Puppy Potty Training in a Box

Potty training a puppy frustrates many new dog owners. A great way to eliminate a lot of the aggravation is to use a potty training box. You can use a box no matter where you live. Using a puppy potty training box gives your puppy an appropriate place to go when you can't be there to take them outside.

  1. What Is It?

    • All cat owners are very familiar with the concept of a "box" for their cats to potty in. Puppy training in a box uses the same concept. It is an allowable potty place in the house. Using a puppy potty training box does not teach your dog to go anywhere they please in the house. Just like a cat, you are teaching him to use a specific place confined in a structure that is readily identifiable. You can use a potty box for any size puppy, and small dogs can use one even as adults.

    How to Make It

    • You can make your own puppy potty training box out of wood or you can buy one premade. Other options are the bottoms of small plastic containers. The size of a puppy training box should allow your puppy to get all four feet inside and move around enough to get comfortable. Line the box with commercial puppy "pee pads" or use regular newspaper. Be consistent with what you use. Some owners believe that using commercial pads is best because your puppy won't associate newspapers with a place to "go" if they're just lying around the house.

    Training Time

    • Potty training using a box actually makes training time go faster. It can take weeks, and even months to potty train a puppy using outside relief. The box gives your puppy a place to go when you are not available. Put the box in a crate large enough for it, allowing your puppy room to lie down outside the box, or use any confined area so the puppy has to go into the box to potty.

    Compatibility

    • Using the puppy potty training box does not mean you can't train your dog to go outside too. Smaller dogs can continue to use the box as adults when you're away. Bigger dogs learn to hold their bladder and bowels longer and eventually go outside when you let them out, leaving the indoor box behind.

    Uses

    • For dog owners who are home all day long and can spend 24 hours with their new puppies, a potty box isn't always necessary. However, even those owners can use the potty training box if they run errands or have to leave the house for a couple hours for any reason. The best reason to use the puppy training box is when an owner is gone for more than three hours a day on a regular basis. People with full-time jobs can find it difficult to potty train a young puppy. The only solution used to be hiring a dog-sitter or take the new puppy to doggie daycare, both of which can be expensive. The puppy potty training in a box is a low-cost, easy-to-use method of housebreaking.