How to Litter Box Train a Dog

If you have just gotten or are thinking about getting a small dog or puppy, you may think about training the puppy to use a litter box, as they have smaller bladders than those dogs of larger breeds, which means they just can't hold their bladder as long.

Using the litter box as means of house training a smaller breed dog, you will be able to feel comfortable leaving the dog at home all day without a potty break, while you are at work for say 8 to 9 hours or more 5 or more days a week.

Small dogs can be trained to use a litter box. They are actually great candidates for litter boxes because they have small bladders. Having a litter trained dog can be beneficial to allow the dog to "go potty" whenever they need to. This is helpful when you are at work and cannot let the dog outside.

For the most part, the main things that you will need include a litter box and some sort of litter.

The Purina dog litter boxes are perfect, and they come in three sizes- mini, toy, and standard. Otherwise, you can use larger cat litter boxes. Just make sure that if you opt for the hooded litter boxes, that you remove the hood, as it will be much easier for your dog to use.

As for the litter, you can use newspaper or potty pads, but you can also purchase commercial dog litter, which makes scooping a lot easier.

Be sure to have plenty of cleaning supplies handy, such as mops, Swiffers, and paper towels because whille training your dog, you are bound to run into a few accidents.

You will also want to consider brooms and dust busters to sweep, or vacuum loose litter  that your dog may kick around.

Accidents

Be prepared for accidents when house and litterbox training. If you do not completely clean urine stains, the spot will become reoccurring spots that the dog will use. Simple Solution is a great cleaning mix that will help keep the urine smell out of your floors.

You want to design an environment that is going to be hard for your pooch to fail, which means that you want to first pick an area where you want the litter box to go. Typically tiled floors work best for easy cleanups. Bathrooms or utility rooms work great.

You want to constantly monitor the dog whe it is not in its bathroom area, and if you cannot watch the dog, put him in his bathroom area or crate. If you see any common potty signals, incourage the dog to go to the litter box, but do not care him and rush him to the litter box, as this can cause fear.

You may want to develop a keyword or a phrase to tell the dog to, go potty in his potty area.

When you are working with your dog and getting used to the litter box, it's a good idea to figure out the best way to make the litter box more natural to your dog.

You can put newspaper and a small bit of litter just at the bottom of the litter box. You also want to add newspaper right next to the box, especially if you are already working with training the dog to use the paper.

* You may consider some of the commercial potty aid solutions during the early signs of training.

When getting the dog used to the litter box, you want to get him used to getting in and out of the box, but manually putting him in the litter box, giving him the potty cue when you put him in the litter box. Make sure to praise the dog.

The dog will probably get out of the litter box on his own, to which point you repeat the routine of putting him back in the litter box and saying the cue. You may even want to give the dog a treat.

Masure to stop when you notice any signs of stress or irritation, and repeat the process again later.

Eventually, you want to build up to saying the cue, and just gently guiding the dog into the box. When you are at this point, you will then be able to have the dog go to the box on his own with just the cue word/phrase.

Although there are different methods of litter training a dog, to which it will be up to you to find a method that will work the best for you and your dog. Below you will find two methods that are pretty popular to training a dog to use a litter box.

1. Paper to litter box for dogs who are already paper trained
2. Crate training variation

If your dog is already trained to go to the bathroom on paper, whether newspaper or potty pads, this will make a pretty easy transition to the litter box.

Although the following stelps may sound a little much and time consuming, but you want to remember that you've already trained your dog to potty one way, and now you want to train him to go another. You want the transition to be gradual.

• Start with cardboard boxes of different heights. It can be easier to use duct tape to change the side of the box.
• Create a flat "pan" area with the paper (newspaper works better) by cutting out the bottom of a cardboard box and lining it with paper. You want the sides to be just barely above the ground just so that the papers are not completely flat. 
• Slowly increase the height of the cardboard until you have the sides nearly as tall as the litter box that you'll be using. Sometimes this can take a period of several weeks.
• Some people will line the outside of the plastic litter box with the cardboard so that the dog doesn't notice the outter difference.
• When you change to the plastic litter box, you'll want to line the litter box with papers, making the transition that much easier for the dog.  
• If you decide to cover the outside of the box with cardboard you want to slowly remove the cardboard once the dog is pretty full-proof at using the litter box lined with papers on the inside.
• Over a period of a few more days start adding the dog litter a little at a time until yno longer need the paper.

The crate training method of litter box training a dog is pretty easy, as it uses the basic crate training techniques, which is nearly always effective as long as you follow the tips. Basically, the dog isn't going to potty where he eats and sleeps, which means it's pretty important to make sure that the size of the crate or crate area is the proper size.

You also want to make sure that yoru dog is already used to the concept of the litter box and understand that he's supposed to go potty in the box.

When setting up the crate or crate area you need to make sure that the area has enough room for a bed, food/water bowls, and his litter box. The basic concepts of the crate is still going to apply where the dog has just enough room to sit, lay down, stand, and turn around. The difference is that the dog now has a little extra room for his basic necessities and his litter box.

You want the crate area to be sturdy so that the dog can't jump over or hurt himself trying to escape. You can use an actual crate, just make sure that there is enough room for the litter box. If you decide to use a puppy pen or a larger cage, fill any unused space, so that the dog doesn't use the bathroom somewhere other than the litter box.

Once your crate or crate area is set up, you'll want to put the dog in the area during his typical potty times, such as after the dog wakes up and after meals. Make sure to leave the dog in the area until he potties.

It's best to stay nearby so that you can catch the dog in the litter box and praise him right after he uses it.

When your dog starts to be pretty full-proof at using his litter box, you can give him more freedom in the house, but make sure that you have the crate or crate area left open so that the dog can get to his litter box. You want to keep this set up until you are 110% sure that the dog has the hang of the concept.

Continue this method until the dog goes to the litter box on his own.

• Review how you have everything set up. Make sure that your dog doesn't have a choice where he's going to potty. It's the litter box or his bed.

• If the dog potties on his bed, wash the pillow or blanket immediately, and then put treats or food on the bed, as a dog isn't going to potty on an area where food is.

• If the dog doesn't use the litter box when crated, spend more time training the dog about the concepts of the litter box, in order to reinforce the cues.

• Use treats and LOADS of praise when you see yoru dog using the litter box. Eventually, you'll be able to wean him away from the treats.

• If the dog uses the box to pee, but not poop, you'll want to consider that the dog is one of those dogs that just doesn't like to do all of their business in one area or that he just needs to walk it out. Just keep working with the dog reinforcing the basics.

• Use a thin later of litter instead of the 1 to 3 inches that is recommended, as this will make things easier to scoop.

Remember that litter box training isn't going to be an overnight house training method. It's going to take several weeks, if not longer to successfully train your dog to use a litter box. Just make sure that you are constant with your training, and you do not get overly frustrated with your dog.