If you’ve just got a new puppy, then you’ve probably asked yourself the question, should I carry my puppy out to pee? The answer is yes, you can.
Generally, it’s recommended to carry your puppy out to pee but that’s only under two conditions. Firstly, your puppy is still young and secondly, you only do it until you start potty training your puppy.
As time goes by, you should stop carrying your puppy and start teaching them to express their need to go pee/poop or let them go on their own.
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Why You Should Carry Your Puppy Out to Pee
Let’s get this straight, when you carry your puppy outside you’ll be doing multiple things that are considered an advantage for your puppy.
You’re Teaching the Puppy
When you take your puppy outside, you’ll be teaching the puppy that your house is not a place to pee and there are specific places to do so.
When you teach your puppy to pee outside at a young age, you’ll be minimizing the risk of them peeing inside your house when they grow older.
You’re Reinforcing Their Willingness to Go Outside
Some puppies may be shy or scared to go outside. Not to mention, they may not be willing to go outside on their own.
When you accompany your puppy, you’re basically breaking their fear or shyness of going to the outside world.
What you’re doing is building your puppy's confidence in going outside. This is done by routinely showing them that there is nothing to be scared about outside.
You’re Protecting Your Puppy
The outside world is a vast place for your puppy to explore. That means they’ll come across things that can be dangerous to them, especially if they’re young and inexperienced.
This is why you have to be around your puppy to keep them away from things that may harm them.
Risk of Stairs
Let’s face it, small puppies look insanely cute when they’re trying to climb up a small stair with their tiny paws, but that can be very dangerous for young puppies.
The amount of effort and maneuvering the puppy will exert can increase the risk of your puppy getting arthritis or hip dysplasia in the future.
This is why it’s best to just carry the puppy, take it down the stairs and back up again when they’re finished.
Risk of Diseases
Puppies love to explore new things and experience different environments. The way they do that is through their paws and noses.
The puppy will start smelling and touching new things, which can be dangerous since your puppy hasn't received all their vaccinations yet.
If your puppy wants to pee somewhere that might’ve had other dogs or animals, the puppy might pick up illness. That’s why it’s worth the extra effort of carrying your puppy.
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When to Carry Your Puppy Out to Pee
By now you know it’s good to carry your puppy out to pee, but how would you know when to do it? Is there a perfect time for it or is the puppy going to tell you?
- Before bedtime: right before your puppy goes to sleep, carry the puppy for a quick potty time but make sure they understand it’s not playtime.
To do that, just use a command phrase like ‘night potty’ or ‘go potty.’
- In the middle of the night: This is very important as your puppy may not want to hold it while he is sleepy.
At this point, carrying your puppy is crucial to avoid midnight accidents.
- When he wakes up: Just as you’d go to the bathroom first thing in the morning, your puppy needs to do exactly like you.
- When they show signs: When you notice any signs of your puppy trying to tell you he wants to go potty, don’t think twice and just carry the puppy for his potty time.
4 Signs Your Puppy Wants to Go Pee/Poop
When your puppy wants to go potty, you’ll notice some specific actions that it uses to grab your attention. Let’s look at the most common ones.
- Sniffing the Ground
When you notice your puppy sniffing the ground, it may be the first sign that it needs to go potty.
- Circling
If you find your puppy circling and sniffing a certain area, this means your puppy is feeling the urge to poop.
- Whining
Whining is a great way for your puppy to communicate with you, but there is a small pickle here. How would you know if the whining is meant for going potty?
When your puppy whines at you, try walking towards the door you take when you carry the puppy outside. If you notice the puppy excited, then you should take your puppy to go potty.
- Scratching the Door
Scratching the door is a clear indicator that your puppy needs to go potty. But keep in mind, he’ll do that when he’s aware that this door is the way to the bathroom, aka your backyard.
How Long Should You Keep Carrying Your Puppy Out to Pee
Carrying a puppy is advantageous as long as you do it for the right period. What’s the right period?
The ideal period you should keep carrying your puppy for is about 13 to 14 weeks. That’s when your puppy is old enough to start potty training so you no longer have to carry the puppy.
A side note: Always remember that you’ll most likely find some accidents every now and then where your puppy had to potty inside your house.
If this happens, never shout or scold your puppy as this will only scare them. Just clean the area thoroughly so there isn’t any remaining odor as they might sniff around that area and just do it again.
When to Stop Carrying Your Puppy
Carrying your puppy has great advantages, but can also have disadvantages if you do it for too long. You should stop carrying your puppy out to pee when you potty train your puppy.
For example, if you train your puppy at the age of 12 to 14 weeks, your puppy will understand where exactly they should go when nature calls.
Your puppy will get the hang of things within a week, but to be on the safe side, you might want to keep carrying the puppy for 3 or 4 more weeks.
Paul has been creating content for the dog niche for many years. The information he shares comes his first hand experience growing up in dog lovers household and then owning multiple dog breeds of his own as an adult. Paul enjoys doing the hard research to collect, analyze and present our dogtemperament.com readers with the best answers to their questions.