Top 3 Best Potty Training Spray Attractants (17 Tested!)
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Are you potty training your dog and need help teaching him where to do his business? A potty training spray may be the perfect solution. These sprays guide your dog to where you want him to pee or poop – it’s like a magnet. Our team spent 80+ hours testing and reviewing 17 different potty training sprays and attractants. These can work for dogs of any age, not just puppies. Let’s get into it to find out what the best dog potty training spray is and if they really work.
With the help of dozens of dogs, we reviewed each spray’s success rate, ingredients, and duration of use to answer a simple question: Which potty training spray is best?
Top Pick | Runner Up | Outdoor | Budget |
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Bodhi Dog | PoochPad | NaturVet | Nature’s Miracle |
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Read Review | Read Review | Read Review | Read Review |
Best Potty Training Spray For Dogs
We are confident in our recommendations after countless hours of testing, sniffing, and watching our pups interact with the potty training sprays. I am happy to reveal the best potty training sprays ranked from best to worst. The further down the list, the less effective we found the spray.
Best Indoor Dog Potty Training Spray: Bodhi Dog Review
One potty training spray was unbeatable, with a 90% success rate. In 9/10 indoor tests, the Bodhi Potty Training attracted our dogs to a specific location. With a success rate like that, it’s easy to see why the Bodhi Dog Potty Training Spray is our top pick. The spray uses an all-natural formula of purified water, emulsifier, attractant, and preservatives.
Pricing
- Starts at $17.99 ($2.25 / Fl Oz)
Each bottle is 8 fl oz. While that may seem small, we could potty train multiple dogs off each bottle – with plenty left over. We found that 2-3 spray bottle pumps saw the best indoor and outdoor results. The scent is a little weird. Our reviewers struggled to describe it. It’s both sweet and bitter-smelling at the same time. It’s by no means a pleasant smell, but not unbearable.
But the smell isn’t for us. It’s for our dogs. Each initial spray resulted in our dogs coming over and sniffing that exact location. Fortunately, as the spray dries, the smell quickly fades, so it doesn’t linger and stink up your house. The Bodhi Dog Potty Training Spray was equally effective when used outside under specific circumstances. However, certain smells, such as fertilizers and weed sprays, seemed to overpower the spray.
But in low-traffic areas free from overpowering scents, Bodhi Dog was just as attractive outdoors as indoors.
The Bodhi Dog Potty Training Spray is our top pick if you mostly train indoors or want a good all-rounder. You can use it in combination with the Bohdi Not Here! Spray, which discourages peeing in the house. I find that one particularly effective with puppies and older dogs.
Runner Up: PoochPad Potty Training Spray Review
PoochPad manufactures a variety of potty products. They also sell a potty training spray to encourage your dog to pee on them. And it’s surprisingly good! Attracting dogs 8/10 times, the PoochPad Potty Training Attractant Spray is our runner-up recommendation.
Pricing
- Starts at $14.99
Of all the potty training sprays we reviewed, the PoochPad Attractant Spray had the most pleasant scent—a light floral aroma. And most of our dogs agreed: PoochPad has proven that it’s possible to make a dog potty training spray that is both effective and smells nice.
What I love most is the generous amount of attractant in the spray bottle. At 16 oz, there is more than enough spray to potty train multiple puppies. A single spray was all it took to grab our dogs’ attention.
Where the PoochPad spray truly shines is with those fake grass potties. The generous capacity is more than enough to last a day of potty training on fake grass, even if you hose the grass down multiple times each day. Unfortunately, a little too much comes out of the nozzle at a time for pee pads. After one squirt, it looks like your dog has already peed on the pad.
When used outside, it was overpowered by certain scents, such as fertilizer or freshly cut grass. It also needed to be reapplied more frequently than our outdoor pick. But if your dog didn’t respond to our previous recommendations, the Pooch Pad Attractant spray is certainly worth trying.
Best Outdoor Dog Potty Training Spray: NaturVet Potty Here Review
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This very effective spray by NaturVet can work indoors and outdoors. Though we like this for puppies, it is safe for pets of any age. NaturVet contains a unique, attractive scent that encourages canines to urinate. Spritz the spot you want dogs to use regularly to direct them to that area. NaturVet Potty Here spray is excellent for outdoor use and safe for lawns, artificial grass, puppy pads, and more. It is a simple formula containing water, preservatives, and a proprietary attractant scent. The unique scent appeals to dogs, and many responded fairly quickly.
