7 Simple Tips on how to Potty Train a German Shepherd Puppy

German Shepherds are a very famous and lovable dog breed. If you love doggos, then you would definitely love German Shepherds. This is a highly trainable dog breed. That’s why they are in the military and in the police. German Shepherds are also a good sniffing dog breed. So, if you get a German Shepherd pup, it will be easy to train them from an early stage.

But training is easier said than done. You will have to make a real effort to train your doggo properly. And in this training process, potty training holds a significant part. If you don’t potty train your pups from an early stage, it will lead to tons of problems in the future. Therefore, potty training your German Shepherd puppy is essential.

Remember that it’s better and easier to teach your German Shepherd pups potty training with a guide. This is that guide. Follow these simple and easy tips on how to potty train a German Shepherd Puppy. If you follow these steps correctly, you can potty train your German Shepherd doggo within two weeks.

Create a Schedule for Potty training and strictly stick to it

In the first step, you have to make a potty schedule for your pups. But make sure that your pup has plenty of water to drink and food to eat in the day before you start the schedule. Also, make sure your pup has plenty of exercise on the day before you start this potty schedule. This potty schedule has two main schedules as follows.

Regular potty schedule

To prevent accidental pooping in the house, always try to take your pup outside in the morning and immediately after every meal. Also, try to take your pups outside a couple of times within the day. Make sure to do these steps every time you take your puppy out.

First, take them to an area where they can do their pooping business. It can be an area with grass or any natural surface so your doggo can do their business properly.
Take your pups to their potty area while putting on a leash. This will be helpful in the future when your doggo wants to go potty while going on a walk with you.
Have a simple command for potty like “Go poo” or “go pee”. And after your pup do their business when you command your pups, immediately praise your German Shepherd doggo for doing the right thing.
While on the training period, always make sure to reward your doggo when they do their business outside. You can reward your pup with simple snacks that they’d love.

Always follow these simple steps the same way every time you take your pups outside to do potty, so it would be a habit for your pups.

Regular feeding schedule

The other important thing is to have a regular feeding schedule. Every important meal such as breakfast, lunch and dinner should be given at the same time each and every day. This method will help you keep track of when your pup would go do potty business.

Take your puppy outside right after you finish feed them every meal. This will help your pup understand that going potty is an outside business.

Regarding dinner, it’s a good habit to feed your German Shepherd puppy their dinner 3 hours prior to their bedtime. This will give them the time they need to dissolve the food in their stomach so they don’t have any potty related accidents during the night. But, if they do potty inside, then take your pup outside right away and command them to go potty (the usual command you already using). This will help your pup realize that what they did was wrong, and they would understand that potty business is outside business.

When you create a schedule for potty and feeding, make sure it’s a schedule that you are comfortable with. If you are not at home during the day or if you live in an apartment, then a usual schedule might not be convenient for you. If you live in an apartment, taking your pups out at night can be difficult. If that occurs, you can use a crate instead. Instead of going out, train your pup to do potty business inside the crate.

Choosing a zone for potty

When doing potty training, it’s essential to choose a zone for potty business. This potty zone can be an area with grass or a natural surface. After every meal, take your pups to their potty zone and wait till they do their potty business. If they don’t do it after ten minutes, take your pups inside, wait for about half an hour and take them outside to the zone again. Wait again for about 5 minutes. If your pups don’t do their business again, take them inside and do this while they do their potty business at the right time.

When you are doing this, keep some treats with you and make sure you praise your pups and give them treats every time they do potty business at the right place. This will help your pup realize that doing potty business at the right place is the right thing to do. Also, use your potty command for your pups every time you take your pups to the potty zone.

Teach your doggo a command to do potty

It’s really important to teach your German Shepherd puppy some basic commands for different tasks. Like that, you have to teach your pups a simple command to do potty business. It can be something like “Go poo” or “Do potty.” Keep in mind that you have to use one command or one phrase for a single task. So choose one and stick to it.

When you take your pups out for potty business, wait until your pup is about to do potty business. When they are getting ready to go potty, use your command. Say the phrase you choose loudly and firmly so your pups can hear you. While saying that, use a hand gesture to get pup’s attention, like a clap or tap the floor. This will help your pups understand that it’s the right time to do potty.

Train your pups to tell you when they need to potty

This is also a crucial step, and it would really come in handy if your doggo has a way to tell you if they need to do potty business. Since your doggo can’t talk, the easiest and most practical way for this is to teach your pups to use a bell when they need to go potty. For this, get a potty bell and hang it on the door you have to open to go outside. After that, whenever you take your German Shepherd puppy outside to do potty business, before you open the door, ring the bell yourself. Make sure that your pup follows you to the door before ringing the bell. After that, take your pups outside and let them do their potty business. Do this all the time you take your pups outside for potty business, and eventually, your pups will understand that ringing this bell means it’s time to go potty. Then they will ring the bell themselves when they need to go potty.

