How to Litter Train your Dog

One of the most important things you can do for your new puppy is to house train him. The size that your dog will ultimately be may make a difference in the way you decide to train her. You may have decided to get a small lap dog. Lap dogs can be wonderful companions, but one of the disadvantaged of having one is that they are house dog that need to be let outside at least three times a day. This can be a big problem for owners that have jobs, especially if they cannot make it home during lunch to let the dog out. It can be even more difficult for apartment dwellers. A lot of the time owners with small dogs can end up having smelly homes because of this. Unfortunately, it may be bad enough for the owners to consider giving the dog up, that is why it is important to teach a dog when they are a puppy, especially because it is easier to teach a puppy rather than an older dog.

Training a dog to use a potty is a good and possible solution to many of these problems. It is also very useful when it rains or is cold outside. You don't have to worry that the dog won't go potty outside if it learns to use a potty pad, it is only natural for the dog to go in the grass, and will probably actually prefer it.

• Nature's Miracle Pads  (These smell like grass so dogs are more likely to use them) or wee wee pads for dogs although I really recommend the Nature's Miracle. I had been using something different before them for my dog and when I started using Nature's Miracle it was a major break through.
  
• Dog Potty ( I recommend the Wiz Dog because it won't get litter everywhere and the grate keeps them from tracking pee in your house)
  
• Really Good Treats
  
• Clicker
  
• An Enclosed Area - You may need a dog pen
  
• Patience and Consistency

Dog Potty Training

The first thing you should do when teaching a dog to use the puppy pad is to learn how to clicker train him. I have written a hub about clicker training. There are also many good Dog Training Books that can help you out. This is an effective tool to introduce your dog to the potty. The potty I would suggest getting is called a wizdog. It is a plastic tray that has a plastic grate on top of it. This is better than a litter box because it won't track litter all over the house. I also think it is better than a puppy pad holder because you will want something that is easier to clean and can hold a few trips to the potty not to mention a grate that will keep the pee from getting tracked. I would use the Nature's Miracle pads to put inside of this. They are grass scented and I believe this is a very important part of the process. It helps your dog get it. You can always use cheaper puppy training pads later once the dog understand that he or she should use the potty.

The first step is to associate really good things with the potty. Use the best treats you can find, liver treats work really well for this. Don't use these treats for anything else. At first when the dog even looks at the potty click, then give him a treat. If the dog begins to approach the potty, click and treat. It is best, at first, to not bring the dog outside to go to the restroom. When the dog needs to go bring him to the potty and set him down on it. It is really good to say "go potty" when the dog is actually going. If you do this consistently the dog will associate these words with using the restroom, in the future you will be able to say "go potty" and the dog will go.

Make sure to bring your dog to the potty every time you believe she needs to go. This is why it is good to keep the dog on a scheduled feeding plan while doing this. Make a big deal of it when the dog goes to the bathroom on the potty. Give treats, you can even sing a song and do a dance. The dog will know you are really happy with him and that he did good by using the bathroom there. If the dog has an accident try not to get too angry, you want the dog to associate good things with going to the restroom. If you get angry when she goes, she will go when you are not around and try to hide it because she will think going to the bathroom makes you mad. The dog will eventually start going to the potty to use the bathroom, this may take a long time to happen, you will have to be patient. You may want to keep the potty near the dog, and near you, possibly in a kitchen or a carpet less room. You may even decide at first to get a pen to put the dog and the potty in. It may be useful to use this method with Plastic Dog Kennels for crate training.

Make sure you put the potty on a tile floor incase the dog misses. The pad will need to be changed daily, and make sure to clean any feces off, if the potty is not kept clean, the dog may not want to use it, plus it will get stinky.

It may take some time for the dog to learn how to use the potty, but if you are consistent you will have given your dog one of the best gifts you can. This may end up being a good back up for your dog. You may decide to walk your dog two times a day and give her an out during the middle of the day while you are not there. It could be really good training for when your dog gets older and has less bladder control. In any case, you should still walk your dog at least once a day so that she gets plenty of exercise. Of course, you may decide that just  house training a dog is good enough for you.

There are some other types of dog potties out there. They seem to be very expensive and I think that they can be in practical. Some have synthetic grass and other have a place where you can buy plots of grass and insert it into the potty. There are some that have astro turf in it that grows and there are some potties out there that actually flush. I think that if you wanted to upgrade the from a plastic mat potty, you may consider changing the plumbing for a shower, you may still have to pick up the poo, but you would not have to have pads anymore, and if you were smart about it you could make sure your changes were not permanent.