My Dog Is 6 Months Old and Not Potty Trained

Most people expect all puppies to be potty-trained by the time it’s 6 months old. Find out why this isn’t happening to your puppy here.

Why does your 6 month old puppy still have “little accidents” indoors? The solution will depend on the reason why your puppy still isn’t potty trained. You can address any of these reasons by getting your puppy checked, creating a schedule for your puppy, and practicing good house training habits.

This article will tell you everything about what you can about a 6-month-old puppy that isn’t potty trained. First, it will cover some of the reasons why your puppy still isn’t potty trained. Next, you will read about what you can do to help your 6-month-old puppy get potty trained. It will go in-depth about how getting your puppy checked by a veterinarian, having a regular eating schedule, and consistent training are important in house training a dog. Finally, it will end with some helpful tips for house training a puppy.

Why Is My 6 Month Old Puppy Still Not Potty Trained?

The following sections will explain why your 6-month-old puppy still isn’t potty trained. There can be several reasons so it’s important to know which one applies to your pet. Each reason can be managed and remedied but they have different solutions from each other.

Your Puppy is Scared of the Outdoors

A surprisingly common reason why your puppy isn’t going out more often is that it thinks the outdoors is scary! Puppies tend to be wary of new places. Especially if they’re venturing them on their own. Most puppies feel unsafe when they’re outside without their owners. 

Puppies feel that they’re safer with you around because they think of you as their protector. As long as they have you by their side, they can do anything. So if you are simply letting your puppy outside into your backyard instead of accompanying it or taking it for walks, it might not be as confident in going out alone. Instead, it would rather relieve itself and “go potty” inside the comfort of your home.

Your Puppy Has a Medical Issue

Another more worrisome explain would be that your puppy might have a health problem. It might be struggling to urinate as often as it needs to because there’s something wrong with its urinary tract, organs, or diet. Some breeds are more prone to urinary issues than others.

Most medical issues at an early age tend to be congenital. However, other puppies might develop a problem because of their environment. Puppies are still growing so they tend to be more sensitive to viral and bacterial infections. If your puppy is responding well to training but still poops or pees indoors, it might have an illness you don’t know about.

How Do I Stop My 6 Month Old Puppy From Peeing in the House?

The good news is, there are a lot of things you can do to properly house train your puppy. Depending on the problem, you will have to try a certain approach. No matter what the cause is, with enough time and effort, your puppy will be potty trained in no time.

Take Your Puppy Outside More Often

The first step to successful potty training is simply accompanying your puppy during its trips to the bathroom. It’s important that you start with walks instead of letting your puppy have free time outside after meals. Going on walks establishes a routine and helps your puppy while it’s outside.

While you take your puppy on walks, it will become more familiar with the outdoors and feel confident about being outside. Eventually, it will be confident enough to be able to go outside without your company. You must be consistent about when you walk your dog. If you do it at the same time every day, your puppy will understand that that’s their time to pee or poop.

Create a Feeding Schedule and Water Log For Your Puppy

The next step would be to create a feeding schedule and log your puppy’s daily water intake. If you feed your puppy at the same time every day and take note of how much water it drinks, you’ll be able to predict when it needs to go outside. 

On average, 6-month-old puppies will need to poop or pee within the first 2 hours after their meal. During this 2 hour window, you must pay close attention to your puppy and keep an eye out for the signs that point to your puppy trying to communicate that they need to get out. So be sure to set alarms, have a handy notepad or logging device close to you, and get to know your puppy’s body language.

Take Your Puppy to the Vet

If going on walks and having a feeding schedule isn’t working for your puppy, you may want to consider consulting a veterinarian. Ideally, it would simply be a behavioral or timing issue, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Taking your puppy to the vet will help you better understand your puppy’s potty training issues. Your vet will likely check your puppy’s bladder, kidneys, and liver to rule out any illnesses. If they find something wrong, they will provide you with the advice, guidance, and medication you need to address it. 

Remember, it’s better and cheaper to prevent health issues rather than treat them!

Change Your House Training Plan

Chances are you already have your own house training plan. With the vast amount of resources that pet owners have access to now, there is also a lot of room for misinformation. Some pet owners might be following a plan that they think should work but is actually bad for their puppy.

If you are following your potty training plan but your puppy still isn’t showing any signs of change, the problem might be the plan and not your pet. In general, it’s best to go with positive reinforcement rather than punishing your pet. Puppies respond much better to rewards and praise because punishment simply makes them feel unsafe around you and can make them unable to pee or poop when they need to.

Final Thoughts

It can be frustrating to not see results when you’re doing what’s best for your puppy. Even if you feel stuck, you shouldn’t feel like you’re failing as an owner. Each puppy is unique and will need different plans of action for potty training.

The first step to fixing your puppy’s potty training issues is finding the root of the problem. You can’t start to properly potty train your 6-month-old puppy if you don’t know what’s wrong. So you should rule out all possibilities as soon as possible.

Once you’ve found the problem, you can easily apply a solution and make positive changes. No matter what the issue is, your puppy will eventually learn where it can and can’t relieve itself. At the end of the day, all the time and effort will be worth it for both you and your pet.