My grandson is a year younger than my granddaughter and kept trying to keep up with her (which made him aware of what learning was next coming down the pike :-) but she was actually slower to get potty trained than he. My stepson actually taught him about peeing on trees (I know, gross) first, when they would be out somewhere it was appropriate (hikes, camping, etc.) but just getting him to connect the dots and be aware of what was needed is half the battle (your dog food bowl :-) I think it's a great time to work on getting him to start with potty training, get him peeing in the toilet good first and then he'll get tired of messes in his pants. Son and daughter-in-law did the videos and stuff for granddaughter (which he'd watch too) and rewarded with M&M's, etc. Granddaughter had a bit of trouble with #2 and so they used a timer ("at least try" until the timer goes off) and rewards for trying, etc.