Potty Tray… FOR PUPPIES?!

As someone that never heard of it before, I can relate to the shock of a puppy using a potty tray! It’s a little bit of an odd concept when applied to a dog.

BUT it’s truly amazing. We introduce the potty tray at 3 weeks. When introduced early we have found that by 5 weeks, almost everyone is strictly peeing and pooping in the potty tray. This is life changing! It’s teaching them from a very young age that there’s a potty place. And to keep their “den” clean.

From a new puppy family perspective, it makes transition to outside potty training so much smoother. With Gnocchi and Apple, they only had 1 or 2 accidents when transitioning from the potty tray to outside because we weren’t paying attention. So to no fault of their own.

The potty tray also allows for a safe environment for them to relieve themselves until they are fully vaccinated! We really encourage families to continue potty tray use until after their 12 week vaccines as an extra precaution against all the nasty germs and viruses outside. Parvo and so many other viruses can quickly kill a puppy before they are fully vaccinated.

I could probably write a book about potty tray training for puppies, so I won’t go on unless you have specific questions or need more details about something. But seriously it’s the best not just for their protection but it also makes the transition home much less stressful for you as the new puppy parent!

What do we do once we get home?

Start with the potty tray in the playpen. That’s the place they really need to be the first few days to the first week, so that they can feel safe and secure while adjusting to all the new things. We’ve had families move the potty tray out of the playpen when the puppies are not in there and they run to potty in it while they’re out. However, they first must know their area before venturing outside the playpen.

***Disclaimer - you MUST still have eyes on your puppy 100% of the time if they aren’t in the playpen. Puppies are puppies and just because the potty tray is out, doesn’t mean they’ll remember in time to get to it. Gradually work towards more freedom as they become reliable with potty training. Do not let them free roam! They’re still babies and not perfect, so if you can’t watch them 100% of the time, they should be in their playpen.***

We’re ready to move outside, but how?

Once you’re ready to transition to outside - what we did was: move the potty tray to the door, watch for when the puppy would run to the tray, then quickly redirect to outside. Gradually they stopped using it and would only go outside. You can also move it outside, so that your puppy makes the connection with going outside to potty. It’s also a good idea to set a timer and take them out on a schedule until it starts to click for your puppy.

***Another perk to the potty tray is that you learn their cues and habits. So watching for those when you start training to outside is sooooo helpful!

How do they learn to use a potty tray?

When we start training them at 3 weeks, we put them in their potty tray as soon as they wake up, after every feeding and anytime we put them back in the playpen. So they get the idea that this is where we potty. If you show your puppy immediately where the potty tray is at in the playpen once you get home and let them get familiar with that area, they should consistently use their potty tray.