Some signs indicate that your pups need to poop. For example, if your pups start to lick their paws, constantly start to sniff and pace around, or starts whining and walk around circles, it means they need to poo. You can look for these signs before they accidentally do their potty business inside the house. In a scenario like that, quickly take your pups outside so they can do their potty business in their potty zone.

Praise your pup quickly when they do potty in the potty zone.

The best way of telling your German Shepherd puppy that they have done the right thing is by immediately praising them. When you praise your pups right after they have done their potty business correctly at the potty zone, use a phrase like “Good job” or “Good boy” and pat their head. In the early stages, it’s also better to give them a treat while praising them, so they know what they did was right. This will help your pups understand what is the right thing to do, so they will only try to do the right thing.

If you are using a bell to potty train a German Shepherd puppy, ring that bell right before praising them. This will help your pups understand that ringing the bell and getting rewards are connected firmly. So, they will try their best to do the right thing when they hear the bell.

Limit accidents when you are not at home

It’s not practical for you to stay home 24/7 and check if your pup wants to go potty. This is where you use a crate.

Get a crate that your pups can stand on and turn around comfortably. You can get a metal crate since it’s the most durable. But you can get a plastic crate also if you prefer or a different type. Then put the crate in a pleasant and calm area inside the house. Cover the crate with a blanket or something so it would feel nice and warm. Also, put some bedding so your pups can lie comfortably inside the crate. You can put your pup’s favourite toy inside it too.

When training, you can put a trail of treats from the door to the crate so your pups will eat along the path to the crate. Put some treats inside the crate and make sure that the treats inside the crate are even better.

You can put a chewing toy inside the crate, so it would be a pleasant surprise for your puppy once they get inside the crate. Do this a couple of times a day, and after a few days, your pup will get comfortable inside the crate at their own will. After that, they will mostly spend their time inside the crate when they are resting.

You can also use baby crates to restrict your pup’s access to different parts of your house when you are not at home.

After your pup is trained for a crate, when you are not at home, your pup would most definitely do potty inside the crate if they can’t go outside.

Deal with accidents properly.

You have to understand that you can’t stop potty accidents from happening entirely. So, you have to deal with accidents properly so it would not happen again.

Let’s say that you found out that your pup has done potty at the wrong place or trying to go potty at the wrong place. Quickly interrupt them with a sharp and loud noise. For that, you can clap or tap with a spoon. After you interrupt your pups, take them immediately outside to their potty zone so they can finish their business.

Sometimes, your pups might not go potty at the time of an accident. If that happens, use a particular phrase or a word only for this scenario. After your pup potty at the right place, praise them and give them a treat if you can at this time. So your pup can understand the right thing to do is to do potty business in the potty zone.

When you do these steps continuously, you can potty train a German Shepherd puppy very correctly. Usually, after about two weeks, your pup will get appropriately trained for their potty routine. Still, that can vary depending on various reasons. For example, you might not be able to stick to a strict schedule, or you might not get a chance to do this training continuously. When things like that happen, it might take more than two weeks for you to potty train a German Shepherd puppy. But your puppy will eventually get well trained since German Shepherds are one of the most intelligent dog breeds in the world.

If someone asked, “How to potty train a puppy?” like in general, these steps could be used for most breeds of puppies.

Another major question dog owners asked me was, “How do I stop my German shepherd puppy from peeing in the house?” Usually, with potty training, your pups will pee only outside. But sometimes, if your pup stays indoors for a long time, there can be pee-related accidents. If that happens, interrupt your pup and take them outside to do their business. If they pee outside in the proper zone, praise them, so they know they did the right thing.

Both genders of German Shepherds are the same when it comes to potty train. However, no gender is easier than the other regarding potty training. Usually, the best age to potty train a German Shepherd puppy is between 12 to 16 weeks. But you can potty train an 8 week old German Shepherd puppy without any issues. It can be a bit hard than the usual training, but it’s possible.

Usually, a German Shepherd poops 1 to 5 times a day. Still, it totally depends on their bowel movements, diet and feeding schedule. So a German Shepherd usually pees about 3 to 5 times a day. But if your doggo pee more than that, then there might be a urine infection, so you might have to take your doggo to the vet. Here are some useful information on how often a German Shepherd need to poop by their age.

This is how to potty train a German Shepherd puppy. Any dog owner can use these easy steps to properly potty train a German Shepherd puppy without any issues. But keep in mind that not all dogs are the same. So for some, it might take more than the usual amount of time and effort to properly potty trained.