Having a dog at home is an exciting experience ever. However, when your dog starts to poo or pee not in the right place, it might create stress for you as the owner. Some owners tend to yell or get angry to their dogs when they found them pooping or peeing at the unexpected place.
However, you don’t have to do that as yelling at your dogs will not make them realize their mistakes. Dogs can be trained to poo or pee on the right place, and it is better to do it since they are puppies.
Puppies are believed to receive more knowledge and training than the adult ones. Aside from the use of litter box, you can also consider the other ways on how to potty train your puppy effectively.
However, sometimes puppies are too afraid to be trained, but don’t worry you can apply these ways to teach your fearful puppy gain confidence.
For those who have tried using litter box, you might find that it is really difficult to do it. Yes, indeed it is difficult as it requires much patience and time to be successful. However, through patience and hard work, you will be extremely satisfied once it is successful.
Let me show you the ways to train your puppies to use the litter box effectively.
- Prepare Everything You Need
For the beginning, you need to purchase a litter box. Since you are training puppies, make sure you choose the small ones. You can find this easily in the nearest pet shop or store. Or, if you have any, you can use the large cat litter box. Additionally you will need bags of litter.
While choosing the best litter box for your puppies, you need to make sure you provide a bigger box. It should have higher sides and no top. For the litter, you can use recycled newspaper or clay too.
- Introduce Him to His Litter Box
You need to introduce your puppy to his litter box. Make sure the box is kept in a place where your puppy can see it, specifically during the training.
You may learn from 4 worst spots for your cats litter boxes about the position where you should put the litter box for your puppies. If you have a male dog or puppy, consider to have a high sides to catch his urine once he lifts up his leg.
- Bring Him to His Litter Box at These Times
Just like doing the outdoor training, you need to take your puppies to the litter box once he starts to wake up, after eating and periodically throughout the day. After finish eating, you can take your puppy to the litter box, help him to get inside and say the “password” such as “go potty”.
- Watch for the Signs
Dogs always show some signs before they want to poo or pee. You also should watch for signs that show that he needs to go pooping or peeing. The examples of the signs are sniffing around and circling.
Once you see him showing any of the signs, immediately take him to the litter box. Then, you need to praise him once he successfully goes into the right spot.
- The Magic of Treat
Don’t yell or be mad at your puppy if he does not succeed to use the litter box at the first few times. Instead, give him a treat for trying and going inside.
Treat is mostly working to encourage your dog to do better next time. Learn the ways on how to phase out treats when dog training and how to make it effective.
- Reward
Different with treat, use reward once your dog or puppy is successful to use the litter box. You can also give higher-value reward once he can use the litter box on his own or go to the litter box after your command rather than taking him to it.
You also need to do some words such as “go potty” while he’s doing his business. You can also add “good boy, go potty” several times, and by doing so he may learn that you are happy when he’s doing the potty in the box. Don’t only do this while he’s doing it in the litter box, do it too when he’s doing potty outside.
- Redirecting with Patience
As being told before, training puppies to use the litter box requires lots of patience. If you find your puppy or dog using the house instead of the litter box, just redirect him by placing him into the box to finish his business. You may need to do this repeatedly before he is ready to do it on his own.
The use of litter box for puppies is the best method for training them to potty. It is believed to be able to eliminate accidents that dogs or puppies might experience while visiting the bathroom. Litter box is also able to provide convenience for owners too as they can simply clean the litter box once a day.
Regarding to dog’s stool or feces, you must be aware of diseases you can catch from dog urine and feces. You need to make sure that your dog is healthy so he won’t transfer any diseases to you.