Potty Training Fails: What Your Puppy Is Trying To Tell You #312
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 17 October 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
If your puppy's potty training isn't going as planned and you're finding puddles where you least expect them, it might be time for a reset. In this episode, I share the 10 most common reasons why puppies have accidents in the house and what you can do to help. You'll discover how to recognize your puppy's "tells," adjust routines, supervision, and expectations and bring clarity and confidence back to potty training for both you and your puppy.
In this episode, you'll hear:
• Why a "potty trained" puppy might still have accidents in the house.
• How the H.O.T. Method helps set every puppy up for success.
• How accidents could signal a possible health issue and how to rule them out.
• Why some puppies avoid going outside in certain weather or on specific surfaces.
• How setting realistic expectations helps both you and your puppy.
• The connection between supervision, freedom, and potty training progress.
• The difference between managing behavior and actually training it.
• How to recognize your puppy's "tells" and teach them to communicate.
• Examples of some of my own dog's "tells."
• Simple routines that make potty training consistent and reliable.
• Why proper clean-up prevents repeat accidents.
• How emotions or scolding can create confusion.
• What might be reinforcing your puppy's indoor accidents.
• How to use a positive interrupter to redirect accidents before they happen.
• Why celebrating small wins builds lasting success.
• How to see every accident as feedback and keep progress moving forward.
Resources:
1. Podcast Episode 48: Potty Train Your Puppy in a Week (Easy 3 Step Process) - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/48/
2. Podcast Episode 250: Expectations Vs Reality: Navigating The Path To Dog Training Success - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/250/
3. Podcast Episode 71: Pro Dog Trainer's Secret to Help Your Naughty Dog - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/71/
4. Podcast Episode 166: Puppy Freedom: How Much Is Too Much? - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/166/
5. Podcast Episode 30: Why Dog Crates Are Not Dog Cages - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/30/
6. YouTube Playlist: Target Training for Dogs with Susan Garrett - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLphRRSxcMHy3ylCyQ2bJQSCwo_ERiVHj3&si=43hw1UJ7r7fV12Sf
7. Podcast Episode 275: How To Teach A Dog To Speak: From Parlor Trick To Working Dog Skill - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/275/
8. Podcast Episode 115: Understanding Your Dog's Language - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/115/
9. Podcast Episode 254: Why Your Older Puppy Or Dog Is Not House Trained And What To Do About It - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/254/
10. Podcast Episode 140: Stop Your Puppy's Excited Peeing Or Submissive Urination - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/140/
11. Podcast Episode 2: Reinforcement - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/2/
12. Podcast Episode 158: Stop Your Dog's Unwanted Behaviors With This Positive Interrupter - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/158/
13. Podcast Episode 228: Navigating Failure In Dog Training: What's Your Plan B? - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/228/
14. Podcast Episode 234: How To Stop Puppy Biting: Avoid Mistakes With Susan Garrett's Backup Plan - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/234/
15. Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/EQpRKDaq9mQ
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | So, you think your five-month-old puppy is potty trained until a puddle on the kitchen floor |
| 0:04.8 | tells you otherwise. And now you're frustrated, disappointed, and maybe a tad angry. Well, |
| 0:12.7 | let's shelve all those emotions because today I'm going to share with you why the potty |
| 0:18.8 | training might not be going as well as you thought it was, what you can do |
| 0:23.7 | about it and how you can support yourself emotionally through this transition phase with your |
| 0:29.7 | puppy. |
| 0:41.6 | Hi, I'm Susan Garrett. |
| 0:43.1 | Welcome to Shape by Dog. And the good news is that there's probably a dozen reasons why your puppy is still not potty trained. |
| 0:50.5 | And not all of them lead back to you. |
| 0:53.8 | So, in this episode, we're going to build on episode number 48, where I explained my |
| 1:00.5 | H-O-T method of potty training your puppy and motivating your puppy to want to do their |
| 1:07.9 | business outside in the backyard and not anywhere in the house. So if you haven't |
| 1:13.9 | checked out that episode, that would be a brilliant place to start. The H-O-T method is all about |
| 1:20.1 | your habits, your powers of observations and the timetable that you have your puppy on. |
| 1:23.7 | But there's a lot of more good details in that episode. This episode is about |
| 1:27.9 | recalibrating your training and really doing a deep dive now that you know your puppy's true |
| 1:34.1 | habits. So, the reasons I mentioned off the top why a puppy might still be having |
| 1:40.2 | accidents in the house, the number one, which is not going to be any fault of your own, |
| 1:44.3 | might be an underlying health issue. So it could be that your puppy is picked up a bladder infection. |
| 1:49.0 | There could be any number of reasons. So always best to get your puppy to a veterinarian. |
| 1:54.1 | If the puppy is still having accidents in the house and you can't quite figure out why. |
| 1:58.1 | A great way to decide if your puppy potentially does have a medical |
... |
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