Potty Training Success (Schedules That Work)

When it comes to puppy bathroom behavior, there are some triggers and signs you probably have heard about, but there’s a third factor that tends to catch people out, and that’s the in-between potty breaks So we’ll talk about that too.  

Sometimes within a very short time of peeing outside.

That doesn’t mean you should stop taking your puppy outside at these trigger points. It’s very important that you continue to do this. 

But, you also need to provide your puppy with additional opportunities for bathroom visits, or you’ll find yourself having a lot of problems

Knowing when to schedule those bathroom visits, is what most new puppy parents struggle with

#3 Extra potty breaks

So taking your puppy outside at those trigger points, and whenever you see them sniff and circle are two good strategies. But you also to provide extra potty breaks. 

And that’s where schedules and timed guidelines can really help you. Especially if you are struggling with the whole potty training process

If you simply write a timetable of bathroom breaks for your puppy, you may find it difficult to keep to.

That’s because sometimes when you take your puppy outside, they may choose not to pee or poop at all. Yet they certainly won’t make it until the next bathroom break on your schedule.  And because sometimes, puppies need more frequent breaks at some times of the day than at other. 

It can take a week or two to get to know your puppy’s toileting pattern, but there is a way to minimize accidents during this period.

This system also works well for puppies that have regressed in their potty training or don’t seem to be making much progress

The potty training system I use to manage my puppies in the early days is what I call a puppy potty interval routine. And it incorporates the all important puppy Floor-time. 

Knowing what your puppy’s Floor-time is today, is the secret to success. I’ll explain how to calculate Floor-time in a moment. 

Potty Interval Routine Example

If you don’t have a smart phone you’ll need an alarm clock or cooking timer.

To get the system going, make a rough guess as to how long you think your puppy goes between toilet breaks at the moment. 

Don’t worry about what you think it should be, try to estimate what it is, right now. 

For this example, we’ll say its 30 minutes. Your puppy’s Floor-time will be half of that. So 15 minutes. 

Starting the routine

The next time your puppy pees anywhere, that is the start of your puppy’s potty interval schedule. 

As soon as the puppy has emptied their bladder, set a timer for 15 minutes. 

This is the amount of time that you can relax a little while your puppy plays or explores on the floor. And this is what I call Floor-time

Floor-time

During Floor-time you can do something that doesn’t involve watching the puppy like a hawk. 

That’s because if they emptied their bladder fully before you set your timer, your puppy is very unlikely to pee during the next 15 minutes

When your alarm goes off, that’s the end of Floor-time. You need to set the alarm again and while you wait for it to go off a second time, and this 15 minutes is Watch-time. 

Watch-time

During Watch-time, time supervise your puppy closely. Stay in your puppy zone with them, or follow them around and be ready to whisk them outside if you see the ‘signs’. 

When the alarm goes off for the second time, it’ll be 30 minutes since they last peed, and time to take them outside again. 

If the puppy doesn’t pee after 10 or 15 minutes outdoors, then you can either wait outside with them until they do pee, or bring them in and supervise them very closely indeed for another 15 minutes. This is Restraint-time. 

Restraint-time

Restraint-time means cuddling, or crating the puppy, or putting the puppy on a leash so that you can spot the signs of an impending bathroom event without fail! 

The puppy should never be loose on the floor during restraint time. At the end of restraint time take the puppy outside for another bathroom break. 

When the puppy does eventually pee, the clock starts from the beginning again. 

Do I really need to go to this trouble?

That depends on how you are getting on with potty training. Puppies have a powerful instinct to pee where they have peed before. So accidents breed more accidents.

If your puppy has taken a pee under your kitchen table two or three times in the last few days, this is a warning sign that bad habits could be building. And that you need to step in and ensure several accident free days in a row.

Potty interval training is also a good idea if you are feeling overwhelmed or frustrated with the whole potty training process. Or if you are worrying that your puppy is resisting training, or if you think they are deliberately peeing or pooping indoors. (They are not, but it can feel that way sometimes).

This system puts you back in control, and solves most potty training problems quite quickly

How long do I do this for?

Obviously this is quite an intensive process, you don’t want to be doing this every day for weeks on end. So the next task is to extend the intervals. 

And you’ll decide on the interval between bathroom breaks depending on what happened the last few cycles. 

Extending the times

If your puppy always pees outside when you take them out after the second alarm, and is no longer having accidents in the house, then after a couple of successful days, you could try a 40 minute cycle. 

If you’ve had to cuddle or crate them several times because they simply didn’t need to go after 30 minutes, then you could even shoot for 50 minutes or an hour next time. 

Those times and those intervals are just a rough guide. You don’t need to be a slave to them. And as the successful days begin to build up, you can reduce the proportion of the cycle that is Watch-time and Restraint-time.

It’s all about managing your puppy to build good habits and avoid accidents, until they are old enough to manage this for themselves. And you can always fall back on this system for a few days, if your puppy regresses.

Management vs training

Early potty training success is more about management than training. And with good management and a little luck it is possible to make tremendous progress in just a few days.

Mainly by having a routine that involves very frequent bathroom breaks and close supervision as a puppy’s bladder starts to fill again. And a routine that is tied to the puppy’s previous bathroom adventures, rather than to your clock. 

I think its important to be clear on what you have achieved here. At this point the puppy isn’t really trained, it’s just that you are managing the puppy effectively.

If you stopped doing this (and we all tend to let things slip occasionally) the puppy would most likely start having accidents in the house. 

And while I don’t want you to get terribly upset about your failures on this score, it is worth putting the effort into managing your puppy to avoid peeing or pooping in the house at all. 

With potty training, accidents tend to lead to more accidents, simply because puppies like to pee where they have peed before.

Happily, this instinct works in your favor too. The more times you get your puppy to pee out in your yard, the more likely they are to pee there next time you go outdoors together.