Litter Box Training for a Dog?

[imsorry]

Has anyone here ever trained a puppy/small dog to use a litter box?

I was reading about Secondnature and it seems like a great idea since I have an apartment.

Anyone?

 

[KelNottAt]

Sounds great in concept. But, the way dogs kick back their hind legs to bury the evidence outdoors makes me think litter would go flying all over the room.

 

[rgf207]

I've heard that this is a very bad idea. Dogs and cats are much different. It is a dog's nature to eliminate outside and trying to train them inside can be harmful and cause a lot of problems. I dont know if a dog has the ability to differentiate between a litter box inside and anywhere inside and it could lead to lots of accidents

This is what I read somewhere when I was considering using those puppy pads to train ours.


And I'll tell you one more thing. I have never smelled more foul odors from my dog's you know what and I sure would not want that in my house or a small apartment

 

[stamper]

We have done if for both of our litters of puppies and plan to do it for every litter to come! The pups generally pick it up quite quickly. It's usually quite obvious when a pup needs to "go" and when I first start training them I watch for the signs (sniffing, circling) and then put them into the litter box. When they start to "go" in the box I tell them what a wonderful puppy they are and we have a little "praise party" and when they are done I call them to me and pat and praise some more. One word of caution...don't be startle the pup with your first burst of praise because you don't want him/her to think it's doing something wrong or to be scared.

We use wood stove pellets here. Much cheaper. The pups do put them in their mouth but they don't taste too good and they spit them out. Plus I tell them to "leave it" and they catch on to the fact that it's not a snack. The wood pellets disintergrate once wet and then you can just scoop the saw dust out. I do know several breeders that use the Second Nature brand and have been very pleased with it.

Only problems we've had is that with multiple pups, they tend to get into a wild play period every so often and run through and dig like crazies and the pellets and "sawdust" is scattered all over! So, put your box where you can easily clean it up. Also, they sometimes "think" they are in the box when in reality they are either peeing or pooping over the edge. It's so cute because they still come over to me for a pat and praise and are as proud as peacocks...I don't tell them any different because they sure did try hard!

Oh...and they tend to think a litter box with fresh litter is a GREAT place to take a nap! I have pix on our website. Use this link and click on "Watch them grow"..there is a pic of a pup in the box. There may be others too, but that's the one I found quickly.http://www.geocities.com/firstlightsamoyeds/Past_litters.html

What breed/age is the dog you want to litter box train?

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

I litter trained a rabbit once. Well, I thought I did until we moved our couch and discovered that the bunny liked the floor behind it better than the litter box. Thank goodness it was tile.

 

[imsorry]

We have done if for both of our litters of puppies and plan to do it for every litter to come! The pups generally pick it up quite quickly. It's usually quite obvious when a pup needs to "go" and when I first start training them I watch for the signs (sniffing, circling) and then put them into the litter box. When they start to "go" in the box I tell them what a wonderful puppy they are and we have a little "praise party" and when they are done I call them to me and pat and praise some more. One word of caution...don't be startle the pup with your first burst of praise because you don't want him/her to think it's doing something wrong or to be scared.

We use wood stove pellets here. Much cheaper. The pups do put them in their mouth but they don't taste too good and they spit them out. Plus I tell them to "leave it" and they catch on to the fact that it's not a snack. The wood pellets disintergrate once wet and then you can just scoop the saw dust out. I do know several breeders that use the Second Nature brand and have been very pleased with it.

Only problems we've had is that with multiple pups, they tend to get into a wild play period every so often and run through and dig like crazies and the pellets and "sawdust" is scattered all over! So, put your box where you can easily clean it up. Also, they sometimes "think" they are in the box when in reality they are either peeing or pooping over the edge. It's so cute because they still come over to me for a pat and praise and are as proud as peacocks...I don't tell them any different because they sure did try hard!

Oh...and they tend to think a litter box with fresh litter is a GREAT place to take a nap! I have pix on our website. Use this link and click on "Watch them grow"..there is a pic of a pup in the box. There may be others too, but that's the one I found quickly.http://www.geocities.com/firstlightsamoyeds/Past_litters.html

What breed/age is the dog you want to litter box train?

I plan on getting a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy around the end of May/beginning of June.

We are in a high rise apartment Monday- Friday and I think waiting for elevators will be harder on the dog than trying to litter box train. Then we go to our country house on weekends. I thought it would be less confusing for the puppy if I put a litter box in each house, rather than walking him outside on weekends and paper training during the week.

 

[stamper]

I've heard that this is a very bad idea. Dogs and cats are much different. It is a dog's nature to eliminate outside and trying to train them inside can be harmful and cause a lot of problems. I dont know if a dog has the ability to differentiate between a litter box inside and anywhere inside and it could lead to lots of accidents

This is what I read somewhere when I was considering using those puppy pads to train ours.