Pricing
- Starts at $17.99
Most Affordable: Nature’s Miracle House Breaking Spray Review
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Another spray worth considering is Nature’s Miracle House Breaking Spray, which is also the cheapest potty training spray we tested. While it may be middle of the pack in terms of performance, it did manage to beat a number of sprays that were many times its price. Interestingly, this potty training spray had our testers the most divided on the scent. Half the team couldn’t smell anything, while the other half stated that the stench was horrid – I was among those who couldn’t smell a thing. The Nature’s Miracle House Breaking Spray was as effective outdoors as indoors. The concentrated formula lasts quite a while, so it is a great pick if you are on a budget.
Pricing
- Starts at $8.49
Honorable Mention: OUT! Go Here Attractant Review
OUT! Go Here has a simple formula of water, fatty acids, and a pH adjuster. The scent isn’t noticeable and was just as effective when sprayed indoors as outside—with the dogs that were attracted to it. The big problem is that OUT! Go Here only worked on half of our testers. However, of that 50%, it attracted them every time. Will it work for your dog? Possibly, but it’s a coin flip. That’s why I recommend starting with any of the more effective sprays.
Pricing
- Starts at $7.32
Worth A Mention: Simple Solution Puppy Aid Attractant Review
The Simple Solution Puppy Aid Attractant contains the exact same ingredients as the previous recommendation. That’s because it’s the very same potty training spray but in a different bottle. Hero Pet Brands also owns OUT! Simple Solution Brands has reused the exact same formula. As expected, the Simple Solution Puppy Aid Attractant performed identically to the Out! Go Here Attractant. However, The Simple Solution Puppy Aid Attractant is less generous in size. At 16 fl oz, it contains half the amount of liquid, but it’s twice as expensive. If you are considering this, buy the OUT! Go Here instead.
Pricing
- Starts at $17.53 ($1.10 / Fl Oz)
With Essential Oils: Davis Perfect Pet Go Here Review
Interestingly, the Davis Perfect Pet Training Spray was the only potty training spray we reviewed that used essential oils, including cedarwood, orange, and myrrh. While the sweet citrus scent delighted our human noses, it didn’t impress our doggie testers. This was one of the worst-performing potty training sprays we reviewed. Essential oils fail to attract the majority of dogs with scent.
Pricing
- Starts at $13.95
Least Effective: Four Paws Wee Wee House Breaking Aid Review
I was surprised that the Wee Wee House Breaking Aid was the worst-performing potty training spray. I suspect part of the reason is the smell. It smells like nail polish remover. I don’t recommend you use this potty training spray indoors as it can quickly stink up a room. I can’t tell you what the smell is because this spray has no ingredients listed. In indoor testing, most dogs wouldn’t go near it. Those that took a good sniff reeled away. We had some minor success outside, where we could spray the grass and wait for the smell to vanish before training our pups. But even then, the success rate was low.
Pricing
- Starts at $8.59
Does Your Dog Need Potty Training Spray?
One of the worst parts about housebreaking a new puppy is getting them to relieve themselves where you want them to. That’s where a potty training spray comes in. These sprays help attract your dog to go to a specific location. Potty training sprays contain ingredients that give off an appealing smell. This scent is irresistible to dogs and will attract them to the area where you sprayed it. As you can imagine, potty training spray is handy when housebreaking a dog.
Let’s say you wanted your new puppy to pee on his pee pad. You would spray his pee pad with the attractant. Along with training, your puppy will identify this scent with the location he needs to do his business – he will be less likely to go elsewhere. A potty training spray works best as a temporary training aid. Once your dog has learned the correct location to pee, you can stop using the spray.
Potty training spray is by no means an essential dog product. You can housebreak your dog without one, and many dog owners do exactly that. Think of potty training spray as an optional training aid, like a clicker or dog whistle. While they can make the training process easier, they are not essential.
Potty training sprays can also be helpful for adult dogs. For example, if you are trying to grow grass or landscape in a specific spot and do not want your pup to use that spot as a toilet, a spray can encourage them to go elsewhere.
Learn More About Pet-Safe Lawn Care
Keeping your pet safe and your yard healthy at the same time can be a challenge. We cover this in great detail in our guide on how to stop dog pee from killing grass. Learn more about the best grass seed for dogs, including those that are urine resistant, and the best pet-safe lawn fertilizer.
