# Any luck litter-training a small dog?



## pokemonesb (Dec 23, 2011)

I have a Miniature Australian Shepherd. He will probably not weigh more than 15lbs when fully grown, 20lbs tops. I currently live in an apartment, and while I have access to the yard, it is a shared yard and I have to go down a flight of steps and outside of my apartment to get to it. 

I am trying my best with crate-training, but it seems that by the time I get him outside, he forgets that he has to go. We then spend 15-20 minutes waiting in the yard, so far, with no luck. He uses the puppy pads fine. I was thinking that since he's already good with puppy pads, it would be very easy to segway that into litter training. I know that some people (especially those living in apartments) litter train their dogs successfully.

As he gets older, I plan to build him a larger litter box from a plastic storage bin, which I could keep in my "foster room." I am planning to use wood pellets since they return to sawdust when wet, will not harm him if ingested, and will not cause any respiratory problems. Not to mention it is quite cheap. I know that litter training is generally frowned upon, but I am a city girl and will probably live in the city my whole life.

That means I will not always have access to a backyard, and while a litter box would not take the place of walks, it would certainly be very helpful during bad weather, in the middle of the night, if I'm running late and can't get home in time to walk Phoenix, etc. I was thinking it also might be convenient for when Phoenix is very old, to be able to have access to a "potty" whenever he needs it.

Has anyone personally had any successes or failures with training a dog/puppy to use a litter box indoors? What are the drawbacks of this training method?


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

How about putting a puppy pad outside to help him get started? It's a lot easier than using puppy pads and litter trays forever, and there is no reason why a small dog can't be properly housetrained. I have two little ones, and they both pee outside in the grass, and nowhere else.


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## pokemonesb (Dec 23, 2011)

lil_fuzzy said:


> How about putting a puppy pad outside to help him get started? It's a lot easier than using puppy pads and litter trays forever, and there is no reason why a small dog can't be properly housetrained. I have two little ones, and they both pee outside in the grass, and nowhere else.


I will try that method. I have no doubt that he can learn to go outside, and be housebroken the normal way. I'm just thinking that longterm litter box training might work better for us.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I have a 20lb dog, and I think that's awfully large for litter-box training. When he pees, he produces a lot more liquid than my 10lb dog or my cats! 

I realize your dog needs to go outside a lot now as a pup, but when he's grown, a 15-20lb dog should have no trouble holding it while you're at work and all night long (I take mine out every six hours during the day, but he can hold it for eight or more, and he's good overnight for a long time -- sometimes I sleep 10 hours). 

Personally, I'm not fond of the idea of teaching dogs to pee inside, in any context. I realize it's necessary for some people, especially those who own tiny dogs who can't hold it for eight or more hours during the day... but with a 15-20lb dog, this shouldn't be an issue.


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## maggie3kais (Aug 19, 2011)

I also have a 15 lb Mini American Shepherd. He is 9 months old now and we live in an apartment in the city, 2 flights of stairs and across the parking lot to the yard. Honestly I think he's too big to be using a litter box. Mine pees a large amount, and he walks in little circles when he poos, so it'd have to be a pretty large litter box. I've also seen some Minis that were 25 pounds. Depending on how old your guy is, he may be bigger than you expect.

He can also hold it while I'm at work or school during the day, and at night, up to about 10 hours. I know it's hard now to take him out all the time, but it won't be like that for too long. I agree with taking a puppy pad he's peed on outside so he'll smell where he has to go. Mine was pad trained before I got him and it made it harder to train him to go outside. But their smart so they learn quick. The city has lots of noises and things to be distracted by, so take him out and let him smell the pad and repeat "Go potty" or whatever you want to say. If he doesn't go take him back inside, watch him really close and try again in 15 minutes. Good luck with whatever you decide, and I'd love to see pictures of Phoenix!


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

Cider was litterbox trained. It was pretty awful. Her litterbox had to be 1.5 x 3 feet. Even then in her spinning she could get her bum over the side and potty on the floor. She was 12-18 pounds then, 23 pounds now. It was too much. We had the same issue, except we were on the 6th floor of an apt building. She never went outside on walks to go to the bathroom, always indoors as she'd been taught. I get why you want to, but honestly I'm not sure I'd even try with a tiny dog after having had a go at it.


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## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

I have to agree with most of the others. Litter box training a dog that large is a bad idea, 20 pounds is actually pretty big, I have a twenty pound dog and I would never dream of trying to litter box train it, he is just too big.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

If I was going to do this, I would line a tray with puppy pads and put the tray where she normally used the pads. I would use a tray like the one that goes in a wire crate. They sell them seperate from the crate in many places. Once my pup was using the pads in the tray, I would start to sprinkle a few pellets on it. I would gradually add more and more pellets until the pad no longer mattered. This might take weeks, but it would work without drama.

When I got my pup, she was litter box trained. I had no trouble weaning her off of it. It was nice to know that she could empty herself while I was gone if she needed to.


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## Active Dog (Jan 18, 2010)

Living in an apartment is no excuse to litter train a dog. I have two dogs around 50lbs and we lived in 3rd story apt, it was a total of 4 flights of stairs and we made that trip 2-3 times a day. Laziness is not an excuse to let your dogs pee and poo in your house....sorry blunt but true....


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

The wood pellets do not work very well. They break down into powder and it tracks everywhere. They also tend to get the wood pellets everywhere when they are going in and out of the box. I have tried it for puppies and although they were good about using them, it sure did make a mess. Puppy pads work for a while until they decide to make play toys out of them. Always end up going back to newspaper until they are old enough to go outside.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

My breeder did puppy pads in a shallow tray covered with wood pellets. This was just an "additional" item in the puppy room to help keep things clean. The pups used the tray but they were also taken outside a ton. Worked well for her, but it was a "transitional tool" at her place. I set one up in my pup's over-sized crate, but she never used it once. She had a strong preference for a clean crate and for going out-doors. Made my life a breeze.


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## pokemonesb (Dec 23, 2011)

Thank you everyone for your responses. Rest assured, the litterbox training idea was not due to laziness. I mean, the whole reason I wanted an Aussie was because they are such an active breed (I was prepared for lots of activity.) Well, despite this whole thing I decided to go ahead with training him outside, the traditional way. He's caught on very quickly, and can usually hold it for about five hours, though I try to take him our every two to three hours. He's learning to love his crate, and since I have begun training he has only had about two accidents in the house.


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

Our french bulldog was litter box trained as a puppy, because the litter was born in winter during a snowstorm thus could not go outside. It was the biggest mistake of our lives to continue on with the litter training. It took years before we got her retrained to go outside, and even now and then she does it inside and she is around 9 years old. Luckily she is in her own room with a tile floor so its easy to clean.


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## Gigit (Dec 30, 2011)

My Aunt trained her dogs to go on a rug in her bathroom, and I saw a video once of a Golden Retriever trained to go in a very large tupperware container filled with mulch.


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