Litter Training puppies???

Hey guys, we got a 6-8 week old chiuahua and dotson mix, she is small and we are told will be a small dog when she gets older. My sister litter trained this pups litter mate and I am trying to litter train her. I don't have a regular collar and leash and won't get one till next wee****ep showing her the litter box. We have been home 2 hours and she has had 2 accidents. Each time, I tell her no, then put her nose close to the "accident spot" and then take her to the litter box. Am I doing this right? Thanks Angela

Hi Angela, Congrats on the new puppy! If you want to litter box train your dog (or housebreak to go outside), I would strongly recommend that you crate train the dog. This is not at all cruel, and will prevent accidents inside the house. Crates also prevent puppies from chewing on electrical wires or doing anything else that might harm them when you're not able to watch them 100% of the time. Basically you only have your pup out of the crate (we call them kennels in our home, but it's the same thing) when you can watch the puppy 100% of the time. If you have to leave the room, answer the phone or do anything else bu****ch the puppy, put the puppy in the crate. Then within 15-30 minutes after each meal, put the puppy in the litterbox (or outside for housebreaking) and say 'potty' in an upbeat, encouraging tone. Wait 5-10 minutes, if the dog does not go, pick it up and put it back in its crate. Every 10-15 minutes, repeat the above process until the dog goes potty. When the dog squats to start to go - PRAISE the dog. You want to praise the actual act in progress, so the dog is associating the act of going with the praise. Giving a treat as a reward is also helpful; but phase out the treats after the dog is reliably going in the litterbox (outside). It takes time and most puppies can not hold it and go more than 3 hours or so in between potty breaks. But by 4-5 months old, most puppies have bladders big enough and enough control to hold it all night.

I wouls use a crate, but also what might help is taking a small piece of waste and leaqve it in the litter box. the next time the pup is put there it will smell it, and realize eventually that this is where they need to go.

Hello, I have two Chi puppies and both are litter trained and it works wonderfully. It doesnt smell like a cat box and they fit in there just fine. If you dont wanna send your dog outside to do their business try the litter box. It took mine about two days to learn. Michele