Puppy potty training chart

What’s on the chart

• Page 1: a week by the hour, 6 am to 11 pm plus the night, with three tick boxes per hour and day: pee in the right spot, poop in the right spot, accident indoors.
• An “on duty” column for who takes the puppy out at each hour, and a row for each day’s totals.
• Page 2: how to use the chart, signs your puppy needs to go, your routine and cue word, and a week-by-week table.
• US Letter and A4, fillable on screen. Print page 1 again for each new week.

How often does a puppy need to go out?

Often. The Kennel Club says young puppies need to pee at least every hour or two, and the RSPCA suggests a trip every 45 minutes to an hour, depending on age. Control improves with age: a common guide from the AKC and Humane World for Animals is about one hour per month of age, so a 3-month-old may manage about three hours.

Whatever the age, go out at the key moments: when your puppy wakes up, after meals, drinks and play, before bed, and before you leave and when you come back. Puppies usually pee within about 15 minutes of eating and poop within half an hour, says The Kennel Club.

How to use it

1. Put page 1 by the door you use for toilet trips, with a pen.
2. Each time your puppy goes, tick that hour: the drop for pee, the heap for poop, the house for an accident indoors.
3. Write who is on duty for each hour, so no trip is skipped because everyone thought someone else went.
4. Use the same spot and one cue word, and reward your puppy the moment they finish. Write the word on page 2 so the whole family says the same thing.
5. After a few days, read the pattern: the ticked hours are when your puppy needs to go. Plan a trip just before them.

When there’s an accident

Never punish it: The Kennel Club warns it can make a puppy scared of toileting in front of you, even outside. If you catch your puppy in the act, calmly take them to the right spot and praise them if they finish there. Clean the area thoroughly so the smell doesn’t draw them back; the AKC recommends an enzymatic cleaner.

Tick the house, then look at when accidents happen: Humane World for Animals suggests shortening the time between breaks. If accidents go on despite a steady routine, talk to your vet, because toileting indoors can have a health cause.

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