And I'll tell you one more thing. I have never smelled more foul odors from my dog's you know what and I sure would not want that in my house or a small apartment

There is a big difference between litter boxes and puppy pads! A puppy pad feels very much like a carpet or flooring, while puppy litter is a different texture. I have read the testimonies of many small dog owners who swear by litter training. And I don't know about other breeds, but my Samoyeds are smart enough to know the difference. I imagine it may depend on the breed and the dog...some are just smarter than others. Also, I wouldn't do this with a very big dog because the "output" would just be too much to deal with! My pups use the box until they leave for their new homes and by then they are around 20 lbs.

 

[rgf207]

There is a big difference between litter boxes and puppy pads! A puppy pad feels very much like a carpet or flooring, while puppy litter is a different texture. I have read the testimonies of many small dog owners who swear by litter training. And I don't know about other breeds, but my Samoyeds are smart enough to know the difference. I imagine it may depend on the breed and the dog...some are just smarter than others. Also, I wouldn't do this with a very big dog because the "output" would just be too much to deal with! My pups use the box until they leave for their new homes and by then they are around 20 lbs.

This is true. I would never do it with my dog because she is big and her output is huge and smells horrible. I guess a small dog would be better but the smell would still get me

 

[stamper]

I plan on getting a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy around the end of May/beginning of June.

We are in a high rise apartment Monday- Friday and I think waiting for elevators will be harder on the dog than trying to litter box train. Then we go to our country house on weekends. I thought it would be less confusing for the puppy if I put a litter box in each house, rather than walking him outside on weekends and paper training during the week.

I would talk with other Cavalier owners and definitely talk with the breeder. Find out if others have had success with litter boxes. Either do a web search for info on Cavaliers or check on their national parent club for info...at the very least they should have contact info for breeders or a club person who can help you with info on how trainable this breed is for litter boxes. And yes, it would be easier than getting a pup to hold it while waiting for an elevator! I would stay away from paper training and just do the litter box. Papers are messy and like puppy pads are easily confused with "any ole patch of floor".

One word of caution...when you are at the country house on weekends you might not want to completely discourage eliminating outside. If the dog will only go in a box and you are away from home and there is no box, she may not go...which could become a problem.

 

[mjkacmom]

I tried to do litter with our min-pin, but she would just dig, and it was a huge mess. I made the mistake of using puppy pads in the box, and she never completely trained because of it.

 

[stamper]

I forgot to add that when we are first training pups, if they have an accident outside the box (poop) we pick it up and put into the box so they get the idea. Since dogs tend to pick spots where either they or another dog has already gone, it helps if they have something to smell in the box. Or, there are products to help train a pup where is ok to go.

 

[eeyore25]

We have trained our puppies to use a litter box. We have two Chihuahua's and it was pretty easy. When they would use the little box we would do everything to let them know that they were good puppies. We still tell them they "good job" or "good girl/boy". We have had them now for 7 years and we have not had a problem. We tried the dog litter they have but didn't have much luck with it. We use regular cat litter and it seems to work well. They don't do the kicking of the hind legs when they are done, they only do it when we are outside.

I would honestly recommend littler box training to anyone with small dogs. We think it works out great, we don't have to get up at all hours of the night to let them out, and they can go anytime while we are at work.

Good luck!

Jamie

 

[SandraVB79]

I had a colleague whose chihuahua (how do you spell that dog) went in a litter box.

 

[SandraVB79]

Btw, I have a couple of friends with dogs who live in high rise appartment buildings, and they all take their dog outside and haven't had problems with that either.

 

[imsorry]

Btw, I have a couple of friends with dogs who live in high rise appartment buildings, and they all take their dog outside and haven't had problems with that either.

guess the safety of the neighborhood in the middle of the night was not a concern for them.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

We got a Black Lab when she was 1.5 years old back in '05 and she came litter box trained. Of course, she was also kennel trained, so it helped it helped when she was in the kennel (which was a huge kennel). We have since re-trained to go outside. However, we still have the litter box for those rare times when we have to lock her up in the basement, which she still uses when she's down there, but only when she's down there.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

YES!!!! We use the Secondnature potty box and fill it with wood pellets which are very cheap. Lucy is a 7 lb. dog and this method works awesome, especially in the winter. We started training Lucy when she was a wee pup at 1.5 lbs. She was a little on the stubborn side, but persistence paid off and she is little Miss Automatic now. Its worth it!!!!! BTW, Lucy goes potty both outside and inside with no problem whatsoever.

 

[imsorry]

YES!!!! We use the Secondnature potty box and fill it with wood pellets which are very cheap. Lucy is a 7 lb. dog and this method works awesome, especially in the winter. We started training Lucy when she was a wee pup at 1.5 lbs. She was a little on the stubborn side, but persistence paid off and she is little Miss Automatic now. Its worth it!!!!!

Off topic, but I have to tell you I love your tags

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Off topic, but I have to tell you I love your tags

I have issues!

 

[lovemygoofy]

My mom also has a small dog, I think Laurie's Lucy is Biscuit's sister, and she is also litter box/outisde trained. I've never ever seen Biscuit try to bury her stuff. Now she does leave her treats and dinner buried in places like our shoes, my purse, my pillow, mom's coat, lol you get the idea.