Potty training your puppy or adult rescue dog is just about the most challenging aspect of dog ownership.
But how do you get your dog to relieve himself exactly where you want him to? Potty training sprays can help your furry friend understand exactly where to go potty, making the learning process quicker and less stressful for everyone.
Read this guide to discover reviews and a buyer’s guide to the best dog potty training spray on the market today!
1. Amazonia Go Dog Potty Training Spray – Affordable and Effective
2. Simple Solution Puppy Training Spray – Perfect For Small Breeds
3. Petsafe Skip To My Loo Dog Training Scent – Effective and easy to use
4. Nature’s Miracle House-Breaking Training Spray – Best Value for the Money
5. NaturVet Potty Training Spray – Ideal for Indoor and Outdoor Use
6. Wee-Wee Housebreaking Aid – Best Budget Product
Whether you use potty training pads in your home or you want your dog to learn to go outside for his bathroom breaks, an effective potty training spray can make life much easier for both you and your dog.
Unless you fancy the idea of using dog urine to create your own DIY potty training spray, we recommend you choose one of the following excellent products.
Here are our reviews of six awesome dog potty training sprays that can help you teach your dog to use a designated bathroom spot.
Top 6 Dog Potty Training Sprays Reviews
1. Amazonia Go Dog Potty Training Spray
16.9 oz bottle
Easy to use
Amazonia Go Dog Potty Training spray for dogs is an easy-to-use, effective attractant spray that you can use indoors and outdoors.
To use the product, simply spray the part of your backyard where you want your dog to go potty. The spray carries an unmistakable scent that instantly tells your dog where to go. Once your dog has finished, reward him with treats and praise to tell him he’s done well.
The spray comes in a 16.9-ounce bottle with an easy-to-use spray mechanism.
Pros
• Convenient, plastic spray bottle
• Easy to use
• Generally effective indoors and outdoors, too
cons
• Users report varied results
2. Simple Solution Puppy Training Spray
16.9 oz bottle
Easy-to-use spray bottle
This potty training spray from Simple Solution is a scientifically formulated product that encourages dogs to relieve themselves in a designated potty area.
You can safely use the spray around other pets and children, but you must avoid the product coming into contact with mucous membranes or eyes. You can use the spray indoors and outdoors, and it’s suitable for use with puppy training pads or on grass.
Although the product scent is effective for dogs, it’s not an unpleasant or overwhelming smell for you.
Pros
• Convenient, plastic spray bottle
• Scientifically formulated odor
• Effective indoors and outdoors, too
cons
• Poor quality packaging
3. Petsafe Skip To My Loo Dog Training Scent
125 ml bottle
Plastic bottle
Petsafe’s cleverly named Skip To My Loo Dog Training Scent is useful for teaching your puppy or adult dog where he should go potty. The attractant mimics the scent of pee, telling your dog to use the sprayed area as a potty area. You can use the spray on pee pads, turf, or in your backyard.
Skip To My Loo potty training spray has an easy-to-use liquid applicator, and the formula is eco-friendly, so you can be confident the spray is safe for pets, people, and the planet.
The spray is USA-made and is suitable for dogs of all ages.
Pros
• Convenient plastic bottle
• Eco-friendly formula
• Suitable for dogs and puppies of all ages
cons
• Effectiveness varies
4. Nature’s Miracle House-Breaking Training Spray
18 oz and 16 oz bottles available
Plastic bottle
We think this potty training spray is excellent value for the money. The Nature’s Miracle spray can reduce potty training time by showing your dog where he should go potty.
Unlike many other sprays that use pungent attractant scents, this product contains pheromones that are undetectable to humans but powerful for dogs. You can use this spray outside and indoors, and it’s effective on turf, puppy training pads, and your garden.
The spray has a concentrated formula that’s designed to last, and it comes in a handy plastic spray bottle.
Pros
• Long-lasting, concentrated formula
• Pheromone formula
• Suitable for dogs and puppies of all ages
cons
• Some users complain that this potty product has an unpleasant scent
5. NaturVet Potty Training Spray
8 oz and 32 oz bottles available
Plastic bottle
NaturVet potty training spray is found by most users to be highly effective in teaching their adult dogs and puppies to use a particular spot for bathroom breaks.
You can use the spray outside and inside, and it’s suitable for use on puppy pads and indoor turf pads, as well as outdoors in your garden. Although this scented spray does work, it does present a hazard to humans and animals, so don’t ever spray it directly onto your dog.
Pros
• Can shorten potty training time
• Handy spray bottle
• Suitable for dogs and puppies of all ages
cons
• Hazardous to animals and humans
• Mixed results reported by users
6. Wee-Wee Housebreaking Aid
8 oz bottle
Plastic bottle
The Wee-Wee Housebreaking Aid is designed to teach both puppies and adult dogs to urinate and poop in designated areas, protecting your home from toilet accidents.
To use the spray indoors, simply spritz a two-inch area at the center of a puppy training pad and encourage your puppy to sniff it. For outdoor use, spray the spot where you want your canine companion to relieve himself and show him the place. For the best results, keep using the spray.
Pros
• Can be used indoors and outdoors
• Neat spray bottle
• Suitable for dogs and puppies of all ages
cons
• Mixed results reported by users
How Do Potty Training Sprays Work?
Potty training sprays for dogs are intended to make the housetraining process easier for both the pups and their owners.
Dogs are scent-oriented creatures that use their smell to communicate with other animals. Unfortunately, that can lead to your dog or puppy scent-marking areas in your home by peeing there. Potty training sprays turn the tables by using the dog’s natural instinct and olfactory senses to train your pet where you want him to do the deed!
