Like it or not, potty training is not a puppy issue or a behavior problem. It’s your responsibility to teach a new puppy how to go potty outside in the grass instead of in the house. Some dog breeders might begin potty training the puppies outside in grass starting at 4 weeks old. It’s your job to follow through once you get the puppy home.
The puppy doesn't care where it goes potty; it just knows that it needs to eliminate. It doesn't care if it's on your floor, on your carpet, on a pee pad, on your driveway, sidewalk, or on grass.
Remember that puppies do not know much of anything when they come to your home. You have to teach them everything, including house manners. In addition, think about how stressful it can be for them to be in a new home with a new human at such a young age. Try to keep things simple by showing them what you want and rewarding that behavior, not reinforcing bad behaviors.
In my dog training career, I have found that a puppy with no rules, boundaries, obedience, or discipline is harder to potty train. The first day I had my puppy Dixie, I set a boundary that she could not come into my bedroom because it had carpet. I pointed to her bed in the living room and told her to stay. When she tried to follow me into the bedroom, I looked at her and pointed back to her bed. I posted this video on my Instagram page, and people were amazed at how effective this exercise was, with almost no commands, just body language.
In my books, The Complete Puppy Training Manual and Potty Training Your Puppy, I discuss the importance of leadership, trust, rules, boundaries, and basic obedience. It’s a great idea to begin implementing all of these as soon as possible with your new puppy and help to make potty training easier for them by understanding how to learn and what behaviors you want from them.
The main goal of starting potty training immediately with your puppy is to prevent associations they acquire from going inside. Even if your puppy has gone potty inside the house a few times, that’s enough to develop an association that it’s the proper thing for them to do. Once your puppy has this programmed into their software, it becomes tough to change. The way to fix this problem is to start over, using the recommendations in this book.
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