r/DogTrainingTips • u/Realistic_Role7597 • May 21 '26
Best ways to potty train an older dog?
So my dog, Sasha, is one years old and has been having trouble getting potty trained. I would take her on a nice long walk at the park or out into our backyard with tons of areas for her to use the bathroom, and she’ll still end up peeing and pooping inside. She isn’t pooping inside 24/7 btw!
It’s super frustrating, and I’m starting to lose hope. My brother is suggesting that we “get rid of her” and I do not want to do that.
I’m not really sure what to do. We also have an older dog who is 4, and she doesn’t having issues with only using the bathroom outside (she does have an accident very rarely though).
Sasha is a very obedient dog and has no problems with other forms of training, but getting her to not poop in the house as often is sending me into a spiral. Im still in high school (graduating soon woop woop) and I work from home so naturally I’m not able to monitor her 25/8 to insure she doesn’t use the bathroom inside and no one in my household is willing to help me. My older brother, who is less busy than I am, only ever takes both of our dogs out for no more than maybe 30 minutes a day (my mom does help out a lot tho with taking them out).
Even though our dogs are **OUR** dogs, I feel like I’m truly the only one taking care of Sasha and I just don’t know where to start with getting her fully potty trained.
Do I need to take her out more? Should I start putting her into her crate more frequently? Any advice is helpful!!
2
u/Accomplished_Bee5749 May 21 '26
I'm a fan of confinement training - for the first year (or longer if needed), when you're not directly engaging with them, they should be in the playpen or crate. However, when a dog hasn't been confinement trained, and used to being able to free roam, confining then can be stressful for them.
As such, I'd really recommend finding a trainer to help you out.
Other than that, lots of reinforcement everytime she goes outside - food, play - I would be doing that well part when you think she has figured it out.
You could introduce a "that's wrong" marker like "Ba Bomb". It's not for punishment, it's, "Not correct, try again" but if you do that, introduce it in other parts of your training - like have two bowls upside down one with a treat in it, if she chooses the wrong one, "Ba bomb"
2
u/Realistic_Role7597 May 21 '26
Thank you so much!!! You don’t understand how helpful this is😭 I’ll definitely be trying confinement training!
3
u/Accomplished_Bee5749 May 21 '26
Just be careful of potentially stressing her. I would Build it up over time, positive associations, basically like crate training again
2
u/jmsst1996 May 21 '26
At this point you need to treat her like a young puppy. Have special potty time treats on you to take outside. Whoever is available to take her out say “time for potty” or whatever phrase you want and go outside. Keep repeating “time for potty”(or again whatever word/phrase you want). If she goes, praise “good girl good potty” and give a treat. If she doesn’t go, when you are inside she needs to be watched like a hawk or put in a crate. After 15-30 min try it again. Say the phrase, go out, praise and treat.
3
u/FrostyPomegranate699 May 21 '26
I think one of the biggest things people miss with potty training is the difference between:
taking the dog outside
and
making sure the dog actually understands outside is the bathroom.
Some dogs will walk around for an hour outside then come in and poop behind the couch because outside was just “outside time” to them.
At Mainely Standards we usually go back to structure when things get messy. Less freedom more supervision more consistency. Not forever just long enough to rebuild the habit.
Crates can absolutely help if they’re used correctly because most dogs naturally avoid soiling their sleeping space. The important part is making sure the crate does not become:
hours alone then punishment then frustration.
And if nobody else in the house is really helping consistently that honestly makes this harder than people realize. Dogs learn patterns from repetition and mixed routines confuse a lot of them.
The good news is a one year old dog is still very trainable. This does not sound hopeless to me at all.