It goes without saying that if your dog doesn’t have a sense of smell, potty training sprays won’t work. These sprays rely on your dog picking up the scent to be effective.
Do Puppy Training Sprays Work?
Yes! Potty training sprays work and make it significantly easier to housebreak a puppy or train a dog to urinate in a particular location in your yard.
However, there may be mixed opinions because not all potty training sprays are equal. Similar to when we reviewed the best anti-chew sprays, we observed again that no single potty training spray worked for every dog. For this reason, you may need to test a few different brands before finding the perfect potty training spray for your dog.
Have Realistic Expectations
One big reason why people claim that potty training sprays don’t work is that they have unrealistic expectations. I discovered this after interviewing dozens of dog owners who had unsuccessfully used a potty training spray.
One owner I spoke to expected her dog to pee wherever she sprayed without any extra effort. She thought that just by spraying the corner of her yard with attractant, her Yorkie would be instantly trained to pee there. Many other owners had similar expectations. This isn’t realistic. To your dog, a potty training spray is just another scent. He doesn’t know that it means he should pee in that location forever.
Your job is to get your dog to associate this scent with where you want him to pee. You’ll need to train your pup and offer praise when he pees in the right spot. When teaching our many dogs to pee in different locations, I used a training clicker, high-reward dog treats, positive reinforcement, and the potty training spray.
A potty training spray does not replace training. It is used in addition to it. However, if you use the ideal spray for your dog and have realistic expectations, potty training strays are an effective method to attract your dog to pee in a specific location or train your dog to pee somewhere new, such as on top of a pee pad holder.
How We Tested
At Canine Journal, we don’t recommend any products we wouldn’t happily give to our own sweet pups. Because of this, we vigorously tested, compared, and reviewed each potty training spray featured in this guide. We interviewed dozens of owners with potty training spray experience, two dog trainers, and one of our vet consultants, Dr Sara Ochoa. By the time we were done, we had a pretty clear picture of what we needed to buy and test for.
We purchased 17 different potty training sprays from Amazon and several individual retailers. Yep, we pay the full retail price at Canine Journal, just like you would! Ordinarily, this would be the part where we bring in our team of doggy testers. However, as we learned in our research, different dogs have different tastes. Just because a potty training spray works with one dog doesn’t mean it will work with another.
So, we set out to assemble a large team of dogs. After calling in favors from a wide range of dog owners, including some that we randomly approached at the local dog park, we rounded up a huge range of dogs.
Our team of canine testers included a wide range of breeds, from pint-sized Chihuahuas and Pomeranians to larger breeds such as Labradors and German Shepherds. A hulking Great Dane even joined the mix. Over 50 different dogs took part in our potty training spray review.
The Testing Process
Every potty training spray featured in this guide was tested on at least ten dogs. This allowed us to find the sprays with the highest success rate in terms of attraction.
The testing process was simple. Each dog was to be trained to pee in new locations using the potty training spray as the attractant.
Our team also performed “blind tests” at the local dog park. We sprayed sections of grass and counted how many dogs would investigate the scent vs. walk past it. We excluded any dog distracted by playing with a toy or chasing other dogs.
Once we had the best-performing sprays, these underwent further testing.
Finally, we tested the top picks against one another in a round-robin tournament. The goal was to determine the number-one most attractive potty training spray.
While reviewing each spray, we considered the following:
- How often did the spray attract a dog?
- Was the bottle easy to spray?
- Was the spray equally effective indoors and outdoors?
- Would a single bottle last through potty training?
- Did the potty training spray have a noticeable smell?
5 Testing Observations
While testing each bottle of potty training spray for the above qualities, we made some observations worth mentioning.
1. Potty Training Sprays Don’t Increase Accuracy
Potty training sprays do not increase accuracy. A dog will go to the toilet in the area where you sprayed rather than the exact location. We tested this by applying potty training spray to the center of extra-large pee pads, Wee-Wee Gigantic Puppy Pee Pads, and observing whether the potty-training spray made dogs more likely to urinate in the center of the pad. We repeated this test by applying potty training spray to the edge of the pee pad.
There was no observable difference in our pups’ accuracy. They would do their business in seemingly random locations on the pee pad.
2. Ingredients Are A Closely Guarded Secret
While testing, we noticed that many brands are secretive about the ingredients in their potty training spray. Some list proprietary ingredients, while others don’t list any at all. As a result, it’s difficult to tell what attracts your dog. It could be a natural pheromone or something synthetic.
