A treat at the spot, the moment your puppy is done

Treats for potty training work as a fast thank you paid outdoors. Go out with your puppy, wait quietly, and hand over one tiny piece the moment it finishes, right at the spot. Keep a few pieces by the door so you are never empty handed, and give nothing at all for an accident inside.

When does the treat go to a puppy that just went outside?

The moment it finishes, and right where it went. Not while it is still going, and not later at the back door. That is why you walk out with the puppy and do not open the door and watch from the step: the pay has to come from your hand, at the spot, within about a second of the last drop.

Here is one trip outside from start to finish.

1. Take the pouch of tiny pieces with you and put the puppy on its leash.
2. Walk to the spot you want it to use, and stand still there.
3. Wait quietly while the puppy sniffs and circles. Do not talk it into anything.
4. When it is completely finished, hand over one tiny piece on the spot.
5. Head back in, and keep the trip short.

How small a piece should be, and how many a puppy can have in a day, belong to the guide on piece size and counting for puppies. Here the only point is the timing and the place.

Where do the potty treats wait between trips?

By the door, in something that closes. A small container or a zip bag works, and so does the pocket of the jacket you grab on your way out. A mechanic lays out the tools before the car rolls in, and this is the same idea: the pieces are ready before the puppy is. Put the container where your hand finds it without looking, and out of the puppy's reach.

Break them small ahead of time. Our listing describes the pieces as starting small and breaking smaller, so snapping a few down before you head out is quick work, and you are not wrestling with a big piece while your puppy finishes.

Pieces you move out of the bag are still part of that opened bag, so they sit inside its thirty days. That thirty day count is our own guidance. Pour out only what a trip needs.

Should going outside get a word of its own?

It can. Add the word while the puppy is already going, in a low voice, and use the same short word every trip. Keep it quiet, since a loud word is just another interruption, and you still pay the same way: one tiny piece, at the spot, once the puppy is done.

Later, if you like, you can say it as you reach the spot, a beat before the puppy starts. The pay does not move. It still arrives outdoors, at the spot, after the puppy finishes. We make no promise that a puppy will go when it hears the word, and we put no timeline on it. The word is something you say, and the treat is what you do.

What do you do after an accident inside?

Nothing is paid. There is no treat for an accident, no scolding and no correction of any kind. Clean up, and next time go out together sooner. Cleaning up happens inside and the pay happens outdoors, so the two stay apart. That is the whole response, and the next trip outside is the one you pay for.

If something seems off with your puppy, or changes suddenly, bring it to your veterinarian. A treat guide is the wrong place to look for that answer.

If you want a signal at the door later, a separate guide to a bell at the door builds one. We will not teach it here, because this page is about paying at the spot.

For the piece itself, our freeze dried cheddar bites are extras beside meals, not a meal of their own, and they contain dairy.