Usually, during potty training your puppy or older dog, you fix one potty spot. And that is a good thing. Like humans, dogs also feel comfortable with their own spot.
Like when you are someone’s home, you would want to come back home and go to your own toilet unless you have an urgent need.
For the long term, you need your dog to be flexible. Right?
Quick Navigation
- When do you need to train your dog to pee in a new place?
- 4 keys of tranitioning
- How to get your dog to pee in a new place
- Tips to make the transition successful
- Frequently asked questions.
When do you need to train your dog to pee in a new place?
In these situations, you might want to get your dog to pee in a new place. We are going to provide you with the guidelines below for all of these situations.
- The current place is destroyed: if your dog has been peeing in one single place on your lawn, it may destroy the grass. You would want to train him to use another place.
- You moved to a new place: if you are moving from one place to another (shifting your house) you may have to retrain him to pee in a different place.
- Weather is becoming extreme: If your dog usually pees outside, but it’s raining or it’s too cold for both of you, you might want to change his place.
- Transitioning pee pad to outside: usually people potty train their puppy on pads initially and they transition them outside later on.
- Getting your dog to pee while traveling: If you are taking your dog with you while traveling, you will have to get him to pee in a new place.
4 keys to transition your puppy from one place to another:
- Make him familiar with the new place. Make him realize that the new place is safe for him.
- Getting back to basics. Even if he was fully potty trained, but still you will need to be with him and show him that what is his next action plan.
- Being consistent: You need to be consistent with the new schedule. If you won’t be! You will make your dog confused and he may get regressed.
- Positive reinforcement: You need to create a positive association between your dog and the new place. Treats will help you.
Now moving to the next step. Here’s how you would deal with different situations.
1- How to get a dog to pee in a different place in the same area:
If your lawn grass is just destroyed and you want to change your place in the same area, follow these steps.
Step 1- Clean the current area perfectly and spray puppy repellent spray:
First thing first, dogs go to the same place again and again because they smell pee there. So the best thing is to remove the dog pee smell from the area where you do not want him to go.
Use a great enzymatic cleaner (choosing according to the surface type) to clean up and then you can spray some puppy repellent on that area to keep your dog away.
Just mix 50% vinegar and 50% water and spray on that area. (Find out more information about what neutralizes dog urine)
Step 2- Make your dog familiar with the new place:
Put your dog on a leash and take him to the new area. Give him a treat there and let him stay there for a few minutes.
Step 3- Get back to basics:
You need to retrain him even after he is fully potty trained.
Take him to the new potty spot right after he wakes up, 5-30 minutes after eating and drinking (whatever is his schedule), right after a play session, right before bed, and every 3-4 hours (depending upon his age).
Step 4- Reward him immediately:
When he does the deed in the right place, immediately reward him with a treat. Just like we do with regular training.
2- How to get a dog to pee outside when you move to a new house:
When a family moves to a new place, dogs and puppies often forget their training because of several reasons, including unfamiliarity, anxiety, etc. It is called puppy potty training regression.
In such a case, what can you do?
Step 1- Take your dog to the new house before shifting:
Visit your new house with your dog before moving there, so he could become familiar.
As soon as you enter the new house, give him a treat, so he could have a feeling of positivity.
This step can not be suitable if you are moving to a new city and don’t have a chance to visit the new place.
Step 2- Beware of urine marking:
Dogs mark new objects with their urine. It’s a dog way to write their name on anything.
Beware of this thing.
As soon as you enter the new house, keep an eye on him. If you find him investigating something and sniffing any object, or lifting his leg. Immediately stop him with a clap and distract him.
Take him to the potty spot.
Step 3- Choose the new potty spot wisely and keep your dog near to that area:
While choosing the new potty spot, do not try to change things for him.
If he was trained to go on grass, fix a grassy area as his potty spot.
If he was used to going on pee pads, provide him with the pads.
Say if he is used to going on grass, but your new house doesn’t have a lawn, get him grass pads.
Say if your old house didn’t have a lawn and you trained him to go potty on the pads. Now you are in a new house with a lawn, don’t try to immediately train him to go on grass. Provide him with the pads initially and transition him to the lawn later on.
Step 4- Get back to the basics:
After fixing the potty spot, start the basic training, like putting him on a leash and taking him to the spot at regular intervals, according to his schedule.
Your dog will eventually learn to go to the new place.
3- How to get your dog to pee when the weather is extreme.
If you want to transition him to a new place due to bad weather, like rain, cold, or snow.
It’s a whole long story, we have a complete article on this topic. You can read that here.
4- Transitioning a dog from pee pads to going outside:
You need to be very consistent while doing this. (puppy potty training on pads)
- Step 1: Slowly move the pee pad towards the door, from where you want him to go outside. Like every time he goes to pee, his pad should be a little nearer to the dear. Take it step-by-step.
- Step 2- Open the door and keep his pad right in the middle of the way.
