gives great results, because as you said your dog is peeing and pooping on the floor because she had to go.
Great advice! This is really the way to go and to keep at it! Dogs learn through repetition, the more you repeat the more they become aware of what please you! Thank you for this!
Great article, I agree 100% that there are no need for yelling or spanking.
It will only provoke aggressive behavior.
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I have tried this method and honestly, it doesn’t work. I don’t know what to do, but I am at my wits end. I really think my puppy thinks, hey she isn’t upset so this is ok to do. Today, he has had three accidents, one in front of me and I yelled at him and promptly brought him into his quarantined area and I felt bad. Why? Now I am mad at myself for feeling that yelling was wrong. We will see if this method works.
I understand, I really do – when your pup has an accident in front of you, it shows that they are not afraid to use your house as a bathroom, but when you yell, or even use this method – picking them up and interrupting them – they can become afraid to relieve themselves in front of you, and then he’ll be more likely to have accidents behind the couch, when you’re not looking, etc. The best thing to do is prevent accidents as much as possible, but I know how hard it is to do that when your puppy has to go 15x+ per day. When Matilda was a puppy, I lost my patience and yelled, too, and it actually made the process take longer because she didn’t like relieving herself in front of me, indoors or out. So I went back to praising her just for using her pad, extra treats and playtime for going outside. It will pay off!
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Thanks for this advice… my Frenchie has accidents but I can never catch her in the act. I don’t know why she doesn’t ever make much of an attempt to go out but she will whine just to play outside lol. Guess it’s going to take some more time… she’s not even a year old yet!