Need input, please

[atghylin]

At first I thought there wouldn't too much of a problem taking Felix downstairs to do his business... But I have since learned otherwise. Felix tends to pick the worst times to need out. In the last two weeks I've had to cut bathtime short on the boys or deal with a mess curtasy of Felix several times. :hmmmm: So I've been looking around at the different petstores in town (Petsmart is right around the corner) and have found doggy litter boxes.

Now here's my problem... how difficult would it be to train Felix to a box? We have a balcony with a 4 foot SOLIDwall and I thought I could put it out there. What steps would I need to follow to retrain him? Would it be like box training a cat or am I way off base here? I know there are doggy litters out there too but the only brand I've found has been Purina... are there any others I should be looking for? If so can anyone direct me to price lists? What should I be looking for in a litter?

That's all I have for the moment.. I really appreciate the input guys :)

Amanda

[imported_Kat]

First question who is Felix? :) Also what breed/age is he just to get a little background before attempting to think about your little problem :wink:

[atghylin]

Sorry... I tend forget that not everyone knows Felix. :oops:

Felix is a 17 month old Tri-color Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Does that help some, Kat? If you need more info let me know.

[courtnek]

for housebreaking purposes, a doggy litterbox is probably not much different than paper or pad training...you take the dog to it, show him what it's for, (by putting a small dropping in it af first, until he learns)
but do you want to do this forever? If you want him to go outside, he needs to be trained for outside....Cleaning a litterbox is no fun, believe me, coming from someone who has owned multiple cats....You might be better off crating him when you are tending to the kids, as a general rule, if the crate is small enough, they dont normally soil their own den. There are always exceptions, of course, but that's the usual take.

[courtnek]

one other thought...if he is doing this consistently when you are tending the kids, he may feel a little jealous or outplaced. Dogs dont have the same emotions that people do, so it's not a revenge factor, but they do find ways, both negative and positive, to attract attention. This may be a gambit for negative attention; it takes you away from the kids and makes you pay attention to him. In that case, crating is your best bet. Crate him with a treat, and then tend to your kids. Let him out and take him outside when your done, providing he's done nothing bad in the meantime. Have the kids pet and praise him too, so he feels accepted by everyone.

[imported_Kat]

Crating is a good idea for when you aren't at home if he messes. Try going back to basics with conditioning training. If need be use papers and if he pees reward him and use a command like "hurry up" when he is actually performing. Move the papers to outside on the grass and you get the idea, keep praising and using a command. Eventually you should be able to remove the papers and have a dog that pees on command. It really is a useful thing to teach. I taught it with Meg and even if she doesn't need to do anything, she will still squat :lol:

[atghylin]

Felix has never had a problem with the kids and bathtime. We've had him for almost a year. He's only interrupted it a few times... but it's been enough for me to realize that it's going to be a problem. Plus it's not only bathtime he interupts it's just the worst time.

When we were in the house there's never was a problem taking him out at anytime. It was one story with lots of windows so even after the sun went down I could always keep an eye on the kids while I was out with Felix. But now we're in a third floor apartment so there's no way for me to keep an eye the kids while I'm out with Felix. Right now I'm putting the kids in their room and closing the door for the few minutes I'm out with the dog. (I trained Felix to "hurry" while at the house so we're only out for 5-10 minutes at a time) The longer I have to do this the less I like it. Especially right now as Kurtis has been throwing up and running a fever.

The best solution that my husband and I could come up with to solve this delema was to litter-train Felix. The only problem is knowing how to train him right without causing undue complications in the process. We know that it will take a long time and a lot of patience.

[Carolk9s]

If you will not mind Felix using the litterbox for a long long time to come, I say go for it. Now it may be that over time you will no longer need it but it can certainly be a temporary solution at least. You can then use plastic bags to scoop the box or if it's flushable litter, flush it down the commode. My sister used a litter box when she first got her Corgi mix, sister was away from home most of the business day and wanted her dog to have a place to eliminate since she had to be in the house.
I supppose you could also put a large piece of sod on the balcony, perhaps framed by wood and a plastic tarp underneath. Then Felix would still be going on dirt and grass until the grass died.
Teaching a potty command is a great idea as Kat mentioned. I teach mine pee potty and poo potty. As I go to agility trials with Candy, it's an invaluable tool. Start saying whatever command you want when Felix is eliminating outside. If you use the word potty, say 'Good potty!' in a happy tone. Do this over and over and over. If you then want to litter or sod train him, take him to the place on the balcony where you want him to go and tell him to potty. If he does, do a happy dance! It will take some patience and persistance and praise, the 3 P's of most successful dog training.
Good luck with whatever you choose.