Some Things to Keep in Mind
• Crate Training will only be effective if you are diligent and consistent! 
• Your dog should never have full run of the house without direct supervision unless you trust him/her 110%
• If your dog has accidents in the house don’t blame him; it is your responsibility to keep an eye on him.
• Punishing your dog for having an accident will not only damage your relationship but you may also be making the problem worse.  Many dogs fear being punished for going potty so they get better at hiding their urination and defection (think expensive Persian Rug in the rarely used living room).
• Even potty trained dogs may have an accident in the house if they are not feeling well.
• Unaltered male dogs can be more difficult to potty-train as they tend to urine mark more than neutered males or females.

Step 1 Supervision and Management 
This is the most important part of potty training or re-potty training your adult dog.  Even if you “know” that your dog was potty trained in his previous home, assume that he was not.  When you are at home you should supervise your dog and limit his freedom.  Close bedroom doors, limit access to the upstairs or downstairs, use baby gates or tether him with a six foot leash.   It is important that you keep an eye on him so that he does not have the chance to make a mistake in the house.  This is especially important with small breed dogs!  Tethering (using a leash attached to a table leg or a person) is a very effective way of supervising a dog.  Watch for signs that she may need to go potty such as circling and sniffing; if you see these take your dog on leash to his potty area. 

 When you are going to be away from home or cannot directly supervise your dog a crate is an effective tool for confining her and preventing accidents.  The crate should be just large enough that your dog can easily stand up, turn around, and lie down in.  Dogs naturally don’t like to soil places in which they sleep so the crate can help teach your dog to hold her bowel/bladder.  For more information on crate training see our handout. 

Step 2 Establish a Routine
Start by getting your new dog on a routine.  A good rule of thumb is that your dog will need to go potty 4 hours after she eats. Don’t free fed your dog otherwise you will never know when she has to go potty.  Set your dog up on a feeding schedule of once or twice a day and her bowel movements will be more regular.     Let your dog go potty first thing in the morning, when you get home from work, and before you go to bed at night. 

Step 3 Potty Area 
You should establish an area outside where you want your dog to eliminate.  Take your dog, on leash to his potty area tell him, “Go Potty!” or “Do your business” or some other command you decide.  Give him a few minutes to relieve himself; if he does tell him what a good boy he is and make a big fuss over him bring him back inside (supervised)!  If he doesn’t eliminate take him back inside, put him back in his crate and try again in an hour. 

Step 4 Increasing your Dog’s Freedom!
Now that you have your dog on a schedule and he hasn’t had any accidents in the house it is time to start increasing his freedom.  Stop tethering him while you are home; give him a little more freedom and a little less supervision.  Put his crate with the door open in a closed bedroom.  Provide plenty of stuffed Kongs® and Nylabones® for him to chew on.  If your dog is successful in the bedroom (no accidents and no inappropriate items chewed) you can give him even more freedom.  If your dog makes a mistake just go back a few steps. 

Reverse Potty Training: Don’t make this mistake!
Reverse potty training is when a dog prefers or seems to prefer going to the bathroom in the house.  The owner will take the dog outside wait a few minutes and when the dog doesn’t eliminate the owner takes the dog inside only to have the dog immediately eliminate on the carpet!  How does this happen?  Well, usually the very busy owner takes the dog outside for a walk and as soon as the dog eliminates they take the dog inside.  Pretty quickly the dog learns that if they eliminate outside the walk ends and they have to go back inside; so the when the owner takes the dog outside she hold her bladder as long as she can and then as soon as they are back indoors she “goes”.  This can easily be prevented by a few easy steps: first always praise your dog for going potty outside, if your dog enjoys being outdoors give her a few minutes outside playing after she has gone potty.  Second after your dog goes potty outside bring him inside for a quick play session and third if your dog does not eliminate outside bring him back inside and immediately put him in his crate (try again in ½ hour). 

It is important to be very consistent with any potty training routine.  You want to prevent your dog from having accidents so supervision will be key, especially in the first few days and weeks.  If you kept on track with the potty training regiment or you have a potty-trained dog that suddenly starts having accidents in the house it is important to rule out medical conditions or other underlying problems.  If you suspect a medical condition you should seek advice from your veterinarian immediately.  If your dog is consistently urinating when he/she first sees you, during play, or during punishment this could be due to submissive urination (see handout on submissive urination).  Territorial marking is another common reason a pet may eliminate in inappropriate areas especially in multiple pet households.