No matter
which aids you use, keep in mind three key points:
1.
Don't wall him in
Dogs instinctively
want to walk around their potty area before they relieve themselves. Don't
keep the puppy pad, litter box, or whatever flush (no pun intended) against
a wall.
2.
Keep it clean
Sadly, your
puppy will seek a cleaner area for his poop if you don't maintain a clean
box,
pads, floor area or whatever.
3.
Be consistent
Don't change
from puppy pads to litter box and back again. He needs to get used to
one
method.
Hammer
in the ground and watch the non-toxic pheromones attract your puppy
to pee in the designated area.
This
sounds so reasonable, but I never had any luck with it and it smells
awful. Victoria Stilwell's on It's Me or the Dog often
uses one so there are those who like them.
I
did better taking my puppy to the same area each time I took her
out. If you want to create the same effect as the post, get your
puppy to pee on some wooden item which retains odor (slip under
him as soon as he starts to pee) and then put it out in your yard
in the area you want him to use.
These
sprays worked better for me than the pee post above although that's
not saying much.
The
first one is to be sprayed on something like a training pad where
you want your puppy to pee.
The
second one is sprayed where you don't want your puppy to pee.
Sorry,
but there's no way to know if they will work on your puppy without
trying them. If one or both work for you, they're great to have.
If they don't, you're out about $20.
You
can have one on the indoors and one on the outdoors so your puppy
can let you know when he has to come in or go out.
I had
good luck with the bells. The act of grabbing something in her mouth
is instinctive to a puppy and she enjoyed the ringing sound. Simply
say 'Outside' and ring the bells each time you take your puppy outside
for potty time.
The
paw operated chime may take a little longer to train. That's not
a normal movement for a puppy so the cause/effect may take awhile
for him to get it.
Some
puppies may be scared by the noise either of these make but with
encouragement, they will get used to it.
There's
nothing wrong with either of these products. It's simply a matter
of how relentless you will be in using it and how willing your puppy
is to keep using it.
This
is the brand I use, and they're among the cheapest. They're also
available at Walmart.
I like
pads better than newspaper because the pads don't leave ink residue
on the floor or my dog.
Pads
are easily portable so once you've trained your dog to use them,
they can be packed and used anywhere. Clean up is a breeze since
you merely wrap it up and throw it away.
The
cons to using pads are 1) regardless of what the packages say, they
pad will smell if a soiled one is left on the floor for any length
of time and 2) puppies love to shred them.
Even
though my dog is housetrained, I leave a pad out in a discrete place
if she's going to be home alone for a length of time so she doesn't
have to hold it more than six hours. I think it's best to teach
a dog to go outside and/or use a puppy pad.
Note:
I would not waste my money on puppy pad holders. If the pad you're
using isn't keeping waste off your floor, try a different brand.
The benefit of a pad is that there's no cleaning; it's used and
thrown away so why add to your effort by getting a tray you have
to clean?
I like
the OUT! brand but other people prefer different brands. You can
read reviews here: Puppy
Training Pads
Litter
trays for dogs are quite popular and deservedly so. Puppies can
be trained to use them and most small dogs do well with them PROVIDED
you regularly clean the litter box. Ironically, most dogs do not
like to soil an already soiled and smelly area.
That
means scooping out and replacing soiled litter box matter and washing
the litter tray itself once a week. Use a scoop
like cat owners do (metal ones last and clean up better than plastic
ones).
The
pros of the litter box is that you can avoid the smells inherent
in puppy pads. The expensiveSecondNature
Dog Litter
is more absorbent with better odor control than cheaper brands.
If
you are rigorous in scooping every day and cleaning weekly, a cheaper
solution is wood
pellets used in stoves. They will smell - very, very
bad - if you don't clean regularly however. Remember, they weren't
designed for litter boxes.
There's
also the problem that many dogs will eat the litter in the tray.
The SecondNature is not harmful to them, but I would not let my
dog eat the cheaper wood pellets.
The
con is that litter trays aren't easily portable. You can take one
with you if you're traveling to Grandma's house by car rather than
plane, but she may not like the idea of having a dog defecate in
her house even if it's in a litter tray.
You
may have seen these types of pet potty on TV commercials or in magazines.
The American Kennel Club also offers a similar system. My comments
are not directed at any one brand but apply to the technique.
The
indoor patch is supposed to reinforce the idea that your puppy uses
a green patch for potty when he's outside. The belief is that your
puppy will mistake acrylic grass for real grass when he has to relieve
himself. (Hope you don't have zeroscapping or brown parched yards.)
Obviously,
I don't understand the popularity of these. At the end of the day,
you literally have a pan of dog urine to CAREFULLY dispose of, and
if you have feces, ugh. Don't kid yourself that it won't smell if
it stands out all day. You'll also have to clean the unit weekly
(use an enzyme cleaner) to avoid lingering odors.
As
you can tell, I don't like these. If, for whatever reason, your
dog has to potty indoors and he won't use pads or litter trays,
then it's worth trying.