House-training is mostly about repetition in one place. An animal that toilets on the same patch three or four times starts returning to it on its own, because the scent that is already there is the signal. An attractant spray is a way of seeding that signal before the habit exists, giving you something to aim a puppy at on the pad, the corner of the lawn or the tray, rather than waiting for the first accident to mark the spot for you.

It comes in a 100ml trigger bottle with a citrus scent, and a few pumps onto the target area is the whole application. Use it as a prompt rather than a solution: take the puppy out or over to the pad at the times they are most likely to need it, first thing, after every meal, after a nap and after play, spray the spot, wait, and reward the moment they finish rather than once you are back indoors. The spray narrows the choice of where. The timing and the praise do the actual teaching.

• 100ml trigger spray bottle
• Citrus scent
• For use on training pads, garden spots or a litter tray
• A few sprays on the target area per application
• Suitable for dogs and cats

Be honest about how well these work. Results vary a great deal between animals, and we would rather say so than promise a result. Cats in particular often dislike citrus, and a fair number are put off a tray by it rather than drawn to it, so test on a small area and watch what your cat does before treating the whole tray. It also cannot compete with an existing accident spot: clean those with an enzyme cleaner first, or the old scent wins.

Who it's for: Someone house-training a new puppy who wants a prompt to point at, alongside a proper routine of frequent trips and immediate praise.