Basically, you spray the product exactly where you want the dog to relieve himself. The spray contains a synthetic scent or pheromone that draws the puppy or dog to the area and stimulates the pup to pee or poop there. Gradually, your dog’s own scent permeates the potty area, and your pet understands that’s where he should relieve himself.
Potty training attractant scents come in either plastic spray bottles or plastic dropper bottles. Some sprays have an unpleasant odor or a strong smell, which is something to bear in mind if you plan on using the product indoors.
Use Potty Training Sprays with Caution
Toilet training sprays and drops can sometimes contain substances that might damage your floor coverings and grass. So, always carry out a test on a hidden area before you apply the spray more liberally.
Some pet owners also notice a strong smell when using the spray. So, if you’re highly sensitive to smells, bear that in mind before using attractant sprays or deterrent sprays.
Finally, some attractant sprays contain harsh chemicals that are harmful to animals and humans if the spray is ingested or comes into contact with your eyes or mucus membranes. So, always look for a non-toxic attractant spray if you have young kids, and keep the spray somewhere your children and other pets can’t get to it.
How Do I Apply Potty Training Sprays Outside?
Unless they live in an apartment with no outdoor space, most pet parents choose to teach their puppies and dogs to go outside for a potty stop.
Although you can use most potty training sprays outside on real grass or artificial grass as part of the housetraining process, there are a few factors that you need to consider:
- Automatic lawn sprinklers can quickly wash away the spray or drops, rendering the product ineffective in the potty training process.
- Heavy rain washes away the spray, so you’ll need to reapply the product often to retain its effectiveness for extended periods.
- If you have artificial grass, some attractant sprays can eventually stain the surface.
- Products such as weed killer and fertilizer can overpower potty training sprays.
For these reasons, pet parents need to choose an outside potty stop area for their dog that won’t be affected by the above. Otherwise, you’ll need to reapply the housetraining spray whenever your dog goes outside to relieve himself.
Potty Training Pads vs. Potty Training Sprays
If you use puppy pads for your dog, you might have noticed that many of these products are marketed as having a built-in attractant.
However, many dog owners report that those pee pads don’t work as well as a potty training attractant spray. So, we recommend that you buy unscented puppy training pads and use a potty training spray instead.
What About Dog Attractant Posts?
If you have a male dog that likes to cock his leg to pee, you might have noticed dog attractant posts in the accessories aisle in your local pet store.
So, what are dog attractant posts, and do they work?
Basically, these posts are a marker that has been treated with an attractant pheromone scent. You drive the post into the ground in your chosen potty spot in the hope that your dog will be drawn to the attractive scent and do his business there.
However, users reported that most dogs chose to use the unscented marker post that was sprayed with an attractant rather than the pre-treated pee post. Although the pre-treated posts don’t work so well, the idea behind the design is sound.
For example, if you use a cheap solar light on a stake sprayed with housetraining spray, you’ll even be able to see your dog when he goes outside for a final pee break before you go to bed at night!
FAQs
In this part of our guide, we answer some of the most commonly asked questions about dog potty training spray products and their use.
Q: What does potty training spray smell like?
A: The smell of housebreaking sprays varies considerably among products, depending on what they contain.
Most manufacturers of potty training sprays keep their exact ingredients list secret. However, according to various previous patents that were filed for potty training aids, common chemicals used include:
- Allyl phenylacetate: a synthetic chemical that gives off a fruity, honey-like smell.
- Synthetic pheromones: designed to replicate the chemical messages that dog pee contains. These products often have a pungent, unpleasant aroma.
- Caproic acid: an oily, colorless liquid that smells slightly cheesy and goaty.
Most manufacturers claim that their attractant product is a pleasant-smelling spray. However, some sprays smell better than others, and it’s a matter of trial and error to find one you like.
Q: What smell repels dogs from pooping?
A: During the housebreaking process, accidents are bound to happen. So, what smells can repel dogs from pooping where you don’t want them to?
You can buy dog repellent sprays that often work quite well. However, if you don’t want to use commercial pet products, you can take the DIY route instead. Scents including lemon eucalyptus, sour apple, lemon, orange, cinnamon, and eucalyptus are all effective repellants.
However, always use therapeutic or food-grade oils rather than those you use in diffusers, as those often contain harmful chemicals rather than natural ingredients.
Q: How often do I need to reapply a potty training spray?
A: That depends on where and what you are spraying. Ideally, you should get two or three days of attractive scent out of one single spray.
However, in reality, if your dog’s potty spot is indoors, you’ll need to apply the spray each time you change a training pad.
Outside in your backyard or garden, the frequency of application and reapplication depends on the weather and other factors, as described earlier. However, a daily application should work for a whole day.
Q: Do dog potty sprays work?
A: Although they’re relatively inexpensive, you want to know whether dog potty sprays actually work.
Well, the jury is out on whether these products work or not. While many pet parents claim that their potty training journey was made much easier and quicker by using a dog potty spray, others maintain that the spray didn’t work at all.
If the pee pad spray you chose doesn’t work the first time, you could try:
- Using two pee pads and layering the spray to create a more subtle smell
- Using more spray or drops to create a stronger scent
- If using a spray bottle, squeeze the trigger slowly to produce a dribble of scent rather than a spray. After all, real dog pee comes out in a stream, not a fine mist!
Final Thoughts
Did you enjoy our guide to the best dog potty training sprays? If you found the article helpful, please share it!
Our favorite dog potty training spray is the Simple Solution product. The training spray comes in a handy plastic bottle and is scientifically formulated to encourage dogs and puppies to use a designated potty area. The spray is suitable for indoor and outdoor use and has an inoffensive odor that’s not unpleasant or overwhelming.
Do you use a potty training spray for your pampered pooch? Tell us about your experience in the comments box below.