The Best Way to React to a Puppy Accident

Being the naive dog mom that I am, I assumed after a year our dog would move away from his puppy tendencies. Meaning we wouldn’t have to worry about a puppy accident in the house. However, he proved me wrong today.

We were playing fetch, which is more like keep away, when suddenly Bran stops to pee. On the carpet. And not just a little bit, but a FLOOD! We have never had to experience a puppy accident in the house before, so at first I was a little deer in the head lights. But when the nightmare didn’t stop, I had to react. Here is my opinion of the best way to react to a puppy accident.

The Best Way to React to a Puppy Accident:

1. Remain Calm

My first instinct was to freak out, but that would not help the situation. You will want to remain calm and think clearly. Take a few deep breaths to clear your mind and focus on the situation at hand, instead of reacting out of emotion.

2. If close to an exit, try to stall the flow and go outside

Study your location. If you can make it to the door without a trail, then try to move in that direction. We were a story too high, and it was too strong of a stream, to make it to a doorway. I just had to let it happen.

3. If not, try to minimize the mess

Since we weren’t able to make it outside, I wanted to make sure that the puppy accident didn’t end up everywhere. The best way I found was to not have him move. Luckily we have wood floors and rug that can be thrown in the laundry. I also have invested in the Norwex mop, so clean up wasn’t too hard. I feel for those of you with carpet.

4. Reiterate your potty training to your puppy

Although you don’t want to yell at your puppy, you still need to remind them of where the bathroom is. Otherwise a puppy accident may become a regular at your house. Since this was our first experience, we had more questions to ask that our dog couldn’t answer. Between the questions of disbelief though, we managed to remind him that we go outside and ring the bell or bark by the door.

5. Make sure he feels loved

I’m sure he was just as embarrassed as we were shocked, so we didn’t want to humiliate him over a puppy accident. Once we had everything cleaned up, we pet him and told him that we still love him. These things happen. Your puppy will need to know that home is still a safe space.

Lesson learned. We now make sure to ask our puppy to go out if it’s been awhile, instead of waiting for him to tell us. We don’t want a replay of him being so excited that he forgets. I know pretty soon I’ll be wishing for the days when he was a puppy again, but for now I’m excited he’s moving away from puppy tendencies. I don’t want another puppy accident!