House Training Your Toy Breed

Anne Hendrickson
Aug 26, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Aug 6

The name is deceiving.

Housetraining isn't “training” at all! It is developing a bathroom preference.

You’re probably potty trained. Or are you?

Training can be skipped, forgotten, or half-done if someone doesn’t care. That probably doesn’t describe you and the toilet.

We call it “training” but really it is developing ingrained habits and preferences so extreme you have no desire (or possibly even ability) to do anything differently.

"Housetraining" is manipulating natural instincts to build the right surface preferences to go on.

In this guide, we will learn two core instincts and how to use them to drive the puppy to the right potty place.

Start with Instincts: Smell & Potty Away from Living Space

Dogs come pre-loaded with instincts that can either work with you or against you in house training:

Dogs want to potty away from their living space.
Smell tells them where to “go.”

Every bit of house training success starts here. You’re not “teaching” them a new behavior; smell is shaping their bathroom preferences. You are setting up the environment to make it happen.

Substrate Preference: What Surface is Their Bathroom?

We build a dog’s substrate preference by directing these "smell" and “move away” instincts to a specific surface—like grass, potty pads, or both. “Substrate” just means the ground or surface the dog will think of as their bathroom.

Once this preference is strong, your dog will ask you for access to it—by going to the door, ringing a bell, or barking.

Using potty pads? Keep them accessible. You don’t need to teach them to “ask” for access if the bathroom is always there.

The Power of Smell (It Works Both Ways)

Smell Fact 1:

Your puppy experiences the world with their nose in ways we can’t even comprehend. Their sense of smell is hundreds of times stronger than ours.

Smell Fact 2:

The smell of pee triggers the urge to pee. I have seen highly trained working dogs pee on a rug that had pee on it. (And yes. It was in my house).

Smell trumps everything. Substrate (bathroom) preference is built by smell.

How to Make Smell Work For You:

The bathroom surface (grass, potty pad) should smell like pee.
Nowhere else should.

How Smell Works Against You:

One accident on carpet can create a lasting “potty spot” if the smell isn’t fully removed.
To remove the odor you need a cleaner that destroys the urine molecule, like My Pet Peed or another oxygen-based cleaner.
In severe cases, you may need to seal subflooring with something like Kilz to trap lingering odors.

If your dog keeps returning to the same indoor spot, odds are their nose is leading them there. The best thing to do is put potty pads there to keep the smell from taking root in the wrong surface.

The Hidden Problem of “Non-Living Spaces”

Dogs naturally want to potty away from where they live. But if parts of your home—like a basement or unused guest room—don’t “feel” lived-in, your puppy may decide that’s a great bathroom.

The danger here is a self-reinforcing loop:

They potty in a “non-living space.”
No one notices and the smell builds up.
They build a substrate (bathroom) preference for that surface.
The problem gets worse without much effort from you.

It is the system working as designed. The core instincts were just channeled to the wrong surface.

Building Unbreakable Preferences: The Practical Guide

Right Place, Right Time

Spend as much time outside as possible.
Being in the right place at the right time builds preference naturally.
If you’re using potty pads, place them where your puppy naturally gravitates to go.

If you can’t be outside for long periods, aim for once an hour outings until habits are solid (toy breeds may need this for months).

Clean Up is Non-Negotiable

Accidents are not just accidents; they’re opportunities for the wrong preference to form.

Clean all accidents thoroughly. Use products that molecularly break down urine, not just mask it.

If not removed, the smell teaches your puppy exactly where to potty—just not where you want them to go.

The “Potty Pen” (For When You Can’t Supervise)

When supervision is absent, place your puppy in a pen designed to promote substrate preference through natural instincts.

Place potty pads at all accessible edges. (Far from "living" space.) Use alfalfa pellets for grass smell if you are trying to build a grass preference.
Place a cozy bed next to or very close to the potty pads.
Have food, water, toys in the pen with sufficient room to play without getting in the potty area. (They still will sometimes, which is OK. Just so they aren’t forced to with lack of space.)

Track Progress (Yes, Really)

Use an app or tracking spreadsheet. This will help you see progress and patterns and keep you on track for taking your pup outside.

When your dog goes.
Accidents vs. successes.

Apps: Puddles & Piles (single user), Wagaruffin (shared)

Low-tech: Spreadsheet taped to the fridge + a phone timer

Patience is Key

Every dog is different. Some catch on fast, some take time. Be patient with:

Your puppy.
Yourself.
Your family.

Why Toy Breeds Are Harder (But It’s Not Their Fault)

1. Neoteny: They Stay Babies

It's a feature, not a bug. Toy breeds are “neotenous”—they stay puppy-like. This makes them slower to develop in general. So housetraining takes more time.

When a Labrador scratches the door, she’s not thinking “I must go outside to potty,” she just feels a strong urge to get to her bathroom and is happy to demand it. Toy breeds often lack that pushiness. They are bred to be pretty agreeable companions.

2. Small Accidents Go Unnoticed

Tiny puddles dry fast. You might never see them—but the dog’s nose does. And that surface preference grows.

3. Sourcing (The “Puppy Mill” Effect)

Many toy breed puppies come from high-volume kennels where early surface preferences aren’t built correctly. You’re not fixing a “training” issue—you’re undoing deeply formed bad habits.

Final Thought: Training is Temporary—Preferences are Forever

You’re not training your dog; you’re building habits and preferences that become part of who they are. Once you’ve done that, the process becomes self-reinforcing. Stay patient, be vigilant and work with your puppies instincts.