How to Teach a Small Dog to Use a Cat Litter Pan

Whether you're a busy professional who doesn't always make it home when your dog needs to go out, or a retired couple with an older dog that sometimes has accidents at night, providing your dog with an "indoor" potty could prove helpful. It's not hard to learn how to teach a small dog to use a cat litter pan.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Determine what kind of litter you will use. Commercial litter or shredded newspaper work equally well with most dogs. You don't have to keep a dog's box as clean as a cat's because dogs like using the same spot. A slightly dirty litter box can actually act as a magnet for them.

2. Decide on a litter box. Usually a large cat litter box without a hood works best with dogs.

3. Learn how to read your dog's signs when he or she needs to go to the bathroom. Most dogs will sniff the ground or start circling for the right spot. When you see this behavior, use a short, verbal phrase as a cue for your dog to go to the box, such as "go pee" or "potty here." Encourage him to come to you as you sit by the box or pick him up and place him in the box when you notice he's getting ready.

4. Praise your dog a bit more than usual after every success with the box. Rub his back a bit too, showing him what a good dog he's been. Touch is a good positive reinforcement when training most dogs.

5. Clean up any accidents outside the litter box immediately as you do not want your dog getting the idea it's alright to go anywhere other than the litter box or outside. Use a germ fighting cleanser for any accidents on the floor and a hand-held vacuum for cleaning up loose litter outside the box.

6. Remain patient. Most people find dogs take less time learning to use a litter box than cats, but you'll still need to be ready to repeat the whole concept to your dog once in a while. Be consistent until it becomes second nature for your dog to use his indoor potty when you're not available.

7. Check out various commercial litter box systems for dogs. They may possibly work better than the do-it-yourself model described above. Then again, dogs love to please and that may be all you need to be successful in a relatively short period of time.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're going to use cat litter to train your dog, make sure it's safe. Some of the clumping litter on the market today contains sodium bentonite which absorbs liquid in an animal's body if they ingest it. This could cause dehydration or bowel obstructions and an emergency trip to the vet.

Resources

• Doggie Solutions system
• A dog litter training system by Purina

[fivekitten]

on 9/4/2007 I trained my female medium sized blueheeler to use an empty "litter box" (the bottom of an old guinea pig cage) with just newspapers in it when I was disabled. We got a male dog from the SPCA and the system didn't work as good with him - but the female dog took it just fine.