- Step 3- Move the pee pad out of the house where you want him to go.
- Step 4- Fold the pee pad to make it smaller and smaller and smaller.
- Step 5- Reward your dog when he pees on a smaller pad.
- Step 6- Keep reducing the size of the pad until your dog starts touching the grass or the surface where you want him to go.
- Step 7- Give him a treat every time he goes to the right spot.
- Step 8- When he becomes comfortable with the new surface, just remove the pee pad completely and keep giving him a reward for peeing on the new surface for a few more days.
You can do the opposite too. Get a grass pad or fresh grass patch and cover that with his usual pee pad. Slowly reduce the size of the pad by folding it and when he becomes comfortable on grass, you can slowly transition him outside.
5- Getting your dog to pee in a new place when you are traveling:
If your puppy or dog is not yet potty trained, we recommend that keep him at home. Until he learns.
What you have to do is:
- Give him food and water 2 hours before leaving the house. Don’t feed him after that.
- Provide him with a bathroom break, right before leaving.
- If your dog goes on pads, keep a stock with you and if he goes on grass, you can keep the grass pads with you.
- On the way, when he needs to go, stop the car and provide him with a spot like a pee pad, grass pad, or concrete (whatever it is)
- Take him to the spot and give him the treat to make a positive association.
- You must have a fixed potty command like “go potty”. Your dog should know what you are asking him to do.
- Your dog must go there, give him another treat right after he does the deed.
- Wait a few minutes to see if he needs to go again.
- If you are on a plane, take him to the bathroom, cover the floor with the pad, ask him to “go potty” and remove the pee pad. You can use a poop bag to dispose of it. Make sure to put double or even triple layers of poop bags on it.
- If you are on a long journey, and it’s time to feed your dog then it is best to take a half or one-hour break. Feed him and wait for him to go potty and then start traveling again.
Have any more questions? Check out the FAQ section below:
Tips to successfully get a dog to pee on a new place:
- Clean the current place: When you are transitioning him from one place to another, the current place should not smell like pee, otherwise your dog will want to go there again and again.
- Positive reinforcement: Do not underestimate the power of positive reinforcement while dealing with a dog. A treat, a word of praise, and patting do a great job.
- Routine is the key: Ever in your life, if you want your dog to behave, the key is the routine. If you will stick to a routine, he will understand your demands much quicker and you will not have any problems with him.
- Familiarity is crucial: Develop some familiarity with the new place. Like taking him to the new place, provide him with the same surface type, or maybe take his favorite toy with you.
- Use the similar command: Always use one command to let him know that now he has to go. Like most people use “go potty”.
- Be with him: Even if your dog is fully potty trained, it is best to be with him when you want him to pee in a new place. He will be more confident and transitioning will be smoother.
- Never yell: Yelling will do more harm than good, he won’t understand why you are raising your voice. He will be confused and won’t be able to follow the commands.
- Keep him on a leash: When you are taking him to a new place, put him on a leash to keep him near you.
Frequently asked questions:
Here are some frequently asked questions on this topic
1- What to do if your dog doesn’t go to a new place?
Even after following the process above, your dog is not liking to go to a new place (other than while traveling), you might like this idea.
“Make him urine mark there”
Take him to the new place after meal and water, ask him to go potty, if he doesn’t!
Ask anyone to take a new dog for a few seconds in front of him. He will try to mark his territory with urine.
And at this time, this is what you want. Now he smells pee there and he has done the deed there once.
The transition should be easier after that.
2- What to do if he goes inside after going outside?
If he goes inside after being inside, he might be trying urine marking there if you are in a new house.
Don’t yell at him, clean up the mess immediately with a good enzyme cleaner.
Do a better job in watching him and understanding him and his routine.
3- How to train your dog to go on concrete?
If your dog is currently used to going on grass, get a grass patch and place it on concrete.
Take your dog to that patch when he needs to go.
Reduce the size of the patch, gradually.
When one of his paws touches the concrete, treat him immediately.
Keep reducing the size of the patch and keep giving him treats whenever his paws touch the concrete. He will eventually feel comfortable going on concrete.
4- Do potty training spray work to make a dog pee in a different area?
Potty training sprays work, but it is a hit-and-trial method. Not every spray work for every dog. However, you can give them a try because they are not at all expensive. See which one works for your dog.
Spray the potty training spray on the area where you want your dog to go and take him there when he needs to pee.
5- What material do dogs like to pee on?
It varies from dog to dog. Depends upon where they have been going in the past. If he is trained to go on grass, he would prefer grass. A stray dog would prefer concrete. A puppy mill dog will feel fine with hard surfaces.
6- Do dogs prefer to pee on grass?
Not really, it depends upon where they have been trained to go.
7- What smell attracts dogs to pee?
The smell of pee will attract the dogs to pee there again. Some potty training sprays may also work. They are made up of materials that smell like dog’s pee so that might attract a dog to urinate there again.
