# Need Help Litter Box Training Adult Dog



## Darkone (Dec 30, 2008)

Hello everyone.

Has anyone ever tried to litter box train an adult, housebroken dog?

We rescued a 3-yr old cockapoo this past summer. He is housebroken, but has had some accidents during our long workday (10-11 hours per day). We walk him twice a day (before and after work), but we'd like to give him the option to use a litter box during the day. He has the run of half the house, and is not crated during the day. We would prefer not to crate him while we are gone, since he is usually accident-free and does not enjoy the crate for long periods.

We've tried placing the box both inside and outside. While he gets in the box, he generally sits down and doesn't seem to know what to do. EDIT: We are using a "Second Nature" Litter Box with a Pee Pad on the bottom. We tried using the litter itself, but he didn't like walking on it at all. He doesn't mind the pee pad, but isn't associating it with urination. A dog door isn't an option for us. 

We're trying to associate a command with urinating by repeating it and praising when he does it, but it doesn't seem to be working yet.

Has anyone done this successfully with an adult, trained dog?
Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help!

Steve in Philly


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## myminpins (Dec 20, 2008)

I have a litter box trained dog and adopted an adult potty pad trained dog. The new dog will poop in the litter box but will NOT pee in the litter box so we finally gave in and put potty pads out for her now we have both.

Could you try potty pads or the Wiz Dog (or whatever it's called)? 

Is there any way someone you know could come in once per day for 10 minutes and let her out to potty? She doesn't understand to potty in the house and it's a GOOD thing. Any options of putting in a doggy door?

Do you have a deck? Any chance you could put in a doggy door with an enclosed are so she could use the deck but not be able to get off if you're worried about him being in the yard alone?

Just some suggestions...


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

I would try and find someone who can come and take him for a walk each day, for you, while you are gone; there are MANY reputable dog walkers out there, all you have to do is search for them. A good place to start looking would be your local shelter...there are many good folks who just enjoy walking and taking care of dogs. 

That he DOESN'T want to potty in the house is a good thing...I wouldn't mess with his training, in that sense. You could inadvertantly teach him just to potty in the house, not in the litter box. 

If you can, I would start keeping him in ONE room...one that is tiled, or lanolium covered if you can. Put his crate, with bed in there, put stuffed Kongs, and some rope toys, and bones to chew on; that way he has limited access to potty 'everywhere', but he still has freedom to roam about and stretch his legs through out the day. 

Clean up any previous spots with a enzyme cleaner, otherwise he'll be drawn to those places repeatedly.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

I wouldn't confuse this housetrained dog by attempting to get him to use the litter box because of your hours away at work. Have a friend, neighbor, or dog sitting service come by to let him out.


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