Before we begin getting down to the nitty-gritty, there are a few products you should have on hand for potty training. Below are all the items you need to get started, as well as products that are useful, or necessary if you are going down a specific training pathway.
A Kennel
Kennels are essential because they shrink your dog’s world. You will either need a kennel just barely big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around in if you plan to teach your dog outside is the only appropriate place to go potty.
If you are fine with potty pads or a litter box, a larger kennel is fine, so you can make the bed on one side and the litter box the other. Chewy/Amazon
An X-Pen
Keeping your pup in a kennel when you can’t watch them helps communicate to your dog that your absence isn’t a signal they can soil the house.
At the same time though, the eventual goal is for your dog to be able to have the complete run of the house without soiling it.
In order to do this, you need to give them their freedom by degrees. An X-pen lets you do that. You can put it around the kennel so they can start with a spot just big enough for a potty pad, and then gradually expand it until they have half a room of space. You can use the x-pen once your dog is ready for bigger spaces to block off persistent potty areas or to block off a room. Chewy/Amazon
Baby Gates
Again, as the expansion of their world continues, you may want to let them have access to the living room, but not the bedrooms down the hallway. Baby gates can be very handy here, in addition to an X-pen.
You may, or may not need the baby gate if your X-pen will work here instead. It depends on the size of your house and the layout. Amazon
Enzymatic cleaner (MUST!)
Accidents are going to happen. Even if you shampooed your carpet carefully, if you didn’t use enzymatic cleaner, the pheromones will still be there. It’s very important to properly clean their messes so they don’t go back to that soil spot. Chewy/Amazon
UV Flashlight
Urine glows under UV light. (You will still be able to see the stain under UV even after it has been treated, so prepare yourself.) A UV flashlight can help you treat sneaky-pees you didn’t know happened. Amazon/Chewy
Potty pads (optional)
Even if you eventually plan for your dog to soil exclusively outdoors, potty pads are still incredibly useful in saving your floors while your dog is figuring it out. Since pet stains show up with UV light forever, better to put it on a pad and throw it away then risk not being able to tell what’s new because there’s so many stains.
Some trainers discourage the use of potty pads because they think it will train a dog to pee on carpet. I was of the same mindset at one point, but many hours of behavior training later, I realized this is probably false.
Dogs do not generalize. This is why your dog can sit in your living room but magically forgets it when you ask for sit at the pet store. It’s not the same. This is also why you need to start with a small space to be successful.
Dogs may learn they can’t pee in the kitchen, but still have to test whether that’s still true in the living room/hallway/bathroom/dining room and every bedroom as well.
If they don’t generalize in training, and they don’t generalize in the location of the potty, why should they generalize that peeing on a potty pad means all carpet is fine? This would seem very unusual to me. Amazon/Chewy
Litter Box (Optional)
Litter boxes are only necessary if you plan to litterbox train. My dogs found walking on the litter box pellets very uncomfortable, and that lining a box with pee pads was better. You can do as you will, but you must have a box before litterbox training.
If you have a boy, a box with high sides is best. Trust me. Amazon/Chewy
Male Wraps (Optional)
Male wraps are handy for dealing with marking males while you are potty training. While you should still make every effort to prevent accidents, a male wrap can help you prevent messes. You can check the pad inside to see if they’re peeing, and eventually fade the wrap when the pad is always clean. Amazon/Chewy
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Similar Posts:
- Introduction to Chihuahua Potty Training
- Ultimate Guide to Potty Training Your Chihuahua
- How to Kennel Train A Chihuahua
- Free Chihuahua Potty Training Schedule
- Why You Should Potty Train Your Chihuahua
