How I box trained my pup!

Tonight I shall share my method which I used for box* training my pup.

*Not to be confused with crate training which is something else entirely. Box training is basically litter box training for dogs. ;o

Zeek, my dog, wasn't box trained for a long time. However, when I first got him as a real little puppy, I immediately worked on paper training him.

You should do this if you would like to not have to take your dog out every time they've gotta go. Really comes in handy if you're gonna be gone most of the day and don't have anyone who can do it for you.



It really isn't that hard. You just need to be with them for those first few weeks after you've got the dog, which can really cut back on social things*.

*My mom got him for me when I was 16. Getting a small dog like a min-pin, which has LOTS of energy, at that age is something I think EVERYONE should do. As long as they are the primary carer for the pup I'll bet my ass that they will think twice before putting themselves in a situation where they could end up having kids early. The dogs are like two-year-olds for the majority of their lives and they can live up to 21 years at times (16-18 is the average)! D:

Basically, whenever you see the pup lifting it's leg, squatting, or circling, you pick them up* and put them on the area with the papers and have them finish† there. Then you tell them what a good boy/girl they are and give em a treat‡. Do this for the first week or so then slowly ween then from the treats but be sure to keep rewarding them with praise. Eventually you won't have to praise them every time either, though it's good to do it still every once in a while.

*Yep, even if they are mid-stream/mid-steam. ._.

†If they don't do anything after the move then they may have finished before it, but that's fine.

‡I always used bits of pup-peroni. Dogs love that shiz!



When I moved out and into my apartment I didn't have a set place* for his papers like I did back home. At first I just set a spot in the restroom and made sure to clean it up regularly. It worked but it wasn't ideal†.

*We put some linoleum down in the back of the room which made it easy to clean up.

†Although ideal would actually be him just using the toilet like everyone else. >_>

Eventually I decided to get a large plastic tub, cut out a side of it, smooth the cut edges, and put the papers in there.

I was sure this transfer would be seamless for Zeek.

It wasn't...



I still think he was just in a rebellious phase. Being all like, "I refuse to be bound to these confines you have placed before me!" or something to the sort.

For the first week having him use the box was pretty much a coin toss. One that often ended up tails*...

*Meaning not in the box. D:

I had had about enough of cleaning the mess up. I thought I would probably just switch back to the non-box method soon, at least then he had always gotten it onto the papers.

Lucky for me though, that wasn't needed.

You see one night, after a party had ended and I got a ride back to my place, I came inside only to see the sofa. It was pretty normal. Cept for the pee stain.

I was pleasantly sloshed at the time though I did manage to get the cleaner and scrub the stain out. Still, I was pretty disappointed. I decided that I was tired of this game but that there was no way in hell I was going to admit defeat!

In a moment that could only come from pure drunken genius, I knew what I had to do!

I picked up Zeek, took him to the restroom where his box was, shut the door, and set him down on the floor.

Then I did this...



And honestly, it worked.

As you might imagine, he was plenty confused, but that didn't stop him from walking right over there after I had left the room* and taking back what he knew was his.

*When he goes inside he has to be by himself. Outside he doesn't give a damn but inside he needs his privacy. He's weird like that. ._.

Since then he has been an expert at the box. For he knows, should he yet waver, I might again come from the shadows to mark it as my own*. o_o

*Or at least I like to believe that's what he thinks. :|