After discussing this with our veterinary consultants, we concluded that it is likely not too concerning. Potty training sprays are designed to be sniffed, not eaten. In our testing, not a single dog licked the sprayed area. As long as used as directed, potty training sprays are considered dog-safe.
3. Outdoor Use
Outside, there are a lot of factors that can prevent potty training spray from working effectively.
If you have automatic sprinklers, these wash away the potty training spray. If it rains, it’s the same story. Similarly, if someone applies fertilizer or weedkiller, cuts the grass, or waters the garden, these overpower the potty training spray.
For this reason, you should choose an outside location that allows you to control these risk factors. Otherwise, you’ll need to apply the potty training spray each time your dog goes outside to potty.
4. Pads With Attractant vs Potty Training Sprays
You may have noticed that some pee pads, such as the Wee Wee Puppy Pads, have a built-in attractant. Unfortunately, pee pads with attractants appear to be a marketing gimmick. When we reviewed the best pee pads for dogs, we discovered that pee pads with attractants don’t work as well as potty training sprays. Our top 5 potty training sprays beat out every pee pad with an attractant we tested.
5. Attractant Posts
During testing, we also took the opportunity to potty training stakes. Examples include the Vet Worthy Pet Potty Hydrant and the Simple Solution Pee post. These are essentially markers treated with dog-attracting pheromones. In theory, by staking the marker into your ground, your dog will do his business in that exact location.
In our tests, the attractant used on these markers was less effective than our above recommendations. We found that an unscented marker sprayed with a potty training spray worked considerably better. In a blind test, our dogs chose these each and every time.
An advantage of this approach is that you can use whatever marker you want. I personally used a cheap solar light I staked into the ground and sprayed with potty training spray. My dog could see it even at night!
How Often Do You Need To Reapply Potty Training Spray?
It all depends on what you are spraying. Under perfect circumstances, we got up to three days of attraction out of a single spray. After this, the scent seemed to wear off to the point our dogs didn’t notice it.
However, in real-world use, you’ll reapply your potty training spray much more frequently in real-world use. For indoor use, where you are spraying puppy pee pads, you’ll apply the spray each time you swap out a pad. Outdoors, you’ll need to reapply the spray depending on the weather and other factors.
Housebreaking Tips
There are a few different methods of canine potty training for owners to keep in mind.
- Crate training means using a crate to confine your puppy when you cannot supervise them. The crate should be big enough for the puppy to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably.
- Bell training uses a bell on the door for your dog to ring when they need to go outside.
- Paper training uses newspaper or puppy pads to train your puppy to go potty in a specific location.
- Outdoor training involves taking your puppy outside frequently and rewarding them when they relieve themselves outside.
- While using pee attractants and deterrents like sprays can help, housebreaking requires consistency and patience from owners.
- Encouraging puppies to urinate outside involves frequently taking them out and rewarding them for going outside.
- Teaching your puppy to hold it means gradually increasing the time urine is held between bathroom breaks.
- Training pups to let you know when they need to go is a process of teaching your puppy to communicate to you when they need to relieve themselves.
The speed at which a puppy learns house training depends on several factors, including breed, age, and size. Smaller breeds have smaller bladders, meaning they need to urinate more often. Puppies that are more active or playful will need more frequent bathroom breaks. Stay patient, persistent, and positive.
Don’t Forget Rewards
Puppies need rewards and praise when they do something right and gentle redirection when they have accidents. Look for tasty treats and fun, durable toys. We review some of the best training treats and share some tasty recipes for homemade dog treats your pup will love.
Need More Puppy Potty Training Help?
Learn more about dog potty training methods in our detailed housebreaking guide. We also cover how long dogs can hold their pee and things to know about urinary incontinence in dogs. Do not be afraid to seek professional training if your pup is having trouble. You can also consider indoor dog toilets and litter boxes. Of course, if you are concerned about your pup’s health or they are straining to pee, you should reach out to your veterinarian.
Why Trust Canine Journal?
Since childhood, Danielle has shared a special bond with animals. She has over 30 years of experience with canine breeds of all sizes, from toy to giant. Danielle is also a dedicated professional researcher and pet product reviewer. She spends countless hours researching the latest pet care, health, food, and training developments to help owners learn what’s behind the label. Danielle works with a professional and experienced team to bring our readers the best, most accurate, and up-to-date information to better the lives of pets and people.