Litter Box Training

Litter Box Training? Really?! YES! Your new puppy is trained to use a litterbox. This gives them a headstart on potty training. Puppies as soon as they are old enought to move away from the whelping nest, do not want want to eliminate where they sleep. This is the same concept used for crate training. Once our puppies are about 3 weeks old we add a shallow litterbox to their whelping area. By the time they are 6 weeks old they are pretty reliable at using the litter box. At 8 weeks they have a larger play area and will still go use their litter box.

Litter Box Training at Home

Your puppy is used to being confined to a small area when we cant keep eyes on them. I like to use an exercise pen and set up as a retange. I get the 34-36″ high- I have found they learn to climb out of the smaller ones. This is what our set up looks like.

I want to make sure that you have the appropriate expectations about litter box training. They are not cats- you can’t just put it in the closet and expect them to go seek it out when they need to potty. Puppies are impulsive, when they think about needing to go they need to right then- so it must be close and easy to get to for them. Once they get a little age on them they seek it out a little more reliably.

Litter?

We use Alfalfa pellets here. Why? They smell like grass- so when your puppy goes home they already know they grass smell is the appropriate place to potty. 

Where do I get them? I get mine from Tractor Supply Company. 

Do I need to keep using the alfalfa pellets? Not necessilary, we have also had great luck with the pelleted cat litter made from news paper. They actually work a little better but I like to give the puppies a head start for using the grass. 

If I change to the paper litter will that affect them using the grass? No, it shouldn’t. Many don’t like smell of the alflafa pellets and that is just fine. 

At what age should I trnasition from the litter box? Well that is up to you. We have some families that transition immedately other, especially those in apartmetns use the litterboxes indefinately. Either option or anytime in between is all perfectly acceptable. 

What if I want to use a crate instead of an EX pen? That is just fine, you can even still use a litterbox in the crate. The only problem I tend to see with this is that puppies like to take their toys and chewys to the litterbox to play.