Can a dog be litterbox trained? Is it difficult do do?
First thought- why would you want to? Dog poop tends to be larger than cat poop, and smells worse. Then again, I never understood a litter box in the first place. I don’t want ANY pet crapping indoors except maybe the goldfish.
Anyway, the short answer is yes. Dogs are smart and eager to please, they can be trained to do almost anything.
Our dog trained to poop in one far-off corner of the yard almost immediately.
Yes. I’ve done it. I think its a good idea for working people with small dogs in apartments. I used rabbit food to fill the box instead of more expensinve brand name litter.
I have a chocolate lab who will be fine inside for a while (months even), then all of a sudden, will pee on the kitchen radiator if left alone for even an hour. Whenever he seems to take to training, he will regress for a day or two. Needless to say, with the radiator going on more and more during the colder weather, the odor is very noticeable throughout the house.
You might want to take your dog to the vet - urinating in the house can be a sign of a urinary tract infection. It may just be separation anxiety, but it’s probably best to take him in all the same…
My little muffin head is litter trained. It wasn’t particularly difficult. I just put him in there and told him to go, and now he does.
Occasionally, he’ll only get his front paws in the pan and wind up tinkling on the floor, but it doesn’t happen much, and I have a new swiffer that takes care of the problem anyhoo.
Hon.B.A., M.A., LL.B., Barr.L.: you bet I’m litter trained.
Litter box training for a dog is no more difficult than training it to go outside. It’s possibly a little easier, because the dog doesn’t have to learn to signal to you his need to go, or wait for you to let him out. He can go whenever he feels like it. (For puppies with little bladders, a litter box can be a blessing.)
A friend of mine fills a large, low-sided box with shredded newspaper, but you can use almost any filler. (I wouldn’t recommend wood shavings, though, because they have a tendancy to get tracked outside the box.)
In order to control for odors, it’s important to change the litter/filler frequently-- at least twice a day, and immediately after the dog defecates. My friend disposes of the soiled paper by putting it in plastic grocery bags, and then tossing it in an outside trash can.