Stop a Dog from Having Accidents: Easy Potty Training Tips

For this Omaha dog training session we work with Dixie, a 3 year-old Rat Terrier mix. We shared some tips and tricks to stop a dog from having accidents in the house.

How to Stop a Dog from Having Accidents

I shared a number of potty training tips with the guardians and recorded them. You can learn how to use positive reinforcement to potty train an adult dog by watching below.

The video above shows that successful potty training for dogs requires consistency and positive reinforcement. It’s important to take the dog outside at certain times. Do this right after waking up, five minutes after eating, and fifteen minutes after playtime.

If the dog doesn’t go potty in five minutes, put them back in a crate or a safe area. Then give them another chance when they show signs that they need to go outside.

Punishing a dog for accidents, like rubbing their nose in it or yelling, can make potty training harder. Giving the dog treats and praise right after they go outside helps reinforce good behavior.

A bell can help signal when the dog needs to go outside. However, you should introduce it after the dog learns the basic potty command. Make sure to practice consistently before using the bell.

Additionally, it’s essential to distinguish between accidents, which are unintentional, and marking, which is a territorial dog behavior driven by insecurity. To fix marking issues, clear leadership is important. Set boundaries and limit the dog’s access to areas it has marked. This can help change the behavior.

Tips for Training a Rat Terrier

This kind of remedial potty training is usually pretty easy if you are consistent and observant. I am sure the guardians can fix the potty problems in a few weeks.

If the issue is dog marking, we talked a lot about how to build a good leader-follower relationship. Dixie showed some signs of insecurity as well as possessive or protective behavior around the family’s teen girls.

Rat Terriers have a protective nature and will bark to alert you of approaching people or animals. They can be careful around strangers and may need time to get used to new people.

However, with good socialization, they are usually not aggressive. As alert barkers, they will let you know when someone is close by. Their barking may come from being more aware than from a protective instinct.

Due to their small size, they lack the physical presence to deter intruders effectively. Their strong prey drive may also cause them to focus more on chasing small animals than addressing potential threats.

With proper socialization, they can be friendly with strangers, though they may remain somewhat reserved.

Adding rules, structure and increasing exercise should help reduce that protective behavior.

To help the guardians remember all the things we covered in this in-home Omaha dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video.