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Why is my Dog 6 Months Old and Not Potty Trained?

Why is my Dog 6 Months Old and Not Potty Trained

Taking care of a dog comes with plenty of responsibilities. You have to provide your canine friend with good care, nutrient-rich food, and ample playing time. But the most important thing you have to provide your puppy with is a good training routine.

Dogs need to be trained about all sorts of stuff, including potty training. Potty training is compulsory if you want to have a good relationship with your dog. Despite its importance, many dogs have a tough time being potty trained. This can cause many owners to get anxious. We have compiled this article to inform dog lovers of all the possible reasons of why your puppy is not potty trained.

Why is my Dog 6 Months Old and Not Potty Trained

The main reasons your 6 month old dog is not potty trained are excitement, canned food, distraction caused by toys, miscommunication, and lazy owners.

Excitement

One of the main reasons your 6-month-old dog isn’t potty trained is because they get too excited when they see you. This usually happens when your dog has already been outside for a long period of time. When you open the door to let them in, they will probably sprint towards you and come inside. They sometimes do this despite the fact that they still need to go to the bathroom.

Dogs won’t realize this until they are inside and have calmed down a little. Unfortunately, it might be too late for them to hold it any longer, and they will pee or poop inside. You can learn more about this subject in my article about why my dog won’t poop outside.

Canned food

While your dog might really enjoy their canned food, it does have some ramifications. First off, canned food is not the healthiest food out there for your puppy. Canned food is famously hard to digest, and therefore it can affect the routine at which your dog usually relieves himself. Canned food also has a high water content, which can make your dog pee more frequently.

Consuming canned food can easily make your dog have to relieve themselves at odd times. This includes right after they already peed, or randomly in the middle of the night. If you are sleeping when your dog has this urge, he doesn’t have a lot of options. He can either try to hold it till the morning, or pee inside the house. This is why removing canned food should be at the top of your priority list if you want your 6-month-old dog to be potty trained.

The distraction is caused by toys

Now, this might sound funny at first, but dogs can easily get distracted by their toys and completely forget about their potty training. When dogs start to play with a toy, it can cause them to delay their urge to relieve themselves. Sometimes, a dog might be so distracted that they don’t realize they have to go to the bathroom until its too late and they can’t hold it for another second.  

To avoid this from happening, owners must teach their dogs to stick to their potty routine even when they are playing with toys.

Owners failing to understand what their dogs are saying

Another primary reason for a 6 month old dog not being potty trained is the fact that most owners don’t realize when and what their dogs are trying to communicate to them. Owners must do their homework and study the body language that dogs exhibit when they have to go out to relieve themselves. A dog that has urge to go out and relieve himself will show the following signs.

  • They will wag his tail rapidly without letting it hit the ground.
  • Keep their head low to the ground.
  • They refuse to eat  
  • He will walk to a carpet surface and start to squat

Lazy Owners

A 6-month-old dog also might not be potty trained simply because the owner is too lazy. Such owners do not take their dogs out enough for walks and don’t give them enough attention in the house. Therefore, a dog might decide to pee in the house in order to get a response from them.

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