How To Train A Dog Not To Pee In The House

For as much as dogs are lovely to have as pets, the unfortunate truth is that they are inevitably going to pee. That is especially true if they have been drinking a great deal of water. That isn’t really different from how the digest system of our bodies function. What you absolutely don’t want to happen, however, is for your dog to pee anywhere inside your home.

Can you even imagine, for example, if you slept with your dog only to wake up to him/her peeing on your bed? This is certainly a nightmare for dog owners and so you won’t want to have to go through something like that with your dog. So, with that in mind, I am going to show you how to train a dog not to pee in the house. Here are three ways in which you can do that.

Ways Of How To Train A Dog Not To Pee In The House

(Photo courtesy of Mike Cohen via Flickr)

1. Make A Schedule

You are going to want to set up a routine for you to take with your dog each and every day. Each morning once your dog wakes up from his/her sleep, you will want to take your dog outside for a few minutes.

Once your dog is back indoors, you will want to serve him breakfast along with a bowl of water. Once your dog is finished eating and drinking, wait for about five to thirty minutes and then take him/her back outside for a few minutes.

Sometime during the evening, go ahead and feed your dog his/her dinner along with a bowl of water. Wait for about five to thirty minutes after your dog finishes dinner and drinking water, then take him/her outdoors for a few minutes.

Throughout each day whenever you serve your dog a bowl of water, you will want to make sure to let him/her outside five to thirty minutes after he/she has drank water.

That way it will give your dog a chance to pee if he/she needs to. Also, you don’t want to be serving your dog bowls of water anytime after dinner because that will increase the risk that your dog will pee indoors overnight while you are sleeping.

You will also need to give your dog a consistent schedule of pee breaks in which you allow your dog outside to pee. That is because a dog’s bladder can only last for so long before a dog accidentally pees indoors.

Puppies, in particular, will need a lot of pee breaks throughout the day because their bladders are small to start with.

Puppies will need pee breaks once every two hours. So, if you are going to be away from home during the day, you will need to bring in somebody to watch your puppy during the time period. Adult dogs can probably hold their pee long enough to wait until their owners return home.

If you don’t feel confident that your dog won’t pee inside your house while you are gone, I would suggest that you keep your dog outdoors in a secure manner until you return home.

2. Use Your Dog’s Scent

If you have recent brought home a new dog for the first time, it may be that he/she will end up peeing inside your home the first one or two times. But, you can stop your dog from peeing inside your home again in the future. First, you will need to buy a cleaner that is designed for dog urine.

The Rocco & Roxie Supply Professional Strength Stain and Odor Eliminator is by far the most popular option. As soon as you identify where your dog’s pee is located, promptly use a washing cloth to clean it up.

Once you have cleaned up your dog’s pee, take that washing cloth outside and place it on a spot where you would like for your dog to pee in the future. Dogs are renowned for their excellent smelling.

So, your dog will follow you as you take the washing cloth with his/her pee on it. Leave the washing cloth on that spot for a little bit so that your dog can see where you want him/her to pee from now on.

Once you do that, go ahead and spray the urine cleaner on the spot where your dog previously peed. Make sure that you follow the instruction that is given on the dog urine cleaner in order to avoid confusing your dog about where he/she should be peeing in the future.

3. Use A Command

(Photo courtesy of Corinne Benavides via Flickr)

You are going to want to use a command in order to encourage your dog to pee once he/she gets ready to go pee. Make sure that your dog is at the designated spot for peeing outside before you give him/her the command. As for what command you should give your dog for peeing,

I would suggest using “potty time” or “do your business.” Either one of these two commands will work just fine. Just make sure that you are consistent in regards to which command you give your dog for peeing.

If your dog does in fact pee outside after you commanded him/her to do so, make sure that you praise him/her for that. Praising your dog by saying “good boy” or “good girl” should do it for him/her.

I would also reward your dog with a tasty treat, especially early on, in order to reinforce the desired behavior of your dog. A treat can be something like chicken or hot dog. I would check out the Canine Carry Outs Dog Treats as it is a popular option for treats.

There You Have It For How To Train A Dog Not To Pee In The House

These are the three ways that you can go about how to train a dog not to pee in the house. It may take up to a few weeks for your dog to get the hang of it, especially if he/she is a puppy, but these three methods will go a long way to stop your dog from peeing indoors.

Your ultimate goal is for your dog to only pee outdoors. This pee training is called housebreaking. When you are observing your dog, make sure that you watch out for certain body signs.

So, if you notice that your dog is sniffing around or going in circles, this is an indication that he/she needs to pee. Upon seeing any of these body signs, make sure to immediately let your dog out without any delay in case he/she needs to pee.

What are your thoughts? Have you had to deal with a situation in which your dog peed somewhere inside your house? Feel free to leave a comment below.

4 thoughts on “How To Train A Dog Not To Pee In The House”

  1. Thanks for some great tips for teaching dogs to stop peeing indoors.  We are struggling with this with my sister’s dog right now.  He pees in the house when he has been left there alone.  If someone is home, he doesn’t do it.  We believe it is an anxiety issue.  Any suggestions for this?

    Also, my buddy just got a new puppy (she’s a pit) and she is only a few months old.  He has already trained her to ring a bell that he has hanging from the front doorknob if she wants to go outside to potty.  I was pretty amazed by this the first time I saw her do it!.  

    Teach your dogs the minute you get them in your house so they don’t end up scenting your entire house with pee and making it fun, like ringing a bell, or as you said, giving a treat, is always better for the dog.  

    I am glad you did not talk about punishing the dog if it pees inside.  Instead, you focus on teaching the correct behavior.  That is how I would like to be treated so I figure my dogs deserve the dame respect.  

    Thanks for the info!

    Reply
  2. HI Michael. Thank you for very interesting article. I love dogs but at the beginning training them how to pee outside is always a challenge. Yet, looking on your post I see I made lot of mistakes and definitely with your advices and recommendations this process will be less painful. Looking forward to test them in practice.

    Reply
    • Oh sure, sounds like a plan. Yes, it can be challenging to get a dog to pee outside. But, with patience and determination, it can be done. I am glad that you found this article and hope that things will improve from now on as far as getting your dog to pee outside is concerned.

      Reply

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