Potty Training your Pet
Everyone knows owning a pet is a joy. But potty training your pet can always be a challenge, sometimes a messy or smelly one. As someone who lives in an apartment myself, with a Jack Russell, and a Siamese cat I have experienced the highs and lows of active pet ownership. And these two breeds are supposedly some of the more clever ones.
The main challenge for me was how to provide my pets with somewhere to do their business at home while I was away at work during the day. And with my dog, sometimes while I slept at night.
My cat was more easily trained than my dog, taking to the kitty litter from virtually the first day. But my dog caused more headaches. If it wasn’t enough that she was chewing on my couch and other things, she would invariably find a new place to be a toilet almost every day.
In the end, after searching a lot online about what to do and what products are available I decided to purchase a professional pet potty. It is called The Pet Loo and I have used some of their instructions in this brief guide to toilet training. It has worked great for my dog so I am happy to mention their name.
The Dog – What to do!
If an action is followed by praise or reward, after a period of time an animal will learn to repeat this action. This simple theory applies in training your pet to efficiently use a pet toilet.
Training a puppy to use a pet potty is as simple as applying basic toilet training principles.
Place your pet on it’s toilet at toilet time. Puppies usually relieve themselves after a sleep, after they eat and after a play session. Younger puppies may need to urinate as frequently as every 30 mins (nightmare).
Keep your pet on its toilet until it relieves itself.
Praise your pet when it does so.
Repetition of this action will eventuate in an animal trained to use go in the same place all of the time.
Training an older dog to use a pet potty may take a little more time and patience but if you invest the time, you will reap the rewards. Some dogs may instantly take to their pet toilet from the word go while others may need a little extra help.
Different things will work for different dogs and the options are as follows:
Teach your dog the 'toilet' command. This is as easy as teaching the 'sit' command or other simple commands- its all about association. When your dog goes to toilet, clearly say the word 'toilet' and when they are finished praise your pet with affection and treats. Do this repeatedly and you will find that in time your dog will "wee" on command. The next step is placing your dog on its pet potty first thing in the morning and saying the command 'toilet'. That initial toilet stop is the hardest, yet once your pet has marked its territory the rest should naturally follow.
Dogs naturally want to mark their territory; however some dogs are more territorial than others. Training your dog to use a pet potty may be as simple as collecting a sample of dog urine (your dogs or another) and pouring it over the toilet area. In an attempt to mark its territory, your dog should voluntarily "wee" on this place again. Again, that first "wee" is the biggest achievement. Don't forget to praise you dog after it relieves itself in the right place.
The product I bought has the added advantage of a synthetic grass surface and feels like real grass so dogs will take to it! In the instructions they call this ‘surface recognition’, seems even ‘peeing’ is scientific these days.
Remember, your animal wants to please you so continuing praise is the key.
The Dog – What NOT to do!
• Be sure not to feed your dog near or on its potty as pets instinctively avoid toileting where they eat.
Do not encourage or allow your pet to sleep or lay on its toilet either as it should only act as an area for toileting. Dogs don't "wee" in their beds, so why should they sleep where they "wee"? The same not to do guidelines applies to cats too.
The Cat – To Do!
I think cats are easier to train and are quite creative about where they “go”. Their main concern is that their area remains clean, or that the ‘gear’ disappears. My cat was a little older than my dog when I moved in to my apartment and is used to her kitty litter. It is not that nice to clean but I can live with it. The people who make the dog toilet I bought also make a cat version. A friend bought it when his wife got pregnant because it is considered more hygienic than a kitty litter and they had seen my dog toilet in action.
The central idea is that the transition from litter box to this cat toilet can be accomplished in a series of stages. While it's great to go from "zero to hero" over night the truth is the majority of cats will need to adapt to a series of small changes, allowing your pet time to adjust before you make another small change.
Like most things in life this just takes time and persistance to achieve, but the result is worth it
